Clifford Jordan

Max Roach - Speak, Brother, Speak (1962) {Debut–Fantasy OJCCD-646-2 rel 1991}
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© 1962, 1991 Debut / Fantasy | OJCCD-646-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Post Bop / Drums

A live set put out on Debut has two very lengthy tracks (the 25-minute "Speak, Brother, Speak" and the 22-and-a-half-minute "A Variation") featuring solos by tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan, pianist Mal Waldron, bassist Eddie Khan, and drummer Max Roach (who wrote both of the pieces). The music is somewhere between hard bop and avant-garde, and the musicians really push each other, although the results are not quite essential. Jordan fans in particular will find this to be an interesting set.

Andrew Hill - Shades (1986) {Soul Note SN1113CD}
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© 1986 Soul Note | SN 1113 CD
Jazz / Modern Jazz / Post Bop / Piano

Andrew Hill works mostly in a trio here – a great group with Rufus Reid on bass and Ben Riley on drums – but also gets some help from Clifford Jordan's tenor on a few tracks, which really makes the album stand out from other Hill dates of the time! The core group is already great – and Reid and Riley bring a slightly straighter vibe to the date, and a sound that's filled with plenty of soul – and when Jordan joins in, there's almost a classic hardbop approach going on – quite a change from usual for Andrew, and proof that he can handle just about anything that comes his way. Hill still throws out plenty of creative piano lines throughout – those deft, modern moments that are always illuminating, even amidst a straighter swing – with a tension that's not unlike his Grass Roots album.

Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Phil Woods - International Jam Sessions (1995) {Xanadu XCD1232 rec 1950-1957}
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© 1950-57, 1995 Xanadu Records | XCD1232
Jazz / Bebop / Saxophone / Trumpet

This Xanadu LP has an odd title because only half of the music can be described as international. There are four valuable selections that feature the remarkable altoist Charlie Parker with a group of Swedes (including trumpeter Rolf Ericson) and the great trumpeter Clifford Brown is heard playing a lengthy "Indiana" in 1953 with a group of erratic Danish musicians. Side two of the album is from New York with altoist Phil Woods, Frank Socolow on tenor and baritonist Cecil Payne in a sextet performing fairly long versions of "Yardbird Suite" and "Scrapple from the Apple"; those renditions have since been reissued by Savoy.

Recorded early in the trumpeter's career, this fine release originally issued by Vee-Jay Records has been given new life over the years through at least a couple of reissues. This one includes four previously released alternate takes from the seven tracks, each of which features a strong hard bop quintet, with Art Blakey on drums, Eddie Higgins on piano, Art Davis on bass, and Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone. The set is a tad more laid-back than the later classic Blue Note sessions. Nonetheless, this one offers its rewards, including a rare chance to hear Eddie Higgins in full force, a late of Blakey as a sideman, and a stunning front line with unsung giant Clifford Jordan. Morgan is in good form, swinging and blowing passionately, and his interpretations of "Easy Living" and "Just in Time" are among his best.

Further Explorations by the Horace Silver Quintet is an album by jazz pianist Horace Silver released on the Blue Note label in 1958 featuring performances by Silver with Art Farmer, Clifford Jordan, Teddy Kotick, and Louis Hayes. The Japanese editions feature the same artwork shown here, but have blue as dominant colour instead of yellow. The Allmusic review by Steve Leggett awarded the album 4 stars and states "Further Explorations is a solid, even striking outing, and if it isn't maybe quite as flashy as some of its predecessors, it is no less substantive and revealing".