Lee Morgan & Clifford Jordan - Live In Baltimore 1968

2017 release

Lee Morgans first meeting on record with Clifford Jordan was in June 1957, when Morgan was about to turn nineteen and Jordan had just begun making a name for himself. After their first collaboration, the precocious Morgan occasionally called Jordan to play tenor on his recordings; thus they recorded together twice in 1960 and once in January 1962.

Although they went their separate ways, they were reunited in July 1968 as part of the quintet presented here for a gig organized by Baltimores Left Bank Jazz Society. The program consisted of long, straightforward performances of well-known jazz tunes like Straight No Chaser, Solar, The Vamp, and the popular standard Like Someone In Love. Although they were not a regular group, and despite limited rehearsal time, they delivered a stimulating and engaging concert, with both frontliners soloing consistently well.

The ensemble playing is also strong, backed by an impressively tight rhythm section in which John Hicks, piano, Reggie Workman, bass, and Ed Blackwell, drums, completed what could well be considered a dream line-up! The buoyancy, virtuosity and imagination of these outstanding jazzmen are reflected all the way through this fine jazz session.

Aired on July 23rd 1968 BBC