Clifford Jordan

Clifford Jordan - The Adventurer (1978) {Muse-32 Jazz 32181 rel 2000}
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© 1978, 2000 Muse Records / 32 Jazz | 32181
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Saxophone

Wonderful date of sinfully underrated tenor giant Clifford Jordan with perfect support of master pianist Tommy Flanagan and seasoned rhythm section of Bill Lee (Spike Lee's father) on bass and the great Grady Tate on drums. Just a version of Bird's Quasimodo alone is worth the price. Clifford plays a classic solo on this one. Beautiful sax piano duo version of Billie Holiday classic and seldom heard No More is also among the highlights. Clifford was an exceptionally good writer of tunes as well as a great tenor stylist and a few of his gems are included here. Don't miss this recording, there is no one today, to my knowledge, that plays on the level of Clifford Jordan.

Clifford Jordan & The Magic Triangle - On Stage, Volume 2 (1975) {SteepleChase SCCD31092 rel 1992}
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© 1975, 1992 SteepleChase | SCCD31092
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Saxophone

The second of three volumes recorded in 1975 featuring tenorist Clifford Jordan with Cedar Walton, Sam Jones, and Billy Higgins finds the quartet in top form. Walton's "Midnight Waltz" is the first of three extended performances, the upbeat midtempo waltz featuring a rollicking solo by its composer, while Jordan's suave playing is buoyed by Higgins' driving rhythm. Walton's "Bleecker Street Theme" sounds more like a set closer due to its barely one-minute length; then the focus turns to standards, including a spacious treatment of "I Should Care" that has Jordan taking quite a few liberties with the melody from the very beginning, followed by a glistening interpretation of "Stella by Starlight." The CD reissue adds Higgins' tribute "Alias Buster Williams," which opens with a drum solo and then transforms into an uptempo post-bop setting with a Latin undercurrent as the band is added.

Two excellent early Clifford Jordan albums, Starting Time and A Story Tale, are reissued in full on this single CD. Jordan, whose sound was just beginning to become quite distinctive in 1961, is heard with a quintet also including trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Wilbur Ware, and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, and on a set with altoist Sonny Red, Tommy Flanagan or Ronnie Mathews on piano, bassist Art Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. With the exception of four selections, all 16 tunes are group originals. Best-known are Walton's "Mosaic" and "One Flight Down," but all of the music is high-quality hard bop. Dorham and Red are both in excellent form, constantly challenging Jordan. Fine if formerly obscure music.

Four of the five selections on this CD reissue (which also includes "Tenderly") are obscure jazz originals by altoist John Jenkins, tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, or trombonist Julian Priester. Inspired by both Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean, Jenkins teams up with Jordan, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Wilbur Ware, and drummer Dannie Richmond for some bop-oriented improvising. Strange that this would be one of only two sets led by Jenkins. Although the Blue Note CD, recorded just 16 days later, gets the edge, this is an excellent effort too.

Lee Morgan & Clifford Jordan Quintet - Live In Baltimore 1968 (2014) {Fresh Sound FSR-CD 824}
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© 1968, 2014 Fresh Sound Records | FSR-CD 824
Jazz / Hard Bop / Trumpet / Saxophone

Lee Morgan’s first meeting on record with Clifford Jordan was in June 1957, when Morgan was about to turn nineteen and Jordan had just begun making a name for himself. After their first collaboration, the precocious Morgan occasionally called Jordan to play tenor on his recordings; thus they recorded together twice in 1960 and once in January 1962.

Clifford Jordan - Soul Fountain (1966) {Vortex–Wounded Bird WOU201 rel 2008}
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© 1966, 2008 Vortex Records / Wounded Bird Records | WOU 201
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Jazz Funk / Saxophone

A very unusual album from Clifford Jordan – a session of shorter soul jazz numbers cut in the years between his earlier hardbop albums and his later, more righteous sounds of the 70s! The style here is straightforward and to the point – very much in the Atlantic soul jazz style of the late 60s, but with some looser, freer touches – especially on Jordan's solos, which are especially nice! There's organ on a fair bit of tracks on the record – played by either John Patton or Frank Owens – and other players include Jimmy Owens on trumpet, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Most tracks also have added percussion at the bottom (some by Ray Barretto) – making for a slightly more complicated groove that comes across with some headier sounds than you might expect! Jordan not only plays his usual tenor, but also flute and a bit of piano.