Just Because: Clark Terry And Bob Brookmeyer

Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer co-led one of the great small bands of the last half of the twentieth century. In the group Terry (1920-2015) concentrated on the flugelhorn, which he played—as he did the trumpet—with fluency, feeling, technique and humor that make him to this day a model and inspiration for brass players. Brookmeyer (1929-2011) had equal eminence as a valve trombonist, beginning as he rose to prominence in the early 1950s with Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan and Jimmy Giuffre, among others.

In a departure from its standard practice, in the 1960s the British Broadcasting Corporation flew Terry and Brookmeyer from New York to London for an appearance on the popular BBC program Jazz 625, hosted by Humphey Lyttleton. The rhythm section of eminent British jazzmen was Laurie Holloway, piano; Rick Laird, bass; and Allan Ganley, drums.

As for departures, let’s depart from the standard Rifftides practice of presenting relatively short video clips.  We’ll go long. Here is a half-hour segment of Terry and Brookmeyer.