[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 162 (Friday, December 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S13778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REMEMBERING CLIFFORD BROWN AND LARUE BROWN WATSON

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, October 30, 2005, marked the 75th 
birthday of Clifford Benjamin Brown, one of this Nation's great jazz 
musicians. Born into a large, middle-class, African-American family in 
Wilmington, DE, Clifford Brown was the youngest of eight children and 
inherited his love and passion for music from his father, Joe Brown. He 
began to show interest in the trumpet at a young age, and by the time 
he turned 12, he was engaged in private lessons. He attended Howard 
High School in Wilmington, where he was encouraged to play music by 
ear. He studied math at the University of Delaware and music at 
Maryland State College.
  His career as a jazz trumpeter was monumental. He performed alongside 
such music legends as Miles Davis and Fats Navarro, while combining his 
sounds and style with those of Art Farmer, Dizzy Gillespie and Dinah 
Washington. Clifford played in Chris Powell's Blue Flames Band and the 
Brown-Roach Quintet. Sadly, Clifford Brown's promising and 
extraordinary career was tragically cut short when a car accident took 
his life on June 26, 1956. He was only 25 years old.
  But the legacy of Clifford Brown extended far beyond his years 
through the efforts of his wife LaRue, whom he had married in 1954. 
LaRue helped to launch the Los Angeles Jazz Heritage Foundation's 
program which served underprivileged children, and founded the Clifford 
Brown Jazz Foundation.
  LaRue Brown Watson passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2005 at the age 
of 72. She is survived by her children, Clifford Brown, Jr., Adrienne 
Traywick and Brian Watson, her son-in-law Clarence Traywick, and many 
grandchildren, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
  Today, I stand and lead the Senate in paying tribute to the life of 
the great Clifford Brown and in lamenting the passing of his widow, 
LaRue Brown Watson.

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