Clifford Jordan was 26 and from Chicago. Robert Levin, in the original notes, tells how his mother started him on piano and how he took up the tenor at about 14. At DuSable High he was in school with Johnny Griffin, John Gilmore and John Jenkins. His first professional job was with Max Roach; later he took Sonny Rollins's place in Roach's quintet, then swapped chairs with Hank Mobley to join Horace Silver. Blue Note had already put out Blowing In from Chicago, with Gilmore, and Cliff Jordan. This was his third as a leader for the label.
The date was Sunday, November 10, 1957, at Rudy Van Gelder's in Hackensack, with Alfred Lion producing. Three of the five were then Silver men: Jordan, Art Farmer on trumpet and Louis Hayes, 20 years old and from Detroit, on drums. Sonny Clark played piano, his third Blue Note date in four weeks. George Tucker, born in Palatka, Florida, who had played with Earl Bostic, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean, played bass. Six takes are listed for the day, and all six made the record.
Side one is Jordan's own writing.
Laconia (Cliff's middle name) opens with a Latin intro followed by a muted Farmer and a lightly swinging Clark.
Robert Levin, original liner notes
On "Soul-Lo Blues," Tucker and Clark set up a funky mood before Jordan stretches out on long blues lines, followed by Farmer and Clark. The title tune has a bright, stop-and-go theme; Jordan solos first, then Farmer and Clark, and the horns trade with Hayes.
Side two goes back to the bebop book. Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" has Jordan out front, breaks for Hayes and a short solo from Tucker. Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" is a quartet, with Farmer sitting out; Jordan takes two solos, with Clark and Tucker in between. The record ends with "Anthropology," by Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, with Farmer, Jordan and Clark soloing and Hayes trading near the end.
Levin closed his notes with a verdict on the leader.
Cliff Jordan plays with an imaginative, vital conception that is consistently effective and meaningful.
Robert Levin, original liner notes
The sleeve is Reid Miles's design with a Francis Wolff photograph. The record came out in 1958, and Dom Cerulli gave it four stars in Down Beat. Three weeks after this date Farmer, Clark, Tucker and Hayes were back at Van Gelder's with Curtis Fuller, and in January Farmer, Jordan and Hayes were with Silver on his next date.
