"Jordu" is a jazz standard written by Irving "Duke" Jordan in 1953. This song was first made popular by

Clifford Brown Clifford Benjamin Brown (October 30, 1930 – June 26, 1956) was an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He died at the age of 25 in a car accident, leaving behind four years' worth of recordings. His compositions "Sandu", "Joy Spring", an ...

and Max Roach, but many other jazz musicians have performed or recorded renditions of it, including

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of ...

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, and

Charlie Byrd Charlie Lee Byrd (September 16, 1925 – December 2, 1999) was an American jazz guitarist. Byrd was best known for his association with Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. In 1962, he collaborated with Stan Getz on the album '' Jazz Samba' ...

. It has a traditional AABA jazz form. The A section is composed of two measure patterns, the first being a non-chordal pick-up measure in which the lead player starts a phrase on the "and" of beat 1 and leads right into the second half of the two measure phrase in which the rhythm players and the lead players both hit on 1, 3, and the "and" of 4. The B section is a circle of fourths pattern built on dominant seventh chords. The ending of the song contains a vamp on the last two bars of the A section followed by an alteration of the initial pickup measure ending on a minor-major seventh chord. Floyd Cramer performed the song on the

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

on his 1962 album "Floyd Cramer Gets Organized" in which one half of the album was piano and the other half organ. Lyrics for this song were written by Karrin Allyson with the title "Life is a groove". She recorded it on her 2006 ''Footprints'' CD as a duet with Nancy King. Another vocal version was recorded by Ann Richards with the title "Where Did You Go?" which she included on her ''The Many Moods of Ann Richards/Two Much'' 2004 compilation.

Early Recordings

* Duke Jordan - Duke Jordan Trio (Duke Jordan, piano; Gene Ramey, bass; Lee Abrams, drums. Recorded in NYC; January 28, 1954.) - Swing (Vogue) Catalog: M. 33.323 (1954). Recorded under the tune's original title, "Minor Escamp". * Roy Haynes - Roy Haynes Modern Group a/k/a Roy Haynes Sextet (released under the title "Minor Encamp") - Swing (Vogue) Catalog: M. 33.337 (1954) * Julius Watkins - ''

Julius Watkins Sextet ''Julius Watkins Sextet'' is a CD by horn player Julius Watkins featuring tracks recorded in 1954 and 1955 which were originally released as two 10 inch LPs (BLP 5053, 5064) on the Blue Note label.Smith, P. GJulius Watkins and the Evolution of the ...

'' - BLP 5064 (1955) *

- '' Clifford Brown & Max Roach'' - MG 36036 (Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, CA, August 3, 1954) * Hampton Hawes - '' All Night Session! Vol. 1'' Contemporary C3545 (1956) *

Barney Kessel Barney Kessel (October 17, 1923 – May 6, 2004) was an American jazz guitarist born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Known in particular for his knowledge of chords and inversions and chord-based melodies, he was a member of many prominent jazz groups a ...

- ''

The Poll Winners ''The Poll Winners'' is an album by jazz guitarist Barney Kessel with drummer Shelly Manne and bassist Ray Brown that was recorded in 1957 and released by Contemporary Records.

'' - C3535/S7535 (1957) *

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

- ''

Birks' Works ''Birks' Works'' is an album by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie recorded in 1957 and released on the Verve label.

'' - Verve MGV 8222 (1957) *

- ''

Stan Meets Chet ''Stan Meets Chet'' is an album by saxophonist Stan Getz with trumpeter Chet Baker, released in 1958 on the Verve label. Reception Scott Yanow of AllMusic stated: "Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and trumpeter Chet Baker never particularly liked each ...

'' - MGV 8263 (1958) *

- '' Blues Sonata'' - OLP 3009, RM 453 (1961)

References

1950s jazz standards 1953 songs Hard bop jazz standards {{1950s-jazz-composition-stub