Dexter Gordon, the most influential voice among tenor players of his generation, was until the last decade the least known and least appreciated tenor player of any stature; receiving only passing mention in a number of histories of jazz and articles on the bebop movement of the 40's, Gordon's great harmonic awareness made him the first major tenor soloist in the bop idiom. He synthesized the musical elements of Hawkins, Young and Parker into a sound all his own.
Gordon grew up in the late 30's during the period the Count Basie band came roaring out of Kansas City with Lester Young creating an entirely new tenor sax sound. Dexter reflected, "For musicians of the generation before mine, Coleman Hawkins was the one and only model. Lester changed all that. Everybody of my generation listened to Lester and almost no one else. We bought all of his records and when he appeared anywhere in our area we all turned out and stood in front of the bandstand to listen and figure out what he was doing and how he was doing it." Gordon did listen to a few others such as Dick Wilson of Andy Kirk's Clouds of Joy and Lester's Basie partner, Herschel Evans, But as the years passed the rapid ascendancy of Charlie Parker's work began dominating the jazz scene and Gordon's ears immediately picked up on the new style. Dexter became the first to successfully transfer the characteristics of bop to the tenor.
During the early BeBop Era (1945-9), Dexter in turn influenced the fledgling talents of John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins and Jackie McLean. Gordon is the musical link on tenor between the 30's and 50's. However, he is a musician who continually grows and today you can hear traces of Coltrane and Rollins in his music.
Dexter Keith Gordon was born in Los Angeles on February 27, 1923. His father was a prominent doctor whose patients included Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. At thirteen, Dexter began studying clarinet as well as harmony and theory, Two years later he began to study alto sax and played in a band comprised of students from Jordan High School and Jefferson High School. Among these players were Ernie Royal, Charles Mingus, Britt Woodman, Buddy Collette and Chico Hamilton.
At seventeen, Dexter quit school, took up the tenor and joined a local band, the Harlem Collegians. In December, 1940, Marshall Royal, Ernie's older brother, offered Dexter a job in Lionel Hampton's band, "I went over to Hamp's pad, and we blew a while, and that was it," he remembers. "We went right on the road, without any rehearsal, cold, I was expecting to be sent home every night," Dexter claims "about the only thing I had to play" was a number, "Po'k Chops," featuring Gordon and Hampton's principle tenor soloist, Illinois Jacquet, In May, 1942, George Simon reviewed the Hampton band at the Savoy Ballroom for Metronome. He wrote: "Young Dexter a handsome six-foot-four (sic, 6'5) eighteen year old, comes across with some fine melodic ideas as well as a mighty pretty tone."
In 1943, Gordon quit the band and went back to L.A. He played with Lester's brother, Lee Young, and then Jesse Price before joining the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in April, 1944. During the few weeks he stayed with the band, they recorded a couple of AFRS transcriptions which give evidence of Lester's influence on Dexter's solo work.
In the late spring, Gordon joined Louis Armstrong. He stayed with the big band and although Louis made a point of featuring Dexter on a few numbers, Gordon found the musical experience unsatisfactory.
The musical winds changed in December to Dexter's advantage. Lucky Thompson vacated his chair in the recently formed Billy Eckstine Band, the first big band devoted to the new music, Dexter replaced him at their Howard Theatre gig in Washington, D.C. Right from the start he could feel the new energy surging through this band of pioneers. He became close with three members of the sax section: John Jackson, Sonny Stitt and Leo Parker. Their extra-curricular activities eventually earned them the name "Unholy Four."
Although most of the band recordings featured Eckstine vocals, Dexter's sax can be heard soloing on "Lonesome Lover Blues." "Blowing The Blues Away" featured a tenor sax battle between Dexter and teammate, Gene Ammons. Although it wasn't the first sax battle, it made Dexter an integral ingredient of a new trend.
While still with the band, Gordon played in his first bop combo recording session led by Dizzy Gillespie in February of 1945. In late summer of the same year, Gordon left the band in St. Louis and headed back to New York. He joined Charlie Parker at the Spotlite on 52nd St. and in September he and Bird appeared under the leadership of the group's pianist, Sir Charles Thompson. They did four sides for Apollo with Buck Clayton on trumpet. It was a strange combination of swing and bop musicians, a clash of styles which quite often marred early bop recordings.
After five years in big bands and working in other people's combos, Dexter finally began to appear under his own name. The previous experience had taken an immature seventeen year-old and put him through an intensive "music school." As he grew older more chances to express himself were made available and a voice heavily influenced by Lester Young evolved through other influences including bop to find its own sound.
Beginning in late 1945 Dexter began recording for Savoy and he took his own group into the Three Deuces. He also played regularly in the all-star line-ups at the weekly Sunday afternoon sessions at the Fraternal Clubhouse on West 48th St, and Lincoln Square Center, an old ballroom that was on the site of the present Lincoln Center Complex. Jackie McLean remembers one afternoon at Lincoln Square Center very well. "I was too young and too young-looking to get in, I had on dark glasses and a hat, trying to make it, but I couldn't and the guy at the door refused me. I started to walk away, but I saw Dexter Gordon coming down the street, and I ran up to him and told him the situation, Dexter recognized me as the little pest who played alto saxophone, and said, 'Give me your money, man, and I'll take you in.' I gave him my $1 and I went in as his cousin. That gave me a very proud feeling as I walked by the guy who had refused me," That afternoon among the several all-star groups playing was one consisting of: Parker, Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster, Kenny Clarke, Freddie Webster on trumpet. Jackie recalls, "Then Bird came in, and they played "Cottontail." I'll never forget that, man, like they played as soon as he came in, I think that's the first time I ever felt the true influence of Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker overwhelmed me, And I sat with my mouth open listening to Dexter Gordon, too."
Gordon now had a recognized position; he was a major figure in the growing bop movement. Dexter's early recordings were starting to have some influence which was particularly apparent in the recordings of tenor saxophonists Stan Getz and Allen Eager at the time.
In the summer of 1946, Dexter returned to the west. For a couple of months he worked with bandleader Cee Pee Johnson in Hawaii. When he returned to Los Angeles, Dexter started to jam at weekly sessions at places like Jack's Basket: "There'd be a lot of cats on the stand, but by the end of the session, it would wind up with Wardell (Gray) and myself. "The Chase" grew out of this." "The Chase," one of the most memorable tenor sax battles on record, was cut by Ross Russell of Dial records in June of 1947.
During the next six months, Dexter made several more sessions for Dial including a quartet, a quintet with Melba Liston and a tenor sax duel with Teddy Edwards. Immediately after the Edwards session in December, Dexter returned to New York to gig around 52nd Street and do a Savoy date with Fats Navarro. About this time, the young promoter Monte Kay along with disc jockey Symphony Sid convinced Ralph Watkins of the Royal Roost to give them a Tuesday night for a session. Seven hundred people packed the "bleachers" at 90c admission to see Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro and Tadd Dameron. At 2 A.M., Gordon, who had been booked, appeared and like a "Pied Piper of Hamelin" led the fans through a merry chase for the next hour and a half.
In 1948, he recorded sax battles with baritone saxophonist Leo Parker for Savoy. Parker was the last of the four saxophonists Dexter was to do battle with on record.
Gordon returned to the west coast to work with small groups on and off. In December, he appeared at the Clique (later called Birdland) in a fabulous but short-lived all-star group led by Oscar Pettiford. Other members included Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Lucky Thompson, Kai Winding, Milt Jackson and Kenny Clarke. Later Dexter played in front of Machito's Afro-Cubans. He joined Tadd Dameron's 10-piece group in January at the Royal Roost and recorded two numbers with them for Capitol, One of them, "Sid's Delight" (later known as "Tadd's Delight" includes a lovely solo by Gordon.
Dexter returned to Los Angeles shortly afterwards but it was to be eleven years before he would travel east again. The BeBop Era was dying and Gordon's first five great years were behind him. In 1950 he revived his association with Warden Gray. They recorded in a jam with one of Wardell's groups at the Hula Hut on Sunset that year and made a few sides for the obscure Swingtime label. Their recording career together ended in February, 1952, with a Pasadena concert recording on Decca. Their association was the last vestige of Gordon's recent importance. The Gordon-Gray tandem was never to be renewed because of Gordon's incarceration and Wardell's death.
Gordon was having problems by this time. Some stemmed from the sudden public interest in "West Coast" jazz which was predominantly played by whites in a "cool" fashion. His other problems stemmed from heroin, a habit he had picked up around 1945. From 1953 to early 1955 he was an inmate at Chino. During his stay he appeared in a low-budget prison movie, Unchained, as an actor and musician although someone else is heard playing on the soundtrack.
Within the first year of his release from Chino, he recorded three albums on Doo-Tone and Bethlehem which received little attention. During the next few years he sporadically worked in combos or Onzy Matthews' big band but his hard-swinging style, like that of many other black horn men on the west coast, was out of favor.
In 1960 things changed. Dexter was asked to compose, lead a quartet and appear in the Los Angeles production of Jack Gelber's The Connection, a play about heroin addicts. The publicity made people conscious of Dexter again. Cannonball Adderley in October approached Gordon about doing an album for Jazzland. They couldn't have chosen a better title, The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon.
Then the new era broke. In May 1961 Dexter, still on parole, flew to New York for a short period to record two albums for Blue Note. His parole period over, he flew to Chicago in October to appear with Gene Ammons and overwhelmed the Windy City fans.
He moved to New York in Spring 1962 but could not get a cabaret card so only performed "one-nighters" at New York clubs and concerts and a few out-of-town gigs. During the summer he worked several times with the late Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins, a magnificent rhythm section which backed him on two fine Blue Note albums before he left for Europe in late August.
Gordon set out for Paris but eventually found his haven in Copenhagen. The Club Montmartre became his club, a base of operations from which he travelled over the Continent.
In 1963 he was awarded the first general critical recognition of his work in years when the Down Beat Critics Poll announced him as New Star of the Year. He went to Paris in May to record for Blue Note — a lovely quartet album which reunites Gordon with Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke. Paris was also the sight of the next Blue Note album in 1964 with a quintet including Donald Byrd and fellow Copenhagen resident, Kenny Drew.
Gordon's increased emotional maturity and confidence are evident in the depth and breadth of his musical inspiration and expression. His individualistic solo conception encompasses the total horn. He cohesively constructs melodically resourceful and harmonically rich patterns in his big, sensuous sound.
This two-record set includes tunes taken from five of Dexter's Blue Note albums recorded between 1961 and 1965. It includes a variety of contexts in which his fine dark-toned tenor sings out with the enthusiasm and vitality that makes him one of the most affirmative voices on the jazz scene.
Two present residents of Copenhagen hold down the piano chair on sides 1, 2 and 4. Kenny Drew. an old Gordon friend, not only lends fine support on cuts such as the pop tune, "The End Of A Love Affair," but has contributed two originals, "Modal Mood" and "Clear The Dex." Horace Parlan, a recent expatriate who presently shares the piano bench with Drew at the Club Montmartre, was the mainstay of a trio that was a regular on the New York scene in the early 60's. They join Gordon and Freddie Hubbard on a couple of standards. Freddie Hubbard in fine voice, adds a few sparks to the Gordon fire in front of the Parlan trio kindling on "It's You or No One." The quintet's fire burns down to smouldering embers for the lovely ballad, "You've Changed."
December 1964, Dexter returned to the U.S. for six months of club dates on both coasts and in Chicago; and while in New York, he recorded his final Blue Note album with Bobby Hutcherson and Barry Harris. Upon his return to Europe, he continued to appear at various jazz festivals and work in Berlin, Stockholm, Paris and London. He took part in a Danish version of The Connection and was featured in a Danish film. Near the end of 1968 he taught for three months in a school in Malmo, Sweden.
He made his first trip to the United States after four years in 1969. He returned again in 1970 to receive many accolades (including Whitney Balliett's statement, "He is a musician's musician.") for his appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. Many of Balliett's peers must have concurred because the 1971 Down Beat Critics Poll honored Gordon with the Best Tenor Sax award.
Dexter has settled down in a comfortable studio apartment in a Copenhagen suburb. He practices at least two hours every day on his saxophone and also works out on the piano.
In December of this year, Gordon returned to his birthplace, Los Angeles, and gave us the finest Christmas present he could possibly have given: his music.
Trumpeter Donald Byrd on one of his flights from these shores contributes composition and horn in the longest piece in the set, "Tanya." It is a haunting composition that allows both horns and Drew's piano to find their own introspective mood during the extended blowing. Dexter's solo is a long threnody for Coltrane which opens with a series of note clusters, then soars in a slowly ascending spiral that finishes with several high, murmured cries.
West coast vibist Bobby Hutcherson joins Barry Harris and Gordon on a swinging walk down Basie lane with Frank Foster's "Shiny Stockings." Dex moves at a relaxed pace with all members seeming to enjoy their promenade in search of the titled object.
Dexter the composer is represented by two tunes. The first, "Ernie's Tine," is taken from his score for The Connection and is a lovely floating ballad ably supported by Kenny Drew. His second, "Soy Califa." is a swinging Latin tune nicely spiced by one of the best rhythm sections he has worked with. The late Sonny Clark proves why he will be missed as he and cohorts Butch Warren and Billy Higgins swing the South of the Border flavor in back of the flowing Gordon.
Lester Young once suggested that musicians should know the lyrics of songs; that this would help their interpretations. Dex is a master ballad singer as he proves on Billie Holiday's ballad to a wayward man, "Don't Explain." Gordon breathes Lady Day's words before breaking off on his own poignant statement with able backing from Sonny and friends.
If you are new to Gordon, the ten cuts will be a well chosen surprise; and if you are an old friend, a welcome sign of his continual musical growth awaits you. Dexter has not stood still since his influential voice started turning heads in the late 40's. Traces of those he influenced such as Coltrane and Rollins appear in his playing. He is his own man; constantly searching for ways to improve. He is one of the giants who keeps jazz alive.
Joe Segal best summed it up: "Dexter Gordon, of course, is one of the very, very great — greater — greatest saxophonists who ever breathed."
Note: I am indebted to the original notes of Ira Gitler, Leonard Feather, and Nat Hentoff; to the writings of Ira Gitler, Ross Russell, Charles Edward Smith and A. B. Spellman for many of the factual details.
CHARLEY LIPPINCOTT
