Recorded August 1954 Genre Jazz Composer(s) Clifford Brown | Studio Capitol, Los Angeles Length 6:52 | |
Released December 1954 (1954-12) | ||
"Joy Spring" is a jazz composition by Clifford Brown and is his signature song. The first recording was the one realized at Capitol Recording Studios, in Los Angeles in July 1954 (published posthumously in the 1988 Pacific Jazz Records's album Clifford Brown - Jazz Immortal featuring Zoot Sims), the following month he created another version with Max Roach, published in the album Clifford Brown & Max Roach. Brown composed the song in honor of his wife Larue Anderson, whom he called his "joy spring".
Contents
History
There is an anecdote tied to this composition. Larue Anderson was a classical music student and had chosen "Classics versus Jazz" as her thesis, in which she wanted to prove the superiority of classical music over jazz. Her friend Max Roach introduced her to Clifford, who took her aside and said: "Honey, the whole world is not built around tonic / dominant." He convinced her to the point that she became a jazz devotee.
Personnel
Covers
In 1985 Jon Hendricks wrote a lyric to Brown's music and the song was performed and published by Manhattan Transfer on their album Vocalese with the title Sing Joy Spring.