Clifford Jordan

American jazz saxophone player

Clifford Jordan

Jordan performing with Barry Harris in 1980

Background information
Birth name| Clifford Laconia Jordan Jr.
Born| (1931-09-02)September 2, 1931
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died| March 27, 1993(1993-03-27) (aged 61)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres| Jazz
Occupation(s)| Musician
Instrument(s)| Saxophone
Labels| Blue Note, New Jazz, Riverside, Jazzland, Atlantic, Vortex, Strata-East, SteepleChase, Muse, Eastworld, Bee Hive, Soul Note, Criss Cross, Mapleshade, Milestone

Musical artist

Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 - March 27, 1993)[1] was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after which he recorded three albums for Blue Note.[2] He recorded with Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, and Kenny Dorham, among others. He was part of the Charles Mingus Sextet, with Eric Dolphy, during its 1964 European tour.[2]

Jordan toured Africa with Randy Weston, and performed in Paris while living in Belgium.[3] In later years, he led his own groups, performed with Cedar Walton's quartet Eastern Rebellion,[4] and led a big band.[2]

Jordan was married to Shirley Jordan, a designer and former owner of The Clothes Gallery in New York.[3] He later married Sandy Jordan (née Williams), a graphic artist and Honorary Founders Board member of the Jazz Foundation of America.[5]

## Death[edit]

Jordan died of lung cancer at the age of 61 in New York City. He is survived by a daughter, Donna Jewell Harris, (née Jordan), and a son, Eric Jordan.[1]

## Discography[edit]

### As leader[edit]

* 1957: Blowing in from Chicago (Blue Note) co-led with John Gilmore
* 1957: Cliff Jordan (Blue Note)
* 1957: Jenkins, Jordan and Timmons (New Jazz) with John Jenkins and Bobby Timmons
* 1957: Cliff Craft (Blue Note)
* 1960: Spellbound (Riverside)
* 1961: A Story Tale (Jazzland) with Sonny Red
* 1961: Starting Time (Jazzland)
* 1962: Bearcat (Jazzland)
* 1965: These are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly (Atlantic)
* 1968: Soul Fountain (Vortex)
* 1972: In the World (Strata-East)
* 1973: Glass Bead Games (Strata-East)
* 1974: Half Note (SteepleChase)
* 1975: Night of the Mark VII (Muse)
* 1975: On Stage Vol. 1 (SteepleChase)
* 1975: On Stage Vol. 2 (SteepleChase)
* 1975: On Stage Vol. 3 (SteepleChase)
* 1975: Firm Roots (SteepleChase)
* 1975: The Highest Mountain (SteepleChase)
* 1976: Remembering Me-Me (Muse)
* 1977: Inward Fire (Muse)
* 1978: The Adventurer (Muse)
* 1978: Hello, Hank Jones (Eastworld)
* 1981: Hyde Park After Dark (Bee Hive) with Victor Sproles, Von Freeman, Cy Touff
* 1984: Repetition (Soul Note)
* 1984: Dr. Chicago (Bee Hive)
* 1984: Two Tenor Winner (Criss Cross) with Junior Cook
* 1985: The Rotterdam Session (Audio Daddio) with Philly Joe Jones and James Long
* 1986: Royal Ballads (Criss Cross)
* 1987: Live at Ethell's (Mapleshade)
* 1989: Blue Head (Candid, 1990) with David "Fathead" Newman
* 1989: Masters from Different Worlds (Mapleshade) with Ran Blake and Julian Priester
* 1990: Four Play (DIW/Columbia) with Richard Davis, James Williams & Ronnie Burrage
* 1989-90: The Mellow Side of Clifford Jordan (Mapleshade)
* 1990: Play What You Feel (Mapleshade)
* 1991: Down Through the Years (Milestone)
* 2023: Drink Plenty of Water (Harvest Song Records)

### As sideman[edit]

With Paul Chambers

* Paul Chambers Quintet (Blue Note, 1957)

With Sonny Clark

* Sonny Clark Quintets (Blue Note, 1957, the three tracks with Clifford Jordan reissued on My Conception, 2008 CD)

With Dameronia

* Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt Paris (Soul Note, 1989 [1994])

With Richard Davis

* Epistrophy & Now's the Time (Muse, 1972)
* Dealin' (Muse, 1973)

With Eric Dolphy

* Iron Man (1963)
* Conversations (1963)

With Art Farmer

* Mirage (Soul Note, 1982)
* You Make Me Smile (Soul Note, 1984)
* Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (Contemporary, 1987)
* Blame It on My Youth (Contemporary, 1988)
* Ph.D. (Contemporary, 1989)
* Live at Sweet Basil (Evidence, 1992)

With Dizzy Gillespie

* To Bird with Love (Telarc, 1992)

With Slide Hampton

* Roots (Criss Cross, 1985)

With John Hicks and Elise Wood

* Luminous (Nilva, 1985)

With Andrew Hill

* Shades (Soul Note, 1986)

With J. J. Johnson

* J.J. Inc. (Columbia, 1960)

With Charles McPherson

* Con Alma! (Prestige, 1965)

With Carmen McRae

* Any Old Time (1986)
* Carmen Sings Monk (1988)

With Charles Mingus

* Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy Cornell 1964 (Blue Note, 1964 [2007])
* Town Hall Concert (Jazz Workshop, 1964)
* Astral Weeks
* Revenge! (1964)
* The Great Concert of Charles Mingus (America, 1964 [1971])
* Mingus in Europe Volume I (Enja, 1964 [1980])
* Mingus in Europe Volume II (Enja, 1964 [1980])
* Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop (Fantasy, 1964)

With Mingus Dynasty

* Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 1 (Soul Note, 1988)
* Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 2 (Soul Note, 1988)

With Lee Morgan

* Here's Lee Morgan (Vee-Jay, 1960)
* Expoobident (Vee-Jay, 1960)
* Take Twelve (Jazzland, 1962)

With Pony Poindexter

* Pony's Express (Epic, 1962)

With Freddie Redd

* Lonely City (Uptown, 1985 [1989])

With Dizzy Reece

* Manhattan Project (Bee Hive, 1978) – with Roy Haynes, Art Davis, Charles Davis, Albert Dailey)

With Max Roach

* Percussion Bitter Sweet (Impulse!, 1961)
* It's Time (Impulse!, 1962)
* Speak, Brother, Speak! (Fantasy, 1962)

With Sahib Shihab

* The Jazz We Heard Last Summer (Savoy, 1957)

With Horace Silver

* Further Explorations (Blue Note, 1958)

With Charles Tolliver

* Music Inc. (Strata-East, 1971)

With Mal Waldron

* What It Is (Enja, 1981)

With Cedar Walton

* Spectrum (Prestige, 1968)
* The Electric Boogaloo Song (Prestige, 1969)
* A Night at Boomers, Vol. 1 (Muse, 1973)
* A Night at Boomers, Vol. 2 (Muse, 1973)
* The Pentagon (East Wind, 1976)

With Joe Zawinul

* Money in the Pocket (Atlantic, 1967)

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Clifford Jordan, Chicago Be-bop Tenor Saxophonist". Articles.chicagotribune.com. March 31, 1993.
2. ^ a b c Biography at AllMusic by Scott Yanow
3. ^ a b Simmons, Art (April 16, 1970). Johnson, John H. (ed.). "Paris Scratchpad". JET. XXXVIII (3). Chicago: Johnson: 33. ISSN 0021-5996. Retrieved August 3, 2010. "Arranger, composer, saxophonist Clifford Jordan, a Chicagoan who now lives in Belgium with his wife, designer Shirley Jordan (a former owner of Clothing Manufacturing Corp., New York City), closed at the Chat Qui Peche here. He is a partner in a new record firm, Frontier Records, which records legendary musicians who have not had the proper exposure. Jordan toured Africa with Randy Weston recently..."
4. ^ Yanow, Scott (2010). "Eastern Rebellion". AllMusic. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
5. ^ "The Board". Jazz Foundation of America. Retrieved 24 January 2019.

## External links[edit]

* Clifford Jordan Leader discography, accessed November 7, 2012
* Clifford Jordan obituary in The New York Times, accessed January 24, 2019

* v
* t
* e

Clifford Jordan

Year(s) indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.

leader or
co-leader|

* Blowing in from Chicago (1957)
* Cliff Jordan (1957)
* Jenkins, Jordan and Timmons (1957)
* Cliff Craft (1957)
* Spellbound (1960)
* A Story Tale (1961)
* Starting Time (1961)
* Bearcat (1962)
* These are My Roots: Clifford Jordan Plays Leadbelly (1965)
* Soul Fountain (1966)
* In the World (1969)
* Glass Bead Games (1973)
* Half Note (1974)
* Night of the Mark VII (aka, The Highest Mountain, Muse, 1975)
* On Stage Vol. 1 (1975)
* On Stage Vol. 2 (1975)
* On Stage Vol. 3 (1975)
* Firm Roots (1975)
* The Highest Mountain (SteepleChase, 1975)
* Remembering Me-Me (1976)
* Inward Fire (1977)
* The Adventurer (1978)
* Hello, Hank Jones (1978)
* Hyde Park After Dark (1981)
* Repetition (1984)
* Dr. Chicago (1984)
* Two Tenor Winner (1984)
* The Rotterdam Session (1985)
* Royal Ballads (1986)
* Live at Ethell's (1987)
* Masters from Different Worlds (1989)
* Four Play (1990)
* The Mellow Side of Clifford Jordan (1989–91)
* Play What You Feel (1990)
* Down Through the Years (1991)

With
Art
Farmer|

* Mirage (1982)
* You Make Me Smile (1984)
* Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (1987)
* Blame It on My Youth (1988)
* Ph.D. (1989)

With
Charles
Mingus|

* Cornell 1964 (March 1964)
* Town Hall Concert (April 1964)
* Astral Weeks (April 1964)
* Mingus in Europe Volume I (April 1964)
* Mingus in Europe Volume II (April 1964)
* Right Now: Live at the Jazz Workshop (June 1964)

With
Lee
Morgan|

* Here's Lee Morgan (1960)
* Expoobident (1960)
* Take Twelve (1962)

With
Max
Roach|

* Percussion Bitter Sweet (1961)
* It's Time (1962)
* Speak, Brother, Speak! (1962)

With
Cedar
Walton|

* Spectrum (1968)
* The Electric Boogaloo Song (1969)
* A Night at Boomers, Vol. 1/Naima (1973)
* A Night at Boomers, Vol. 2 (1973)
* The Pentagon (1976)

With
others|

* Paul Chambers Quintet (1957)
* Sonny Clark Quintets/My Conception (1957)
* Epistrophy & Now's the Time (Richard Davis, 1972)
* Dealin' (Richard Davis, 1973)
* Iron Man (Eric Dolphy, 1963)
* Conversations (Eric Dolphy, 1963)
* To Bird with Love (Dizzy Gillespie, 1992)
* Roots (Slide Hampton, 1985)
* Luminous (John Hicks and Elise Wood, 1985)
* Shades (Andrew Hill, 1986)
* J.J. Inc. (J.J. Johnson, 1961)
* Con Alma! (Charles McPherson, 1965)
* Any Old Time (Carmen McRae, 1986)
* Carmen Sings Monk (Carmen McRae, 1988)
* Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 1 (Mingus Dynasty, 1988)
* Live at the Theatre Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris, Vol. 2 (Mingus Dynasty, 1988)
* Pony's Express (Pony Poindexter, 1962)
* Manhattan Project (Dizzy Reece, 1976)
* The Jazz We Heard Last Summer (Sahib Shihab, 1957)
* Further Explorations (Horace Silver, 1958)
* Music Inc. (Charles Tolliver, 1970)
* What It Is (Mal Waldron, 1981)
* Money in the Pocket (Joe Zawinul, 1967)

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