Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player and composer. Originally from Chicago, Jordan later moved to New York City, where he recorded extensively in addition to touring across both Europe and Africa. He recorded and performed with Art Farmer, Horace Silver, Max Roach, J.J. Johnson, and Kenny Dorham, among others. In later years, performed with Cedar Walton's quartet Eastern Rebellion, and led his own groups, including a big band.
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| John Gilmore, Clifford Jordan, Horace Silver and Curly Russell 1957 |
After moving to New York City in 1957, Jordan recorded three albums for Blue Note Records, the first of which, Blowing in from Chicago featured Horace Silver and Art Blakey as well as his former schoolmate Gilmore as co-leader. A series of notable collaborations followed - Jordan joined Silver's band, co-led a group with Kenny Dorham, and recorded as a sideman with J.J Johnson, Lee Morgan, Eric Dolphy, and Joe Zawinul, to name a few. In 1960, Jordan began performing with Cedar Walton, a collaboration that would continue for the remainder of Jordan's career.
Jordan re-joined Eric Dolphy in 1964 as part of the Charles Mingus Sextet, which toured Europe and produced a number of live albums. Jordan later toured Africa with Randy Weston for the US State Department. Jordan briefly moved to Belgium in 1969, and during this time he frequently performed in Paris.
Jordan moved back to New York City in late 1969, signing a deal with Strata East Records to record a trio of albums that mostly featured Jordan's own compositions. The last of these, Drink Plenty Water, was recorded in 1974 but remained unreleased until 2023. The album features spoken-word from actor David Smyrl and singing from Jordan, as well as a small vocal ensemble which included Jordan's daughter, Donna.
Jordan would continue to record prolifically throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with his ambitious Strata East projects contrasted by more straight-ahead offerings, such as the 1981 offering Hyde Park After Dark which saw him return to his Chicago roots, playing hard bop with a group that included Norman Simmons, Victor Sproles, and Cy Touff. He also rekindled his collaboration with Art Farmer around this time, afterwards playing as a sideman on several of Farmer's albums. In the early 1990s, Jordan began leading a big band in New York City, which would come to be a regular act at Eddie Condon's. He performed and recorded throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan with his quartet and his Big Band. Clifford’s genius can be heard as featured soloist on well over 100 recordings, for 42 of which he is leader.
Clifford Jordan was an accomplished composer/arranger, whose compositions have been performed and recorded by major music figures. He did lecture-concerts at major colleges and universities. He had TV appearances with Carmen McRae, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Art Farmer, Dizzy Gillespie, and Cedar Walton. He was named a "BMI Jazz Pioneer" in 1984, a member of NARAS, and served as panelist for NEA.
He composed for and performed with The Skymasters Band, the Hamburg Radio Big Band [Germany], the Metropole Orchestra [Holland], and the UOMO New Music Jazz Band [Finland]. He toured Australia with Mickey Tucker and Japan with Richard Davis in the 90s. “Hopefully the big band will come back,” he said, “because there are too many musicians out here for everybody to have little quartets and quintets,” adding with a laugh, “my band is three quintets, that’s the way I look at it.”
Jordan died of lung cancer at the age of 61 in New York City on March 27, 1993.
Jordan was married to Shirley Jordan, a designer and former
owner of The Clothes Gallery in New York. His second marriage was to Sandy
Jordan (née Williams), a graphic artist and Honorary Founders Board member of
the Jazz Foundation of America.
(Edited from Wikipedia, cliffordjordan.com & concord)
