MEDIUM Vinyl Record
WEIGHT 180gr (black Vinyl) 33rpm
CONDITION sealed
COVER Standard
CONDITION COVER M mint
COVER DAMAGES No, we take care about that
SERIALNUMBER No
LIMITED Yes
MISCELLANEOUS Stereo
MUSICIAN HOMEPAGE --
Clifford Jordan - tenor sax
Roy Burrowes - trumpet
Julian Priester - trombone
Cedar Walton - piano
Chuck Wayne - banjo
Richard Davis - bass
Albert Heath - drums
Sandra Douglas - vocals (tracks 3, 8)
dick's holler - 4:53
silver city bound - 2:41
take this hammer - 4:18
black betty - 2:59
the highest mountain - 4:17
goodnight irene - 4:29
de gray goose - 3:38
black girl - 4:22
jolly o' the ransom - 2:22
yellow gal - 4:27
Clifford Jordan hailed from Chicago, hometown of hard-driving, so-called ‘tough tenorists’ like Gene Ammons and Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis
While Jordan shared their unnerving bravado, his tone is different, an alluring tone, simultaneously rough around the edges and ephemeral
A sought-after sideman, Jordan recorded with stalwarts as Lee Morgan and Max Roach in the late fifties and early sixties, as well as a series of high standard solo albums
Like age matures wine, Jordan’s style ripened in the early seventies, his lines becoming fluent like ripples of lake water
Jordan kept recording and performing steadily until his death in 1993
Maybe this album, filled with interpretations of such classic tunes as "Take This Hammer" and "Goodnight Irene", is not such a surprise act after all
The preceding year, Jordan had been part of Charles Mingus’ outfit, appearing on the hi-voltage live album "Right Now: Live At The Jazz Workshop"
Musical gobbler Mingus’ unfazed search for new vistas while retaining an all-embracing sense of the past’s relevance and blend of harmonic finesse with unbridled juke joint tumult surely rubbed off on Jordan
"Da Gray Goose" is one of the cases in point
Tasteful harmony over the stop-time theme kicks it into action, strongly plucked bass and fiery drums inspire the soloists, creating an atmosphere of abandon
Lusty shout choruses stoke up the fire as the tune progresses
There are also some, yes, virtuoso banjo parts
The gloomy folk blues music of Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter, whose life story reads like a combined effort of Shakespeare and James Baldwin, including oppression, hardship, addiction, treachery, murder and prison life, is excellently cast in a jazz frame
But not too jazzy, often the sound of Jordan’s top-notch group is as tough-as-nails as the sound of any one group that enlivened the back alley bars way back when
Jordan’s unpredictable phrasing overcomes the restrictions of the rigid folk blues form
Craftily uncrafted, "These Are My Roots" is a spirited album of earnest, raw and ebullient swing
RECORDING February 1 - 17 1965 in New York City
ENGINEERING Phil Iehle
LABEL Atlantic
RE MASTERING Ray Staff
RE RELEASED 2020
AVERAGE RATING 4 ½ Stars out of 5
PRESSING by Pallas
MADE IN England / Germany
STYLE Jazz / Hard Bop
AVAILABLE as long as inventory stock
