Free Jazz Standard Sheet Music Downloads

"Blues Walk" is a hard bop classic composed by trumpeter Clifford Brown and recorded in February 1955. Brown, who tragically died in a car accident at just 25, left behind this buoyant blues number as one of his most enduring contributions to the jazz repertoire.

The tune is a 12-bar blues in B♭, built on a catchy, riff-based melody set to a medium swing groove. What makes the recording truly memorable is its structure beyond the solos: after trumpet and tenor saxophone choruses and a Max Roach drum feature, the horns engage in an exhilarating series of trading—four bars, then two, then one, then half-bar exchanges—before launching into the out-head. This call-and-response interplay showcases the extraordinary communication within the quintet.

The definitive recording appears on the Clifford Brown–Max Roach Quintet's album Study in Brown (EmArcy, 1955), featuring Harold Land on tenor saxophone, Richie Powell on piano, and George Morrow on bass.