Dexter Gordon (tenor sax); Sonny Clark (piano); Butch Warren (bass); Billy Higgins (drums).
(By Lance)
When I began this series I said I'd leave the Dexter Gordon's until this whole sorry affair is behind us but the urge to listen to the big man was too great so I thought to myself that one won't harm me. How many times have I said that before?
Which one? that was the question. An unanswerable question if quality was to be the deciding factor - they are all up there among the greatest tenor sax albums of all-time - so I simply closed my eyes and picked one at random.
It lives up to the album title, it is indeed a swingin' affair. This is due not least to the driving force behind the kit - Billy Higgins. Higgins progressed, if that is the correct word, to play with experimentalists such as Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry but here he plays by the rules. Butch Warren, isn't a name that springs immediately to my mind when it comes to bass players but, it should be.
Dexter may have been the star but this galaxy contains another shining light. Sonny Clark was, possibly, the finest of all the Blue Note pianists. Sympathetic in accompaniment and a tasteful swinger when soloing. We will be hearing more of Sonny in a few nights time.
Did anyone out there see Dexter Gordon when he played what was then the University Theatre in Newcastle? It was an unusual evening. Dexter was somewhat spaced out although it didn't seem to effect his playing. I was there with Charlie Carmichael and Marshall Walker and I think I must have been a little spaced out too as I can't remember the year or who made up the quartet and, as Charlie and Marshall are no longer with us, I can't ask them either. Can anyone help?
Lance
Listen to Until the Real Thing Comes Along.
1 comment :
One of many terrific Dexter Gordon albums.
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