Art Farmer with Clifford Jordan during Jordan’s Cliff Craft session, Hackensack NJ, November 10 1957 (photo by Francis Wolff)
John Gilmore, Cliff Jordan, Curly Russell, and Horace Silver.
Photo by Francis Wolff
Essential Listening: Cliff Jordan and John Gilmore - Blowing in from Chicago
A special album that is led by two tenors. Joining Jordan and Gilmore are Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Curly Russell.
A riveting performance of ‘Buhaina’s Delight’ by Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers. This performance is special because it features John Gilmore on the tenor sax front and center. Gilmore was a monster player who never became famous. However, his signature sound is evident in many players, most notably John Coltrane. Coltrane took lessons from Gilmore in the late 50s. When Coltrane seeks you out for tutelage, then you are the real deal. The best example of Gilmore’s influence on Coltrane is on the song ‘Chasin’ the Trane’. It appears on the Live at the Village Vanguard album.
A big part of the reason why Gilmore never became famous was because for most of his career, he chose to play in Sun Ra’s Arkestra. It certainly wasn’t because he wasn’t in demand, he was. Nevertheless, he had some excellent dates on Blue Note records with Andrew Hill and Cliff Jordan.
