
Dexter Gordon
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was one of the first players of the instrument in the bebop idiom of musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio and performance career spanned over 40 years. Gordon's sound was commonly characterized as being "large" and spacious and he had a tendency to play behind the beat. He was known for humorously inserting musical quotes into his solos, with sources as diverse as popular tunes like "Happy Birthday" to the operas of Wagner. This is not unusual in common-practice jazz improvisation, but Gordon did it frequently enough to make it a hallmark of his style. One of his major influences was Lester Young. Gordon, in turn, was an early influence on John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Rollins and Coltrane then influenced Gordon's playing as he explored hard bop and modal playing during the 1960s. Gordon was known for his genial and humorous stage presence. He was an advocate of playing to communicate with the audience. One of his idiosyncratic rituals was to recite lyrics from each ballad before playing it. A photograph by Herman Leonard of Gordon taking a smoke break at the Royal Roost in 1948 is one of the iconic images in jazz photography. Cigarettes were a recurring theme on covers of Gordon's albums. Gordon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the Bertrand Tavernier film Round Midnight (Warner Bros, 1986), and he won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist, for the soundtrack album The Other Side of Round Midnight (Blue Note Records, 1986). He also had a cameo role in the 1990 film Awakenings. In 2019, Gordon's album Go (Blue Note, 1962) was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". |
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Birth and Death Data: Born February 27th, 1923 (Los Angeles), Died April 25th, 1990 (Philadelphia)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1941 - 1952
Roles Represented in DAHR: tenor saxophone
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Decca | 70100 | 10-in. | 12/24/1941 | Just for you | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70101 | 10-in. | 12/24/1941 | Southern echoes | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70102 | 10-in. | 12/24/1941 | My wish | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70103 | 10-in. | 12/24/1941 | Nola | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70771 | 10-in. | 5/26/1942 | Now I know | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70772 | 10-in. | 5/26/1942 | Half a love is better than none | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70773 | 10-in. | 5/26/1942 | Flying home | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 70774 | 10-in. | 5/26/1942 | In the bag | Lionel Hampton Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | 82473 | 2/2/1952 | They raided the joint | Helen Humes | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | |||
Decca | 82474 | 2/2/1952 | Loud talkin' woman | Helen Humes | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | |||
Decca | 82475 | 2/2/1952 | Mean way of lovin' | Helen Humes | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | |||
Decca | 82476 | 2/2/1952 | I cried for you | Helen Humes | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | |||
Decca | L 3500 | 10-in. | 8/9/1944 | Grooving | Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | L 3501 | 10-in. | 8/9/1944 | Baby don't you cry | Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone | ||
Decca | L 3502 | 10-in. | 8/9/1944 | Whatcha say? | Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra | instrumentalist, tenor saxophone |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Gordon, Dexter," accessed January 19, 2021, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/318410.
Gordon, Dexter. (2021). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 19, 2021, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/318410.
"Gordon, Dexter." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2021. Web. 19 January 2021.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82099719
Wikidata: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q118116
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/37101905/
MusicBrainz: https://musicbrainz.org/artist/cc1588e1-5ba3-45a6-b80c-b31035c89339
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