Demo · Dexter Gordon
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Biography
Dexter Gordon (1923–1990) was an American tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader, born in Los Angeles. He started on the clarinet at thirteen, moved to the alto at fifteen and to the tenor at seventeen, the year he joined Lionel Hampton’s band. He stood six foot six: they called him Long Tall Dexter, and later the Sophisticated Giant.
In New York in the mid-forties he played in Billy Eckstine’s big band, recorded with Dizzy Gillespie and then under his own name for Savoy. Back in Los Angeles his tenor duels with Wardell Gray became a concert attraction; The Chase was written for the two of them, and Jack Kerouac put The Hunt in On the Road.
After a hard decade he signed with Blue Note in 1961 and recorded Doin’ Allright, Go and A Swingin’ Affair. Then came fourteen years in Europe, living mainly in Paris and Copenhagen, where he made Our Man in Paris with Bud Powell, Kenny Clarke and Pierre Michelot, and found, he said, less racism and more respect for the music.
He came home in 1976, and his stand at the Village Vanguard was released as Homecoming. In 1986 he played Dale Turner in Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor; its soundtrack, The Other Side of Round Midnight, won a Grammy. He died in Philadelphia on 25 April 1990.
This is a demo site, a tribute built to show what a musician’s page on TJP can hold. Its dates are the demo’s own.
Projects
Homecoming, 1976
Back in New York after fourteen years away, with Woody Shaw, Ronnie Mathews, Stafford James and Louis Hayes at the Village Vanguard; Columbia released the stand as Homecoming. Pictured: the Vanguard in June 1977, with Benny Bailey. Photograph: Tom Marcello, CC BY-SA 2.0.
en.wikipedia.org(opens in a new tab)Paris and Copenhagen, 1962–1976
Fourteen years in Europe with Bud Powell, Ben Webster, Kenny Drew and the players who came through; Our Man in Paris and One Flight Up were recorded in Paris. Pictured: a concert on board the M/S Sankt Erik in the Stockholm archipelago, 19 July 1969.
en.wikipedia.org(opens in a new tab)
