Clifford Jordan – These Are My Roots

At first glance, this appears to be a very illogical album. Back in 1965, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan recorded a tribute to the late folksinger Leadbelly. The date, originally cut for Atlantic and reissued by Koch in 1999, is actually more successful than one might expect. Jordan performs nine of Leadbelly's originals (including the hit "Goodnight Irene"), turning the music into jazz without lessening the impact of the melodies or their folk roots. Trumpeter Roy Burrowes, trombonist Julian Priester, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath are on most of the selections along with Jordan, while Chuck Wayne (on guitar and banjo) helps out on four tunes, and pianist Cedar Walton is on three. The fine young singer Sandra Douglass is excellent on "Take This Hammer" and "Black Girl." Overall, this project is an unexpected success – one would not have thought that Clifford Jordan and Leadbelly had that much in common!

Discussing "roots" in the context of jazz, a good starting point is the Mississippi delta, down in New Orleans, where the music of trumpeters King Oliver and Louis Armstrong grew strong. And then there's the rich earth of the delta in north western Mississippi, up near Clarksdale, where the blues grew and blossomed. The roots from both these areas were, of course, transplanted from Africa. Chicago-based saxophonist Geof Bradfield follows up his marvelous Melba! (Origin Records, 2013) with Our Roots, drawing his inspiration from saxophonist Clifford Jordan's These Are My Roots: the Music of Lead Belly (Atlantic Records, 1965), a celebration of the music of blues man Huddie Ledbetter, taking the raw folk and blues stylings and turning it into a very legitimate and inspiring jazz outing. It was Geof Bradfield's self-imposed job, with his Our Roots, to bring a new perspective to an album he had long loved.

Recorded in 1985, this is a great straight-ahead quintet session led by veteran trombonist Slide Hampton. A fine player, Slide is also a talented composer and arranger; all these skills are amply displayed on this disk. Slide and Clifford Jordan (tenor sax) play especially well together and their warm, fluid horns are supported by the fine play of pianist Cedar Walton, bassist David Williams, and drummer Billy Higgins. Both Walton and (especially) Higgins have appeared on many classic jazz recordings over the years, and they both shine here. I wasn't familiar with the bassist, but he certainly holds up his end and is well-captured in the recording. Each of the musicians gets nice solo space, but it's the arrangements and overall interplay of the group that are probably most impressive. The overall feel of this date is quite relaxed, yet there's no shortage of energy.
Four 8 to 12 minute tracks comprised the original LP, including originals by Jordan ("Precipice"), Walton ("Maple Street"), and Hampton ("Roots"), and a Miles Davis composition ("Solar"). The CD includes 4 additional tracks (1 alternate take and 3 new tunes) probably recorded at the same session. One of the bonus tracks, "Barbados," a Charlie Parker composition which gets a new arrangement here, is as good as the 4 original tracks, and was probably left off the original album only for lack of space. The other 3 bonus tracks sound a bit tentative in places. A fine, often over-looked session from the 1980s. Highly recommended.

Mosaic is very pleased to present "The Complete Bee Hive Sessions." Spanning 1977 to 1984, they include so many names you will know and so much music, you won't believe you haven't heard it. This set includes 110 tracks on 12 CDs, including six tracks released only on a rare sampler and three tracks previously unissued. The deluxe booklet features an historical essay and track-by-track analysis by Aaron Cohen, plus rare photographs from the actual sessions. All sessions have been added their corresponding tracks from the 17th. LP, "The Unissued Sessions" to make a truly comprehensive set! Johnny Hartman’s album "Once in Every Life" (his next-to-last album as he made a record for Audiophile 12 days later) had never been reissued on CD at the right speed at which ace engineer Ben Rizzi recorded the sessions until this Bee Hive collection.

While it was captured over the course a single night, there’s a rich lifetime’s worth of music packed into The Iron Man: Live at Smoke. If it’s a slight overstatement to say that the album represents an autobiography in song, that’s only because 82-year-old jazz master Harold Mabern tells his story in every note that he plays. That’s as true of the melodies he’s been interpreting for more then half a century – as many of the tunes on The Iron Man are – as it is of the always inspired music that flows spontaneously from the great pianist’s fingers.

While it was captured over the course a single night, there’s a rich lifetime’s worth of music packed into The Iron Man: Live at Smoke. If it’s a slight overstatement to say that the album represents an autobiography in song, that’s only because 82-year-old jazz master Harold Mabern tells his story in every note that he plays. That’s as true of the melodies he’s been interpreting for more then half a century – as many of the tunes on The Iron Man are – as it is of the always inspired music that flows spontaneously from the great pianist’s fingers.