Clifford Jordan Quartet – Glass Bead Games

Solid set but boy is this thing overhyped/overrated. Yes, it has some pretty soulful, emotional moments, but like many titles on Strata East it's a bit of a meandering hodge podge of jazz, lost between pretty dated sounds and attempts to bring something new forward. Gets pretty monotone after the first two sides. "John Coltrane" comes off much better on Night Of The Mark VII on Muse. I know I'm going to get plenty of hate for this review, but majority of Strata East titles are absurdly overhyped. Yes, there are diamonds like Ensemble Al Salaam, Billy Harper's Capra Black, Gil Scott Heron's Winter In America, Brother Ahh and Sound Awareness, and a couple more, but that's really about it. Most titles have an innovative track or two and the rest is pretty unremarkable straight ahead jazz. In fact, most titles on Muse are much more worth your money. The original Strata label titles are also far more adventurous and far superior to most of these. It's cool if you're into collecting these, but there is a ton of other stuff out there from the same period that is much more worth your dollar... I'm obviously taking it out on the album a little bit because of the price tag, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. In no universe should this be a $500 record.

From the Mosaic Records site (which seems to contradict some of the artist/track listings in discogs):
CLIFFORD JORDAN – GLASS BEAD GAMES
QUARTET 1: Stanley Cowell, p; Bill Lee, b; Clifford Jordan, ts; Billy Higgins, d.
Strata-East SES-1973-7/8
Minot Sound Studio, White Plains, NY, October 29, 1973
Powerful Paul Robeson
Cal Massey –
John Coltrane - *1
Eddie Harris –
Biskit –
Maimoun –
Alias Buster Henry –
*1 vocals by Clifford Jordan, Bill Lee and Billy Higgins.

QUARTET 2: Cedar Walton, p; Sam Jones, b; Clifford Jordan, ts; Billy Higgins, d.

Strata-East SES-1973-7/8
Minot Sound Studio, White Plains, NY, October 29, 1973
The Glass Bead Games
Prayer To The People –
Shoulders –
Bridgework –
One For Amos –

Quartet I: C.Jordan, S.Cowell, B.Higgins, B.Lee
( Bill Lee bass, Stanley Cowell piano, Clifford Jordan sax, Billy Higgins drums)

Quartet II: C.Jordan, S.Jones, C.Walton, B.Higgins
( Sam Jones bass, Cedar Walton piano, Clifford Jordan sax, Billy Higgins drums)

thanks for pointing out the 2 versions of this. Just saw that i actually own the matte cardboard and the laminated version. Do you by any chance know which one came out first? Thanks for any hints.

Superfly reissue is pure class as always. more words more

2 x LP reissue is coming Jan 2019 via Superfly Records, Paris.

I also think this one is the best on the Strata East Label but don't be fooled their are plenty of other good albums/tracks to be had. I have so many its ridiculous at one stage i would buy anything on Strata East that sounded remotely good because i was finding gems on nearly all their albums, but this is a good place to start.
Also the track "John Coltrane" has many interpretations at least 7 versions. The Billy Higgins is probably the worst. I bought this and the The Decandants of mike and Pheobe " A spirit speaks" at the same time and could not stop listening and comparing tracks like "John Coltrane" , then i tried to buy the whole Strata East catalouge

This is the best album on the label in my opinion - Cliff kills it. A complete jazz album that captivates you from start to finish. I paid an arm and a leg for this but am glad to have it on wax.