I Remember Clifford (song)

"I Remember Clifford" is an instrumental jazz threnody written by jazz tenor saxophonist Benny Golson in memory of Clifford Brown,^[1] the influential and highly regarded jazz trumpeter who died in an auto accident at the age of 25.^[2] Brown and Golson had previously worked together in Lionel Hampton's 1953 band.^[3]

"I Remember Clifford"
Composition by Benny Golson
Written	1956
Genre	Jazz • ballad

The song was first recorded by Donald Byrd and Gigi Gryce in February 1957.^[4]

Notable recordings

• Bob Acri - Bob Acri (Blujazz, 2004)
• Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers – 1958 – Paris Olympia (Fontana, 1958)
• Donald Byrd - Jazz Lab (Columbia, 1957)^[5]
• George Cables – Circle (Contemporary, 1979)
• Ray Charles – My Kind of Jazz (1970)
• Kenny Dorham – This Is the Moment! (Riverside, 1958)
• Don Ellis – Shock Treatment (1968)
• Stan Getz and Kenny Barron – People Time: The Complete Recordings (1991)
• Dizzy Gillespie – Dizzy Gillespie at Newport (Verve, 1957)^[5]
• Benny Golson – Stockholm Sojourn (Prestige, 1964)
• Roy Hargrove – The Tokyo Sessions (1991)
• Woody Herman – Woody Live East and West (CBS, 1965)
• Milt Jackson – Bags' Opus (United Artists, 1958)
• The Jazztet – Meet the Jazztet (Argo, 1960)
• Quincy Jones – The Birth of a Band (1959)^[5]
• The Manhattan Transfer – Vocalese (1985)
• Hugh Masekela – Almost Like Being in Jazz (Chissa, 2005)
• Carmen McRae – Carmen for Cool Ones (1958)^[6]
• Helen Merrill – Brownie: Homage to Clifford Brown (1995)^[7]
• Modern Jazz Quartet – European Concert (Atlantic, 1960)
• Modern Jazz Quartet – Dedicated to Connie (Atlantic, recorded May 1960, released 1995)
• James Moody – Moody with Strings (Argo, 1960)
• Lee Morgan – Lee Morgan Vol. 3 (Blue Note, 1957)^[5]
• Oscar Peterson – Something Warm (Verve, 1962)
• Bud Powell with Don Byas – A Tribute to Cannonball (Columbia, 1961 [1979])
• Buddy Rich – Blues Caravan (Verve, 1961)
• Sonny Rollins with Thad Jones – Now's the Time (RCA Victor, 1964)^[5]
• Masayoshi Takanaka " Brasilian Skies" (Kitty Records, 1978)
• Arturo Sandoval - I Remember Clifford (GRP, 1992) ^[8]
• Dinah Washington – The Queen (Mercury, 1959)^[9]
• Bill Wurtz – Jazz Green Giant (2014)^[10]