''Bearcat'' is an album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist

Clifford Jordan Clifford Laconia Jordan (September 2, 1931 – March 27, 1993) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player. While in Chicago, he performed with Max Roach, Sonny Stitt, and some rhythm and blues groups. He moved to New York City in 1957, after ...

which was recorded in late 1961 and early 1962 and released on the Jazzland label.

Reception

Writing in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' about the 1991 reissue, Jack Fuller stated: "For me

hard bop Hard bop is a subgenre of jazz that is an extension of bebop (or "bop") music. Journalists and record companies began using the term in the mid-1950s to describe a new current within jazz that incorporated influences from rhythm and blues, gospe ...

is like the blues that you find at its core. I can always listen to it with pleasure. It is never monotonous, no matter how closely it hews to the norm. And when it is energetic and smiling, as it is on this reissue of a 1962 release by tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan backed by pianist Cedar Walton, it can almost always lift my spirits, too".Fuller, J.
Chicago Tribune Review
June 23, 1991

Scott Yanow Scott Yanow (born October 4, 1954) is an American jazz reviewer, historian, and author.Allmusic Biography/ref> Biography Yanow was born in New York City and grew up near Los Angeles. Since 1974, he was a regular reviewer of many jazz styles an ...

stated in his review for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

: "It would be 1973 before Jordan had another opportunity to be showcased in a quartet format, making this formerly rare set one of his best all-around recordings".Yanow, S
Allmusic Review
accessed November 7, 2012

Track listing

''All compositions by Clifford Jordan except as indicated'' # "Bear Cat" - 4:56 # "Dear Old Chicago" - 5:30 # " How Deep Is the Ocean?" (

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russi ...

) - 4:58 # "The Middle of the Block" - 4:59 # "You Better Leave It Alone" - 5:57 # "Malice Towards None" (

Tom McIntosh Thomas S. "Tom" McIntosh (February 6, 1927 - July 26, 2017) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. McIntosh was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of six siblings. He also had an elder half-sibling by his fath ...

) - 5:58 # "Out-House" - 5:29

Personnel

—

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and com ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Teddy Smith Theodore "Teddy" Smith (January 22, 1932, in Washington, D.C.—August 24, 1979, in Washington, D.C.) was an American jazz double-bassist. Smith played with Betty Carter in 1960, and with Clifford Jordan (with whom he recorded the LP ''Bearc ...

- bass * J. C. Moses -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

{{Authority control 1962 albums Clifford Jordan albums Jazzland Records (1960) albums Albums produced by Orrin Keepnews