Mirage marked a reunion for
Art Farmer and
Clifford Jordan, who had known each other for decades but only recorded together on occasion at the time of these 1982 sessions. Backed by a strong rhythm section consisting of pianist
Fred Hersch, bassist
Ray Drummond, and drummer
Akira Tana, they blend well in
Charlie Parker's Caribbean-flavored blues "Barbados."
Farmer's regular pianist when he toured Europe,
Fritz Pauer, contributed the easygoing samba "Passos" and "Cherokee Sketches," which alternates between a treacherously difficult,
Thelonious Monk-like variation and a brisk reworking of the familiar standard.
Hersch wrote the loping, exotic "Mirage," in which
Farmer and
Jordan excel in their respective solos.
Jimmy Heath's "Smilin' Billy" (dedicated to drummer
Billy Higgins) provides a satisfying conclusion to this Soul Note CD, a precursor to feature recorded collaborations between
Farmer and
Jordan that ended only with the latter's death in 1993. ~ Ken Dryden