Clifford Jordan: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Hank Mobley
• Benny Golson
• Eddie Davis
• Jackie McLean
• Wayne Shorter
• Jimmy Heath

• Sonny Rollins
• Don Byas
• Lester Young
• John Coltrane
• Johnny Griffin

• Joe Lee Wilson

• Ran Blake
• Sam Jones
• Cedar Walton
• Thelonious Monk
• Duke Ellington
• Billy Higgins
• Alan Lomax

• Jaki Byard
• Art Farmer
• Johnny Coles
• Charlie (Dannie) Richmond
• Dannie Richmond
• Charles Mingus
• Eric Dolphy

Born:

Sep 2, 1931 in Chicago, IL

Died:

Mar 27, 1993 in New York, NY

Genres:

Music, Jazz Music, Bop Jazz Music, Classical Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's|1970's|1980's|1990's

Artistic Quality

High

Cultural Impact

High

Popularity

High

Ratings Guide

Clifford Jordan was a fine inside/outside player who somehow held his own with Eric Dolphy in the 1964 Charles Mingus Sextet. Jordan had his own sound on tenor almost from the start. He gigged around Chicago with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some RB 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). 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, Clifford 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. He recorded as a leader for Blue Note, Riverside, Jazzland, Atlantic (a little-known album of Leadbelly tunes), Vortex, Strata-East, Muse, SteepleChase, Criss Cross, Bee Hive, DIW, Milestone, and Mapleshade.

- Scott Yanow, All Music Guide