← All Albums
EmArcy · 1955

Study in Brown

Clifford Brown and Max Roach

Recorded: February 23-25, 1955   Original cat#: MG-36037
Clifford Brown and Max Roach — Study in Brown album cover

Study in Brown was recorded on February 23, 24 and 25, 1955 at Capitol Studios in New York, produced by Bob Shad. It was the third of four studio albums the Clifford Brown and Max Roach quintet completed for EmArcy. Harold Land plays tenor saxophone, Richie Powell piano and George Morrow bass. EmArcy released it in 1955 as MG-36037 in mono.

The choice is between a 1955 original and three later audiophile editions. One of those is a 2012 Mosaic box that includes this album alongside the rest of the quintet's EmArcy work. Its mastering chain and the 2021 reissue's tape source have both been questioned, and both questions have answers.

Best early pressing for audiophiles: EmArcy MG-36037, the 1955 mono original on the drummer label with a silver rim.

Best modern pressing for audiophiles: The Verve Acoustic Sounds Series edition (2021), catalogue B0032412-01.

Best-value modern: The 2007 Speakers Corner reissue.

Recording history and tape provenance

The quintet followed Clifford Brown & Max Roach and Brown and Roach Incorporated, both from 1954. It preceded Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Street in 1956. That was the last album the group recorded.

Brown and Powell died together in a car accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in June 1956. Several tracks here became standards, including Land's "Lands End" and Brown's "Sandu." Brown's solo on "Cherokee" is among the most acclaimed in jazz, per Wikipedia.

A first attempt at gathering the complete quintet recordings came in 1976. Japanese producer Kiyoshi Koyama later dug through EmArcy's vaults repeatedly. He turned up enough material for releases titled More Study In Brown and eventually a complete box set.

A release with this title but an unfamiliar subtitle or a longer track list is likely one of those archival compilations, not the 1955 program.

Original EmArcy pressings (1955)

EmArcy MG-36037 is the mono first pressing. The label is blue with silver print and a narrow silver band at the edge, with the small drummer logo and a deep groove. The jacket has blue print on the reverse, and a later white-backed variant shares the catalogue number.

Auction records describe a slight surface cloudiness as characteristic of early Mercury and EmArcy pressings. That affects how surface noise should be judged on a copy.

EmArcy and Mercury kept the album in print, and later pressings under the same number date from 1961 onwards.

Mosaic MRLP 3004 (2012)

Mosaic issued the complete Brown and Roach EmArcy quintet catalogue as a limited 4LP box, including this album. An engineer credited as Ryan Smith mastered it.

Stereophile's review notes an ADA mastering chain, meaning analog tape to a digital step and back to analog cutting, rather than a pure analog path. It rates both performances and sonics at the top of its scale regardless.

Whether that Ryan Smith is the Ryan K. Smith credited on the 2021 reissue could not be confirmed here. The credits are treated separately until it is. The box is long out of print.

Verve Acoustic Sounds Series (2021)

The Acoustic Sounds edition appeared on January 29, 2021, catalogue B0032412-01, as a standalone 180g LP in a gatefold. Series listings credit Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound, with pressing at Quality Record Pressings.

Some collectors asked whether this cut came from a later tape generation than 1990s digital transfers. The 2008 Universal fire destroyed much of that vault.

One Discogs owner who has both an original first pressing and the reissue addressed that by ear rather than by assumption. That owner reports the reissue's bass extension and treble detail clearly surpassing the original, with no sign of the tape-generation problem.

Buyer's guide by budget

$$$: The 2007 Speakers Corner reissue, with no confirmed mastering credit.

$$$$: The Verve Acoustic Sounds Series edition, a standalone LP rather than part of a box.

$$$$: A clean EmArcy MG-36037 original, with the drummer label and deep groove confirmed.

$$$$$: The Mosaic MRLP 3004 box, if a copy turns up, for the complete quintet catalogue.

Pressing tier summary

Tier ⇅ Pressing Cat# Year ⇅ Format Source / Mastering Notes Market ⇅
A Verve Acoustic Sounds Series B0032412-01 2021 Mono, 33⅓, 180g Ryan K. Smith, Sterling Sound, per series listings. Pressed at QRP Standalone LP, gatefold. One owner prefers it to an original –
A Mosaic box set MRLP 3004 2012 Mono, 33⅓, in a 4LP box Ryan Smith. ADA chain, not pure analog, per Stereophile Complete Brown and Roach EmArcy quintet catalogue. Out of print –
A EmArcy original MG-36037 1955 Mono, 33⅓ EmArcy lacquer First pressing. Drummer label, silver rim, deep groove, blue-backed jacket
7 for sale · from $27
$226VG+
$296NM
$331M
B Speakers Corner MG-36037 2007 Mono, 33⅓ Not credited No published review or mastering credit found –
– EmArcy and Mercury repressings MG-36037 / MG 36037 1961 onwards Mono, 33⅓ Not credited Not rated. Later label designs under the same number –

References

Related guides: Clifford Brown & Max Roach · Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown

Know something we don't? Spotted an error or have a pressing to add?

Edit this page on GitHub