Clifford Jordan Quartet - Night of the Mark VII

The "Mark VII" in the title is a saxophone: the new Selmer tenor Clifford Jordan was playing when his quartet took the stage in Paris on March 26, 1975. Issued on Muse, Night of the Mark VII captures one stop on a European tour that also produced a run of live and studio sessions for SteepleChase, and it stands among the finest documents of a band that had been playing together for years.

That band was something special. Cedar Walton on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Billy Higgins on drums formed the trio Jordan recorded with as the Magic Triangle, and their telepathy is all over this set. Bill Lee's "John Coltrane" opens with a heartfelt tribute, Jordan's own "Highest Mountain" builds to a soaring climax, and the long workouts on "Midnight Waltz" and "One for Amos" give everyone room to stretch out well past the ten-minute mark.

Jordan's big, warm tenor sits at the center, rooted in hard bop but open to the modal searching of the Coltrane era, while Walton's hard-driving piano threatens to steal the show at every turn. Higgins swings effortlessly underneath, and Jones anchors it all with a deep, woody pulse. It is straight-ahead acoustic jazz played by masters at the top of their game.

This reissue arrives as part of Time Traveler Recordings' Muse Master Edition Series, bringing a classic live date back to vinyl.