Fantastic article, pryso; thanks for that.
I love Dexter Gordon’s playing. He was my first favorite tenor player. The article does a great job of explaining his importance. I heard him live at the Village Vanguard a few times back in the 80’s when he made his big comeback and return from Europe. Like some of Art Pepper’s late recordings I find his playing toward the end of his career to be almost painful to listen to. The ravages of practically lifelong drug and alcohol abuse. I remember the last time I heard him that he sounded like he looked and acted...bombed. The huge sound and soulfulness was there (mostly), but playing so behind the rhythm that it was uncomfortable. It was kind of sad because it was so obvious that the man had a major problem. The “Body And Soul” movie clip is a good example of this. In his prime, he was amazing:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tzcl454jdhI&t=0s&index=2&list=PLF2E1AC12D0827B26
Here’s a “Body And Soul” from the same period (1962):
https://m.youtube.com/watch
I love Dexter Gordon’s playing. He was my first favorite tenor player. The article does a great job of explaining his importance. I heard him live at the Village Vanguard a few times back in the 80’s when he made his big comeback and return from Europe. Like some of Art Pepper’s late recordings I find his playing toward the end of his career to be almost painful to listen to. The ravages of practically lifelong drug and alcohol abuse. I remember the last time I heard him that he sounded like he looked and acted...bombed. The huge sound and soulfulness was there (mostly), but playing so behind the rhythm that it was uncomfortable. It was kind of sad because it was so obvious that the man had a major problem. The “Body And Soul” movie clip is a good example of this. In his prime, he was amazing:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tzcl454jdhI&t=0s&index=2&list=PLF2E1AC12D0827B26
Here’s a “Body And Soul” from the same period (1962):
https://m.youtube.com/watch