Clifford Jordan

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Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931, Chicago - March 27, 1993, Manhattan) was an inside/outside sax player who held his own with Eric Dolphy in the 1964 Charles Mingus Sextet.

Jordan had his own sound on tenor saxophone almost from the start. He gigged around Chicago with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some R&B groups before moving to New York in 1957. Jordan immediately made a strong impression, leading three albums for Blue Note (including a meeting with fellow tenor John Gilmore) and touring with Horace Silver (1957-1958), J.J. Johnson (1959-1960), Kenny Dorham (1961-1962), and Max Roach (1962-1964). Jordan also recorded with these musicians.

After performing in Europe with Mingus and Dolphy, Jordan worked mostly as a leader, but tended to be overlooked since he was not overly influential or a pacesetter in the avant-garde. A reliable player, Jordan toured Europe several times, was in a quartet headed by Cedar Walton in 1974-1975, and during his last years, led a big band.

Clifford Jordan recorded as a leader for Blue Note, Riverside, Jazzland, Atlantic (a little-known album of Leadbelly tunes), Vortex, Strata-East, Muse, Frontier Records, SteepleChase, Criss Cross, Bee Hive, DIW, Milestone, and Mapleshade.