Clifford Jordan

[Ian Thumwood]

I forgot to mention that I bumped in to one of my old friends in Vienne and he recounted a number of musicians with whom he has toured with. I've previously mentioned that both Hank Mobley and Nathan Davis were mentioned in a conversation we had a few years back but this time the name of Clifford Jordan came up. I vaguely recall his playing from some Mingus records but my friend explained that he was a hugely under-rated tenor saxophonist and was staggered by the flow of his ideas when he went on tour with him. Apparently he died in modest circumstances sometime in the 1980's without being properly appreciated by either fans or critics. Alain was extremely enthusiastic and more positive about Jordan's work that the other two tenor men - it sounded like Mobley was past his prime when he worked with him (I think he had serious drug problems by the time he was touring Europe) but I can't recall anyone ever lauding Clifford Jordan on this board.

Judging by this track with an all-star quartet I would tend to agree with Alain:-

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I forgot to mention that I bumped in to one of my old friends in Vienne and he recounted a number of musicians with whom he has toured with. I've previously mentioned that both Hank Mobley and Nathan Davis were mentioned in a conversation we had a few years back but this time the name of Clifford Jordan came up. I vaguely recall his playing from some Mingus records but my friend explained that he was a hugely under-rated tenor saxophonist and was staggered by the flow of his ideas when he went on tour with him. Apparently he died in modest circumstances sometime in the 1980's without being properly appreciated by either fans or critics. Alain was extremely enthusiastic and more positive about Jordan's work that the other two tenor men - it sounded like Mobley was past his prime when he worked with him (I think he had serious drug problems by the time he was touring Europe) but I can't recall anyone ever lauding Clifford Jordan on this board.

Judging by this track with an all-star quartet I would tend to agree with Alain:-

BIG fan of Clifford Jordan. The Jazzland dates of the early 1960s, the Strata East stuff, the later quartet with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins. Hell of a player. There's a rare album with Don Cherry and Wilbur Ware which Do the Maths praise highly.

BN.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Wilbur Ware - "Super Bass"

"The quartet cuts only enhance the picture by
featuring Ware in the company of his
colleagues, where his superlative skills at
ceaselessly creative accompaniment also shine.
The absence of piano works wonders in this
regard, allowing Ware to fill the cracks in
close concert with Blackwell, who while slightly
tentative in places, regularly shows off his
masterly command of dynamics, particularly
on the magnificent “Wilbur’s Red Cross.”

Jordan blows with authority and soul
throughout, whether on his own simmering
blues “Mod House” or the muted reverie “A
Real Nice Lady.” Cherry is only slightly less
focused, and the horns make for winning
tandem. Alternate takes of two tunes don’t add
much to their original iterations, and one is
marred by an abrupt tape end, but considering
the rarity of the music to begin with, it’s a
pleasure to have them, too. Forty-five years is
a long time to wait for a revelatory set such as
this. What it means for renewed exposure to
Ware’s artistry makes the trade well worth it."

BN.

[Serial_Apologist]

I must listen to this clip tomorrow: Clifford Jordan, whom we saw at Cadogan Hall today lunchtime, sounds like the model for Brandon Allen, the Aussie-born tenor player who sometimes worked with Stan Tracey, rather than Dexter Gordon. My knowledge of 50s tenorists beyond the usual - Getz etc - is poor.

Edit: oops, bit of a senior moment there, obviously

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"Strata-East began as a collaboration between
pianist Stanley Cowell and trumpeter Charles
Tolliver, who were forced into "self-
publishing" when they couldn't find a label
that would issue and market their "Music Inc."
album. Clifford Jordan liked what he heard and
asked the team if they could press and release
sessions he had made headlined by Pharoah
Sanders, Charles Brackeen, Cecil Payne, Ed
Blackwell, Wilbur Ware and himself on dates
from 1968 and '69. The session led by Ware
went unreleased until 2012, and the Blackwell
session makes its first appearance here.

Mosaic's newest box set, "The Complete
Clifford Jordan Strata-East Sessions," bundles
them all for the first time ever. It features the
6 outstanding unreleased tracks, by Ed
Blackwell with a drum ensemble and a quartet
featuring Don Cherry. Collectively, the sessions
are a microcosm of the jazz world in the
1970s, where the power was always on and the
ideas were electrifying.

Unsurprisingly, every track is an original -
there's not one standard tune in the lot.
Independence in music and in life.
At the time, the independent jazz movement
was more than a search for ways to create art
that was more personal, sometimes even
spiritual. Musicians were testing ways to exist
off the grid of the typical financial and
commercial restraints that had never favored
them.

Strata-East was an important part of that
experiment. It left the music to the creators,
giving them freedom to record whatever they
wanted. The label handled distribution and
promotion. It became an important outlet for
musicians, established and new, to give life to
what they were hearing in their hearts.
Jordan was like a super-collider of old and
new: his own session includes Don Cherry,
Julian Priester, Richard Davis, Wynton Kelly,
Wilbur Ware and Albert Heath on one date,
Kenny Dorham, Ed Blackwell, and Roy Haynes
with Kelly, Ware and Davis on another."

BN.

[Ian Thumwood]

As I said on another thread, as you get older the more you appreciate this kind of stuff. I totally agree with the comments about the musicians listed above changing the music. The 1950's are also something of a mystery to me yet I find it fascinating just how many musicians seemed to reach musical maturity in the 1960's and arrive at a point where the music sounds absolutely timeless.

Even a blowing session like this is pretty good. (Vonski being another name never getting any kudos on this board.)

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

this is pretty timeless too

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

"Sonny
Rollins, who
rarely provides
blurbs, called
Glass Bead
Games “Clifford
Jordan at his
best…with a
great band!”

The album
consisted entirely
of Jordan
compositions, a
practice often
adopted for the
wrong reasons.
Jordan followed it
for the right
ones; he was an
accomplished
and original
composer, and he
was inspired by
Herman Hesse’s
novel The Glass
Bead Game. His
music captures
something of the
mystery and
strange energy of
that story. The
playing by all
hands–but
particularly by
Jordan–is
exceptional.

Issued as a
double LP on the
Strata East label,
the album finds
Jordan
maintaining his
commitment to
mainstream
values while
edging into the
freedom of new
music pioneered
by colleagues like
Eric Dolphy,
Ornette Coleman
and John
Coltrane. "

BN.