Search - James Clifford, Ron Blake, Julian Priester :: Masters From Different Worlds

A Not So Great Record

Gary L Connely | Hercules, CA | 10/27/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Take the great avant garde, third stream pianist, Ran Blake; put him together with the great post bop tenor sax player, Clifford Jordan; put them in a session recorded by the great little audiophile label, Mapleshade Productions - and what do you get with all this greatness? Well, sometimes what you get is a not so great record like "Masters From Different Worlds."



Now don't get me wrong. "Masters..." is not a lousy record. Neither Mr Blake nor Mr Jordan ever make, (or, in Mr Jordan's case, "made," as he has passed on), a BAD record. But "Masters..." is one of those records in which the sum of the parts adds up to more than the whole - mostly because, consummate musicians though they are, Mssrs Blake and Jordan just don't "mesh."



But as I said, "Masters..." isn't a bad record.... Mr Blake always offers unique musical insights, and his stripped down, spare, every note counts style drills right to the core of every song he plays; Mr Jordan's sax is right THERE, (the close-miked Mapleshade sound puts Mr Jordan in the middle of your listening space). The song selection includes four of Mr Blake's always elegant originals, a collaboration with Mr Jordan, some standards from the likes of Ellington and Mercer, and believe it or not, a John Lennon tune. But really....



If you'd like to hear Mr Blake in duet with a tenor sax, I recommend "Suffield Gothic," with Houston Person. And if you'd like to hear Mr Jordan recorded with that "Mapleshade sound," I suggest that you checkout "Live at Ethell's," a quartet date with pianist Kevin O'Connell.



As for "Masters...," I recommend it only for those slightly deranged people, such as myself, who think that the closest thing there is to heaven, this side of the dirt, is listening to Ran Blake playing anything with anybody."