Clifford Jordan's Soul Fountain was recorded for Atlantic in 1966 and produced by no less a talent than Arif Mardin. It was not released until 1968 and then reissued properly in 1970 on the Vortex imprint, by which time Jordan had become an American expatriate living in Europe as so many other jazzmen had. The bottom line is that there was no good reason for any of it. This may be, like Jordan's Plays Leadbelly album, a recording of deep roots music -- in this case soul -- but as a jazz album with big fat grooves, stellar playing, and arrangements, it's a monster. The bands (a bit different on sides one and two) tell a big part of the story of the album. The first five tracks -- the front side -- feature Jordan on tenor and piano, Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn, Julian Priester on trombone, Frank Owens playing both piano and B-3, Ben Tucker on upright bass, Bob Cranshaw on upright and Fender electric bass, drummer Bob Durham, and percussionists Orestes Vilató and Joe Wohletz. The music on side one includes the smoking Ben Tucker jams T.N.T. and H.N.I.C., the first of which is a complete soul-jazz groover with big-boned tenor work by Jordan knotted up in the best Blue Note early three-horn front-line '60s fashion: it's where hard bop met the extrapolated sounds of Latin boogaloo and Ray Charles-styled big-band soul. Tucker's grooves were scorching. The latter tune, written in a minor key, offers more Latin grooves with the same front-line 12-bar blues set up with beautiful call and response, a knotty chorus, and wonderfully seamless harmonies among the horns. Jordan contributes a pair of originals to the side (and three overall). The first is I've Got a Feeling for You, coming right out of the groove territory with those hand drums popping in and around the piano played by Cliff, and a snarling B-3 workout in the fills by Frank Owens. It's suave, spunky, and swaggering with great trumpet work by Jimmy Owens. Jordan's latter tune on the side is a too-brief little calypso fueled hard bop number. The kit work by Durham is hot and the Jordan solo swings hard and in the pocket. The other tune on the side is a burning funky workout on James Brown's I Feel Good with amazing trombone work by Priester, who could have been a part of the '70s J.B.'s in a heartbeat, as his sense of propulsion and rhythm is infectious -- and Durham's breaks are smoking and in the pocket.

1		T.N.T.
2		I've Got a Feeling for You
3		H.N.I.C.
4		I Got You (I Feel Good)
5		Caribbean Cruise
6		Senor Blues
7		Eeh Bah Lickey Doo
8		Retribution

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