Clifford Benjamin Brown was born on October 30, 1930. An American jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer, he died on June 26, 1956, at the age of 25, in a car crash.

Despite the short career, he left behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions such as Sandu, Joy Spring and Daahoud have become jazz standards, played by generations of musicians.

Brown won DownBeat magazine's Critics' Poll for New Star of the Year in 1954 and was inducted into the publication's Jazz Hall of Fame in 1972, sealing an influence that outlived the years he was active.