So you are drawing a line in the sand with first comment. I do agree that Clifford Brown is an Allstar. Nice mix Nick.

There were loads of trumpeters better than Miles (nothing original or line-drawing there, Terry), but none had the soul and the SOUND that Miles did. Brown also never showed he was as original as Miles, not by a long shot. (Perhaps if he'd lived, but I doubt it.) Brown was a Navarro/Gillespie follower and a technical virtuoso who didn't much evolve the music beyond his influences; Miles, who was occasionally weak technically, was an original, someone who succeeded and altered the evolution of jazz in spite of his limitations. You can take Brown out of the history of jazz without greatly altering it; the same cannot be said of Miles Davis. (Sorry, I get huffy when folks even suggestively impugn Davis!) // All this said, I do like Brown, too, and this is a really good intro, Nick, your provocative first sentence aside. Nice to see you back with top-notch jazz mixes.

Yeah, I didn't say that Clifford was more original or a better bandleader or that he represented a turning point in the history of jazz. Just that he was a better trumpeter. Which you admit to be true. I shouldn't have been so flip in dismissing Davis, but we agree on the point that there have been many more technically accomplished trumpeters. So I will now try to right what has been slighted.

I'd be interested in hearing this sometime. If you feel like trading, let me know. In the meantime, I have to agree with lostinthejazzmix on all counts, although I don't deny that Miles wasn't the greatest *technical* trumpeter of all-time.

Better: improved in accuracy or performance(from merriam webster online). Now then, where does the problem stem from? That Davis has more records in more styles than Brown? There is one problem. Clifford Brown died in 1956 at age 25. Miles Davis lived four decades longer than that, dying in 1991 at age 65. Let's imagine truncating Miles Davis's career at age 25. He would've died in 1951. What does that give us? Some sides with Charlie Parker and Birth of the Cool. That's it. No classic quintet records on Prestige. No quintet with Coltrane. No quintet with Hancock, Williams, Shorter, Carter. No In A Silent Way. No Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaborations. So now, let's evaluate the 25 year old Davis alongside the 25 year old Brown. Is the meaning of better starting to sink in? Edward says that Brown is a Gillespie/Navarro follower who doesn't advance the music past his influences. Is Miles not a Gillespie follower?

File under: Talking to myself. Donald Byrd does me one better and says that Clifford was better than Dizzy Gillespie. Ecco: http://www.jazztimes.com/columns_and_features/before_and_after/index.cfm?artist=47&track=397&action=before