This joint album from Jordan and Gilmore is interesting on several levels. The Arkestra of Sun Ra featured a lot of members throughout its fruitful years but John Gilmore and Marshall Allen are two names that you will, without exception, always hear when someone is discussing members of the Arkestra. Gilmore was a very promising and interesting saxophonist but he recorded almost exclusively with Sun Ra which makes this album intriguing just to hear how Gilmore sounds without Sun Ra. He is joined by Clifford Jordan, a saxophonist probably best known for working with Charles Mingus on several records. To me on those Mingus records Clifford often sounded like a counterweight in the sextet to Eric Dolphy. While Dolphy would of often provide incredibly weird, abstract solos and instruments Clifford would counteract with a more conventional, Coltrane-like style of improvising more grounded in reality. Later on his admiration for Coltrane manifested even more with a couple of spiritual jazz records like Glass Beads.
On the album the two saxophonists are accompanied by Horace Silver and Art Blakey who are arguably one of the most known men in the hard-bop pantheon of giants. The only unknown here is Curly Russell of whom I know very little and can comment even less. In general on this record the focus is on the two leads and their interactions with the tunes. It's like you're at a cutting contest.
Oh and a interesting side note that I'd like to mention: There's a peculiar rumor mainly circulated among Sun Ra fans which implies that Coltrane was very much inspired by John Gilmore. In fact the rumor states that Coltrane had an epiphany after hearing Gilmore play. This was never confirmed fully but who knows, maybe there is something to it. Whatever the case may be this album lets you take a peek at Gilmore's own talent without being overshadowed by Sun Ra and his special brand of jazz. In any case you can read about the whole Coltrane-Gilmore thing here.
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