In the 1950s many of the greatest jazz musicians believed genius required a life of self-destruction. Clifford Brown shattered that myth before his 26th birthday, playing with a precision that stunned Miles Davis and Charlie Parker while never touching drugs and having almost no interest in alcohol. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1930, he sang in a family vocal quartet, fell for his father's trumpet at 10, got his own horn and private lessons at 13, and commuted to Philadelphia for advanced instruction while still in high school. He enrolled at Delaware State as a math major before transferring to Maryland State College for its 14-piece jazz band.

This episode explores how a mathematically inclined mind mapped onto bebop's rapid-fire chord changes, the June 1950 car crash that left him unable to form an embouchure for months and brought D ...