# Clifford Jordan epitomized the Chicago tenor sound: Videos, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2022/11/21/clifford-jordan-epitomized-the-chicago-tenor-sound-videos-photos/
- Published: 2022-11-21T00:02:44+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Ironically, his rare ability to fit in playing either bluesy hard bop or exploratory
avant-garde jazz might’ve been why he doesn’t stand out more among the giants of
his era. When tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan died in 1993, he hadn’t lived in
Chicago for nearly 40 years, but he was still beloved here. “Clifford’s personality
was warm and sincere, just like his tone on the saxophone,” Chicago tenor titan 
Von Freeman told Howard Reich at the Tribune. “He was a beautiful person—he helped
me and a lot of other people get some recordings and gigs in New York.” **

In the same obituary, Chicago drummer Wilbur Campbell called Jordan’s approach to
music “incredibly serious and strong-willed.” One of Jordan’s longtime collaborators,
trumpeter and flugelhorn player Art Farmer, reflected on their bond: “I think Clifford
and I got on so well because we both liked to make [musical] statements, as opposed
to playing bunches of notes,” he explained to the Trib. “Clifford developed an individual
voice. He was one of the genuine jazz players. He had extremely sensitive ears—he
could match his sound to whatever ensemble he was playing with.”

Reader critic Peter Margasak reviewed a Jordan box set in 2013, calling him “one
of the most versatile representatives of the Chicago tenor sound that emerged from
DuSable High School under the leadership of Captain Walter Dyett—other exponents
included Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Johnny Griffin, and John Gilmore.”

Jordan was celebrated during his life, and many of his albums remain highly regarded—
in terms of recordings, he was one of the most prolific jazz artists of his era.
But I don’t think he gets the shine he should, and Margasak agrees: “He doesn’t 
seem as revered as his cohorts these days,” he wrote. “I think part of the reason
for that is that Jordan was a curious and elegant musician who tried on many hats
during his career.”

Clifford Laconia Jordan was born in Chicago on September 2, 1931, and he began playing
piano (after a fashion) when he was still a baby. “I’d sit on the pedals and holler,”
he said in an interview for music publisher Concord, “with the loud pedal on.” He
soon began taking music lessons, and he also became fascinated with the delivery
men in his community, who drove horse-drawn carriages to move such goods as coal,
milk, and ice.

Jordan would follow the drivers to their stables. “The black intelligentsia—doctors
and lawyers who were sportsmen as well—frequented the stables,” he told Concord,“
and that’s where you heard all the good music on the jukebox.” At age 13, Jordan
took up the saxophone, and by 16, inspired by his hero Charlie Parker, he’d decided
it was his life’s calling.

Jordan was lucky to study with the hard-as-nails Dyett at Bronzeville’s DuSable 
High, where the music program produced a steady stream of future legends. “A lot
of people wanted to be in the band but the instructor wouldn’t let any bad apples
in there,” he recalled. “Once he detected you couldn’t play he’d kick you out of
the band room. He didn’t stand for any foolishness.”

Jordan’s first gig was at a dance where he led a band for five dollars per musician.
Soon he was playing gritty R&B with the likes of bassist-songwriter Willie Dixon,
jump-blues journeyman Joseph “Cool Breeze” Bell, and drummer-bandleaders Jack “Cowboy”
Cooley (who’d played with Albert Ammons & His Rhythm Kings) and Armand “Jump” Jackson.

Saxophonists Johnny Griffin and John Gilmore, both classmates of Jordan’s at DuSable,
hit the circuit with him. “We would play at the old Cotton Club, at 62nd and Cottage
Grove,” Wilbur Campbell told the _Trib_. “We’d jam to all hours of the night, Clifford,
Gilmore, Griffin and me.” Gilmore, a longtime Sun Ra sideman, would be crucial to
Jordan’s next career phase in New York.

[⌊Clifford̲ J̲o̲r̲dan̲ ̲& John̲ ̲Gi̲l̲m̲o̲r̲e̲ – B̲l̲o̲w̲i̲n̲g I̲n̲ F̲r̲o̲m̲ Ch̲i̲c̲a̲g̲o
(̲19̲5̲7̲̲)⌉⌊Clifford̲ J̲o̲r̲dan̲ ̲& John̲ ̲Gi̲l̲m̲o̲r̲e̲ – B̲l̲o̲w̲i̲n̲g I̲n̲ F̲r̲o̲m̲
Ch̲i̲c̲a̲g̲o (̲19̲5̲7̲̲)⌉[

A full-album stream of Clifford Jordan’s first recording, _Blowing in From Chicago_

After Jordan moved to the Big Apple in 1956, he made his first recording with Gilmore:
the 1957 Blue Note album _Blowing in From Chicago_, with liner notes by Jazz Showcase
owner Joe Segal. For this fiery postbop date, the two saxophonists hooked up with
a New York rhythm section that included pianist Horace Silver and drummer Art Blakey.(
First pressings of the LP now command thousands of dollars, but luckily it’s been
reissued.)

Jordan found he had to change gears after his relocation. “In New York I never could
get the rock and roll gigs or commercial gigs I used to get in Chicago,” he told
Concord, “so I was a little disappointed. They made me a specialist—a jazz saxophone
player.”

“I didn’t try to follow anybody’s pattern,” he told Concord. “I just wrote what 
I felt. Some people could write to make it sound like Gil Evans, Duke Ellington,
or Glenn Miller, but I always thought it was just better to write original music...
I’m not one who just paints on music paper. I leave a lot of leeway for performing—
if I were to tell players exactly what to do I’d hate the music.”

In 1960 Jordan formed a quartet with pianist Cedar Walton, who’d become a longtime
collaborator. That band recorded the excellent LP _Spellbound_ for Riverside, then
jumped labels to Jazzland for 1962’s _Bearcat_.

Beginning in the early 60s, Jordan worked for several years with drummer Max Roach.
He played in big bands with Lloyd Price (one of his few R&B gigs during this period)
and Clark Terry. In 1963 he recorded with Eric Dolphy, and the following year they
both joined the Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop sextet, which toured Europe. Jordan
released _These Are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly_ for Atlantic in 1965
and concurrently continued his busy sideman schedule, recording with the likes of
Charles McPherson and Joe Zawinul.

Jordan had always enjoyed playing in Europe, and he moved to Belgium in 1969. America
drew him back the following year, though. After Jordan made a failed attempt to 
start his own imprint, called Frontier, he struck a deal with Strata-East Records,
owned by pianist Stanley Cowell and trumpeter Charles Tolliver. Margasak called 
it “one of the most prolific and highest quality artist-run labels in jazz history.”

Jordan debuted for Strata-East in 1972 with the 1969 recording _Clifford Jordan 
in the World_, using two different bands—their lineups included trumpeter Don Cherry,
trombonist Julian Priester, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and drummer Roy Haynes. In 1974
Strata-East released his revered modal-jazz LP _Glass Bead Games_.

[⌊Glass Bead Games⌉⌊Glass Bead Games⌉[

The title track of _Glass Bead Games_, one of Clifford Jordan’s best-remembered 
albums

In the 60s, Jordan found an outlet for his strong interest in public service by 
devoting himself to music education. Over the years, his activities in that sphere
included presenting concerts and lectures in New York public schools, serving as
a music consultant for Bed-Stuy Youth in Action, giving flute and saxophone lessons
for nonprofit arts organization Jazzmobile, teaching for the Henry Street Settlement(
another nonprofit that offers social services and health care as well as arts programs),
and working as the first musical director at Dancemobile.

Jordan’s discography alone could take up another entire Secret History column—he
appeared on more than 100 recordings in his lifetime. I haven’t touched on most 
of his collaborators—Philly Joe Jones, Carol Sloane, John Hicks, Richard Davis, 
David “Fathead” Newman—but I have to mention two of the excellent albums he made
for Chicago label Bee Hive, started in 1977 by Jim and Susan Neumann and named for
a local club. In 1981 and 1984, respectively, Jordan recorded _Hyde Park After Dark_
with Von Freeman and Cy Touff and _Dr. Chicago_ with trumpeter Red Rodney.

[⌊Clifford Jordan - Dr Chicago⌉⌊Clifford Jordan - Dr Chicago⌉[

In the 80s, Jordan started playing regularly with Art Farmer, renewing an acquaintance
they’d begun during the saxophonist’s first years in New York. Their collaboration
included several album releases, and it continued till the end of Jordan’s days.
Jordan loved to play in large ensembles too—he’d been playing in radio orchestras
in Europe for decades when he launched his own big band in New York in the 1990s.“
Hopefully the big band will come back, because there are too many musicians out 
here for everybody to have little quartets and quintets,” he told Concord. “My band
is three quintets, that’s the way I look at it.”

Clifford Jordan died of lung cancer on March 27, 1993, and he’s still being honored
publicly. This past September 11, producer Arnie Perez and his company VTY Jazz 
Arts presented a quintet tribute to Jordan at the Cutting Room in New York City.
Perhaps soon his name will begin appearing where it belongs—right alongside those
of John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker.

![An illustration of jazz saxophonist Clifford Jordan embedded in the title card
for the Secret History of Chicago Music](https://i0.wp.com/chicagoreader.com/wp-
content/uploads/2022/11/SH_clifford_jordan_web.jpg?fit=1200%2C1088&ssl=1)

### _Related_