Liam’s Reviews > Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon > Status Update

Liam: I saw Dexter Gordon at the Village Vanguard around 1977.

Nice! That must have been absolutely amazing... I love the way he plays, ever since I first heard his work as a kid.

The very first jazz LP I ever owned was the posthumous Charlie Parker record 'The Happy Bird', which I bought for 25¢ at a yard sale when I was 12 years old. As you probably know, the great Wardell Gray is featured on that record also, jamming with Bird (as well as Charles Mingus, Teddy Kotick, Roy Haynes, Dick Twardzik and Walter Bishop) at a club in Boston in 1951. At the time, I was still pretty ignorant about Jazz. Among other things, I didn't even know Wardell Gray had lived in Detroit. I found the music to be addictive, though, and listened to that record over & over again (I've been able to hang on to that one all these years, too, and still have it).

You probably know what came next- I eventually got a copy of 'The Hunt' (the 12" LP version from the '70s) & 'The Chase' (the original 10" LP, which was unfortunately stolen from my mother's garage at some point in the early 2000s, along with my Langston Hughes record and all my other 10-inch records). So in a way, like so many others before me, I got two amazing tenor saxophonists for the price of one...

As you no doubt remember, most of DG's records were out of print in the '80s & '90s, even the classic Blue Note LPs. I was doing a lot of pizza delivery, etc. for work then, and consequently spent a lot of time on the road. Around 1990 I found a used cassette of 'The Best of Dexter Gordon: The Blue Note Years', which was a damn sight better than nothing, and it stayed in whatever vehicle I was driving for the next two decades or so...

You mentioned Mingus. I remain a fan. "Mingus Ah Um" and "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" are among the albums I listen often. Recently I acquired "Nostalgia in Times Square" by the Mingus Big Band -- an effort by his widow to keep his music alive.

Yes, likewise! 'Mingus Ah Um' is one of my favourites also, as is 'Blues & Roots' which I just obtained a couple of months ago. I was particularly happy to get that one because both Pepper Adams & Jackie McLean play on it as well. Also, of course, as a bass-player (even though I have not touched an upright bass since high school), Mingus is always an inspiration- his phrasing is so flawless but also incredibly idiosyncratic.