Audio
Charles A. Robertson : September, 1958

In its gift of saxophonists to jazz, Chicago’s DuSable High may soon acquire the fame Austin High School boasted in another day. Among Cliff Jordan‘s classmates were Johnny Griffin, John Gilmore, and John Jenkins, all visitors to Manhattan recording studios. The young tenorman mines a rich blues strata here, urged on by pianist Sonny Clark. His three originals are formed with strong, flowing lines and contain reflective muted passages by trumpeter Art Farmer. They exercise their ingenuity on Parker‘s Confirmation, and a faster paced Anthropology. Jordan, with Clark and bassist George Tucker, makes a beautiful solo vehicle of Sophisticated Lady, impinging on her more earthy qualities. Louis Hayes is on drums.

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Down Beat : 06/12/1958
Dom Cerulli : 4 stars

A thoroughly enjoyable set of blowing-plus has been fashioned by Jordan, Farmer & Co. in this collection.

Farmer is superb throughout, particularly on the title tune, which is highlighted by some snappy ensemble work, somewhat a rarity in solo showcase LPs.

Jordan is fine, too. His hard-toned tenor shows considerable development here. On Sophisticated Lady, a tenor solo with rhythm, his tone and substance are quiet and moody. On this track, particularly, Jordan shows that he is more than a free-booting soloist, but one also from whom we can expect moving ballad jazz, too.

Clark‘s piano is impressive, and rhythm support by Tucker and Hayes is valuable.

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Liner Notes by Robert Levin

This is an outstanding record for several reasons, the most important being the strong-toned, vibrant saxophone of Clifford Jordan who has never played with more spirit and energy than he does here. Although still very much under the influence of Sonny Rollins, Cliff is unquestionably the most impressive of all the recent emergents from the Rollins school. He plays with a hard warmth and his moving lines are well constructed and melodic.

This album also serves to point out what a group of sensitive and talented musicians can do when they are recording under uninhibited and relaxed conditions. Judging by the music, as well as the comments by Cliff after the date, this seems to have been a gig everyone enjoyed playing. much too often these days, there is a frequency on the part of a great many young musicians to get an angry sound that they believe is synonymous with funk. But Cliff and his associates disprove this theory. They are funky, but in no way are they acrimonious or pretentious about it. No one on this record is trying to out-funk anyone else. Rather, there is a smooth joining of allied concepts and the results are self-evident and wholly satisfying.

Jordan (who assumes his worthy role as a leader for the third time on Blue Note – BLP 1565 and BLP 1549, with John Gilmore, were his preceding efforts) was born in Chicago on September 2, 1931 and began his musical studies on the piano at an early age. “It was kind of a forced deal – my mother wanted me to play.” He picked up the tenor when he was fourteen because it was “the hip thing to be playing horn” in his neighborhood at the time. He says Lester Young was his first big influence but maintains that he liked and listened to everyone. Once he had achieved a working knowledge of his tenor, Cliff began playing around town with some of his DuSable High classmates; Johnny Griffin, John Gilmore and John Jenkins. His first professional gig was with Max Roach and was followed by jobs with Sonny Stitt and various rhythm and blues bands. He left Chicago to replace Sonny Rollins in the Max Roach quintet and then switched places with Hank Mobley to go with Horace Silver‘s unit where he has since remained. Cliff’s favorites include Rollins, John Coltrane, Mobley and Don Byas and he says that he even likes Big Jay McNeeley on tenor. Other preferred instrumentalists are Miles, Wilbur Ware, Silver, Sonny Clark, Hank Jones, Art Blakey, Max Roach, and Philly Joe Jones.

Art Farmer, Cliff’s horn-mate with Silver, was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and raise in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1945, with brother Addison (a talented bassist) he went to Los Angeles where we worked with Horace Henderson. He journeyed east several years later gigging around New York with people like Lester Young and Rollins and then returned to the coast working variously with Benny Carter, Wardell Gray, etc. In 1952 he went with Lionel Hampton for a year before coming once again to New York which has since remained his home base and where he has, up until his stint with Horace, been heard most often with Gigi Gryce.

Bassist George Tucker, born in Palatka, Florida on December 10, 1927, did not begin playing until 1948 after a hitch in the army. He came to New York then and studied at the New York Conservatory of Modern Music. His first job was with the Bubba Johnson trio and soon afterwards he joined Earl Bostic‘s band that had Blue Mitchell and Benny Golson; “There were a lot of really good people in that band who never really had a chance to play much jazz.” After Bostic, George worked around New York with John Coltrane, Jackie McLean and Freddie Redd and spent some time with Golson at the Moulin Rouge. He was also the “house” bassist at the Continental in Brooklyn for seven weeks. George says that his favorite bass players are Oscar Pettiford, Paul Chambers, Red Mitchell, Al McKibbon and Ray Brown. George also lists as preferences, Bird, Miles (“Miles has influenced me musically, more than anyone else.” Clifford Brown, Rollins, Jordan, Blue Mitchell, Curtis Fuller, Don Byrd, Lou Donaldson, Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, Wynton Kelly and Gil Coggins. “I dig a lot of the young cats like Louis Hayes – he’s so promising and young with so much time ahead of him to do great things in.” Currently a member of Kenny Burrell’s group, George feels that the bass is “the only way I can really express myself.”

Sonny Clark, a Pittsburgh product, was born on July 21, 1931. His professional career, which began in 1951, has carried him to both ends of the United States and much of Europe. Recently returned from an extended period on the west coast where he worked with the Lighthouse All-Stars, Buddy DeFranco and scores of others, Sonny has recorded a brace of LPs for Blue Note (several under his leadership) in addition to gigging with Rollins, J.R. Monterose and Charlie Mingus. Louis Hayes, the twenty year old drummer, is the third member of the Silver quintet represented here. Originally from Detroit, Louis has spent most of his time with Silver and a few other musicians of import in the New York area.

Side one is comprised of three originals by Jordan. Laconia (Cliff’s middle name) opens with a Latin intro followed by a muted Farmer and a lightly swinging Clark. Cliff comes on next and moves with strength through a brace of intriguing choruses before the return to the theme.

Soul-Lo Blues has its funky mood set by Tucker and Clark before the horns move into the unison theme. Cliff shows his abilities as a soloist to fine advantage here, delivering long, flowing lines that are deeply submerged in the blues. Farmer’s statement has a sharp, biting quality and Clark rolls with blue-ease through his bit.

The title tune, Cliff Craft, has a bright, stop-go theme with Cliff taking off for a driving, heated stint with Art and Sonny succeeding him in a similar fashion. Both horns engage themselves in exciting conversation with Louis before the close.

Side two is kicked off with Charlie Parker‘s Confirmation. Cliff again demonstrates his ability to flow in an engaging line with a wide range that is very similar to Sonny Rollins’. Farmer, in a slightly Milesish mood, and Clark, follow Cliff. The group adds a riff pattern with Louis taking several breaks and then goes back to the “head”, giving way briefly to Tucker, and then closing.

Sophisticated Lady, the beautiful Duke Ellington song, features two solos by Cliff with Sonny and George making soft, reflective statements in between. Cliff is also in a somewhat reflective mood and playing in a gentle, pretty manner.

Anthropology, the Parker-Gillespie tune has then entire group in an “up” and wailing groove. Art, Cliff and Sonny are the soloists with Louis coming up for some exchanges near the end.

Cliff Jordan plays with an imaginative, vital conception that is consistently effective and meaningful. He stands, right now, as one of the most important tenor saxophonists in modern jazz.