Ten short tracks spotlight Dexter Gordon’s tenor sax artistry

The New York Times published a feature presenting 10 short selections that aim to showcase the playing of Dexter Gordon, the tall, debonair tenor saxophonist known as the “Sophisticated Giant.” The piece and its contributors describe Gordon’s sound as having a seemingly effortless power and a profound sincerity; on ballads he could “drag behind the beat” so far he seemed to invert it, the article says.

It outlines his life in music: raised in Los Angeles during the Depression as the son of one of the city’s few Black physicians; a leading figure in 1940s bebop who toured with Billy Eckstine and Louis Armstrong; a difficult, sometimes-incarcerated period in the 1950s; a return with classic Blue Note recordings in the early 1960s; more than a decade in Paris and Copenhagen; and a return to New York in 1976 to a hero’s welcome.

Toward the end of his life, Gordon took a starring role in the film Round Midnight; the article notes that the understated, sincere performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor. His wife and biographer, Maxine Gordon, is quoted about the film’s live-recorded music and about rehearsal anecdotes, including Wayne Shorter switching to tenor at Dexter’s suggestion.

Key Topics

Culture, Dexter Gordon, Round Midnight, Blue Note, Los Angeles, Paris