Joy Spring


"Joy Spring" is a 1954 jazz composition by Clifford Brown that became his signature work. The title was his pet name for his wife Larue.

Early history

Brown first recorded "Joy Spring" in a studio session led by him on August 6, 1954, at Capitol Recording Studios, in Los Angeles, with Harold Land, Richie Powell, George Morrow, and Max Roach. They did two takes – and.
Six days later, at the same studio, Brown, as leader, recorded Jack Montrose's arrangement of it with Stu Williamson, Zoot Sims, Bob Gordon, Russ Freeman, Joe Mondragon, and Shelly Manne. That take has been issued on several albums, including Jazz Messages, Clifford Brown & Max Roach, and Jazz Immortal – Featuring Zoot Sims.
Larue Anderson, before marrying Brown, had been a classical music student at the University of Southern California. Without any knowledge of jazz theory – and, in particular, without any knowledge of bebop articulations, phrasing, and the use of half-step progressions, tritone substitutions, and other musical features of the style – she had begun writing a thesis titled "Classics versus Jazz". Max Roach, her friend who introduced her to Brown, 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.

Covers

In 1985, Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics to Brown's music and the song was performed and published by Manhattan Transfer on their album Vocalese with the title "Sing Joy Spring".