RECORD REV!EWS TAfrZ celebrated or discussed. Martin Bough's jaw-dropping photos from the rI actual sessions transport us precisely to that time and place. fiiflvsJ The booklet also reproduces a full- page ad in support of the , eJ. 'Ware's minus Sup,sv Bass and Shades of Edward Blackwell, the late drummer's L968 debut, issued here for the first time ever. These rarities greatly increase the set's historical value. So does the five-minute interview with 'Ware (even if "Wilbur" is misspelled in The Complete Clifford lordan Strata- 'the track listing). East Sessions A riitirr.,Jordan came of Clifford Jordan, Charles Brackeen, , age in bands led by , Max Luqman Lateel , , Roach, and , but he saxophones; , , was out there as a leader by his mid- trumpets; , trombone; Howard Johnson, ; Stanley Cowel!, 20s. His agile lines, sinewy tone, and Wynton Kelly, , , deep feeling mark him as one of ; guitar; Sonny Sharrock, , the era's great tenors. A creative risk- Charlie Haden, , , Cecil McBee, Sirone, , bass; , Dennis taker, too: he used fwo bassists and Charles, , , , drummers on , an imperflect Ttte Haven for , Majeed Shabazz, drums; record that nonetheless allows us to Chief Bey, others, percussion; , hear Don Cherry and'W.ynton Kelly Music Lorers in the Mosa ic M D6-2sJ?:'l S$:liirlt',no rd r orda n, in the same band. Washington DC Area original prod.; Michae! Cuscuna, reissue prod.; Infact, Cherry appears in four Orville O'Brien, Ron Carran, engs., Malcol m AD D. of the seven sessions, even more for 25 Years! ^1fg;:astering. prominently than Jordan himself. In PERFORMANCE ***** Rhythm X: The Music of Charles Brackeen soNtcs ****@ he joins Brackeen, Charlie Haden, Ayre Acoustics and Ed Blackwell-'s Seven albums are colleded here, and quartet without Coleman-and the Linn CliffordJordan plays tenor onjust results are incendiary. Cherry also Magnepan three. He's heard on In the World and plays on the lost Blackwell session, the 1973 quartet stunner Glass Bead though.four of the six tracks are Thiel Game5 not to mention'Wilbur'W'are's percussion-only (|ordan plays log Vandersteen aptly titled Super Bass (unissued until drum). Cherry andJordan form the 'Ware's 2012). On the other sessions-led by front line of riveting quartet VTL Ed Blackwell, Charles Brackeen, Cecil date, which includes fwo ambitious Lyra Payne, and Pharoah Sanders-we meet tracks of solo bass, nearly lost to Rega Jordan the producer, working in the history. tate L960s when black self-determina- Much of the sound is superb, Bryston tion and the ideal of the musician-run though sonic flaws do crop up. But label were taking a new turn. Origr- these are small matters n&t io Leon Marantz nally made for the never-launched Thomas's vocal in "Prince Mark Levinson Frontier label, these recordings found of Peace," from Izipho Zam, or Billy a home on Strata-East, the pioneering Higgins's drumming through o:ut Glass Parasound label cofounded by Bead Games, or Payne's baritone sax in Sonus faber and . the ballad "Martin Luther King, Jr.," As'WillardJenkins observes in his recordedjust eight months after the Grado essay, every tune in this set is original, assassination. This is heavy music for REL composed by leaders and/or sidemen. heavy times. -David Adler The range of instrumentation and Tra nspa rent aesthetic outlook, from the rock- Quadraspire solid swing of Cecil Payne's Zodiac to the outright psychedelia of Vienna Acoustics Pharoah Sanders's Izipho Zam (W Gtftt), establishes that was Jordan 572A Pickwick Rd., Centreville, VA way beyond litmus tests of style or hang-ups about new music. These r '., ,! "..' '., records-Jordan dubbed them "the " a Dolphy Sessions"-offer window www.g ifted I i stene r.co m into a vibrant area of not widely stereophile.com . April 2014