Clifford Jordan - The Complete Strata-East Sessions (2013) [6CD Box Set]

Mosaic's newest box set, "The Complete Clifford Jordan Strata-East Sessions," bundles them all Jordan's sessions for the first time ever. It features 6 outstanding unreleased tracks, by Ed Blackwell with a drum ensemble and a quartet featuring Don Cherry. Collectively, the sessions are a microcosm of the jazz world in the 1970s, where the power was always on and the ideas were electrifying. Clifford Jordan was like a super-collider of old and new: his own session includes Don Cherry, Julian Priester, Richard Davis, Wynton Kelly, Wilbur Ware and Albert Heath on one date, Kenny Dorham, Ed Blackwell, and Roy Haynes with Kelly, Ware and Davis on another. An earlier date headlined by Cecil Payne employs Dorham, Kelly, Ware and Heath. Brackeen's set is a reunion of Ornette Coleman's band without Ornette, and features Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Blackwell. Ware used Cherry, Blackwell, and Jordan on his set. When it was Blackwell's turn to lead, the drummer chose Cherry, Luqman Lateef on tenor saxophone, and Ware for one set, and Billy Higgins, Dennis Charles, and three musicians on log drums and percussion (one of them, Jordan himself) for a second ensemble. Pharoah Sanders' set is a very characteristic example of the "sheets of sound" he pioneered, featuring Sonny Fortune, Howard Johnson, Lonnie Liston Smith, Sonny Sharrock, Cecil McBee, Sirone, Billy Hart, Majeed Shabazz, Chief Bey, Nat Bettis, Tony Wylie, and Leon Thomas. A final set by Jordan recorded in 1973 produced one of the tenor saxophonist's career masterpieces. "Glass Bead Games" was released as a double album and features two quartets: Stanley Cowell, Bill Lee, and Billy Higgins and Cedar Walton, Sam Jones and Higgins. Since the artists owned their masters, reissues of Strata-East LPs have been extremely rare and don't stick around long. The booklet features an excellent essay by Willard Jenkins and many previously unpublished photographs from the actual sessions by Martin Bough.

Tracklist:

Disc I:
CLIFFORD JORDAN IN THE WORLD
1. Vienna (A) 17:01
(Clifford Jordan)
2. Doug’s Prelude (A) 4:44
(Clifford Jordan)
3. Ouagoudougou (A) 10:45
(Clifford Jordan)
4. 872 (A) 7:14
(Clifford Jordan)

Disc 2:
ZODIAC THE MUSIC OF CECIL PAYNE
1. Martin Luther King, Jr./I Know Love (B) 6:58
(Cecil Payne)
2. Girl, You Got A Home (B) 10:51
(Cecil Payne)
3. Slide Hampton (B) 4:22
(Cecil Payne)
4. Follow Me (B) 7:05
(Cecil Payne)
5. Flying Fish (B) 12:20
(Cecil Payne)

Disc Three:
CHARLES BRACKEEN – RHYTHM X
1. Rhythm X (C) 8:00
(Charles Brackeen)
2. Hour Glass (C) 11:24
(Charles Brackeen)
3. Charles Concept (C) 6:47
(Charles Brackeen)
4. C. B. Blues (C) 7:49
(Charles Brackeen)
ED BLACKWELL - SHADES OF EDWARD BLACKWELL
5. That Moment of Glance (D1) 4:52
(Luqman Lateef)
6. Farid (D1) 9:00
(Luqman Lateef)
7. Drum Expose (D2) 5:06
(Ed Blackwell)
8. The Eternal Rhythm (D2) 4:58
(Ed Blackwell)
9. In Walked Buhaina (D2) 5:51
(Ed Blackwell)
10. Shades of General Lefty (D2) 5:57
(Ed Blackwell)


Disc Four
PHAROAH SANDERS – IZIPHO ZAM (MY GIFTS)
1. Prince Of Peace (E) 8:46
(Pharoah Sanders)
2. Balance (E) 12:37
(Pharoah Sanders)
3. Izipho Zam (E) 28:47
(Pharoah Sanders)

Disc Five
WILBUR WARE – SUPER BASS
1. Mod House (F) 5:42
(Clifford Jordan)
2. Symphony For JR (F) 10:06
(Wilbur Ware)
3. Wilbur’s Red Cross (F) 8:14
(Wilbur Ware)
4. A Real Nice Lady (F) 7:29
(Clifford Jordan)
5. For Frazier, Felicia, Veneida & Bernard (F) 7:20
(Wilbur Ware)
6. By Myself (F) 7:36
(Wilbur Ware)
7. Mod House (incomplete alt tk) (F) 2:42
(Clifford Jordan)
8. For Frazier, Felicia, Veneida & Bernard (alt tk) (F) 7:29
(Wilbur Ware)
9. Wilber Reflects (F) 5:10

Disc Six
CLIFFORD JORDAN – GLASS BEAD GAMES
1. Powerful Paul Robeson (G1) 5:39
(Clifford Jordan)
2. The Glass Bead Games (G2) 4:29
(Clifford Jordan)
3. Prayer To The People (G2) 4:08
(Clifford Jordan)
4. Cal Massey (G1) 2:37
(Stanley Cowell)
5. John Coltrane (G1) 6:46
(Bill Lee-Clifton Lee)
6. Eddie Harris (G1) 4:16
(Bill Lee)
7. Biskit (G1) 5:33
(Bill Lee)
8. Shoulders (G2) 5:16
(Cedar Walton)
9. Bridgework (G2) 3:43
(Cedar Walton)
10. Maimoun (G1) 5:36
(Stanley Cowell)
11. Alias Buster Henry (G) 8:16
(Billy Higgins)
12. One For Amos (G2) 6:51
(Sam Jones)