Live at Sweet Basil

by Scott YanowArt Farmer (who at this time was playing the newly devised flumpet, a combination flugelhorn/trumpet) teams up with pianist Geoff Keezer, bassist Kenny Davis, drummer Yoron Israel and Clifford Jordan on this interesting set. Unfortunately, Jordan, a very distinctive tenor, plays his more anonymous soprano on nearly half of the tracks, so this CD is not as essential as one might expect. The material includes two Thelonious Monk standards, "Yesterdays," Jimmy Heath's "Ellington's Stray Horn," a tune by Jordan and two complex works from Farmer's European pianist Fritz Pauer. This is swinging and often thought-provoking music, but Jordan should have stuck to tenor.