Joe Gordon "Looking Good"

[cool_blue]

Recently picked this up on vinyl (Contemp 80's reissue) and whoa!. Instantly one of my faves and not heard about much. Very recommended!!!

AMG Review

Edited April 19, 2005 by cool_blue

[BbM7]

Second.

[Dave James]

Third. One I picked up as a direct result of the "Before OJC's Go Away" thread. Glad I did. Terrific music, consistent from start to finish.

Up over and out.

[John L]

If you like this one, be sure and also get Jimmy Woods' Awakening: same lineup a half year later. I even like it more than Lookin' Good.

[cool_blue]

If you like this one, be sure and also get Jimmy Woods' Awakening: same lineup a half year later. I even like it more than Lookin' Good.

If anyone has a extra copy of this on Lp I would be very interested. Please PM me.

THX-cb

[Bright Moments]

picked this up on cd as a result of the recommendation here. GOOD STUFF!!!

the notes refer to Joe Gordon's "tragically brief life" - what happened to him??!!

was he shot by a common law wife? did he die in an auto accident? was his body found in the east river?

inquiring minds want to know!

[JPF]

picked this up on cd as a result of the recommendation here. GOOD STUFF!!!

the notes refer to Joe Gordon's "tragically brief life" - what happened to him??!!

was he shot by a common law wife? did he die in an auto accident? was his body found in the east river?

inquiring minds want to know!

←

He died in a fire in his apartment in 1963.

[Bright Moments]

He died in a fire in his apartment in 1963.

←

[BruceH]

I found a used copy of this at Streetlight Records a few years ago, and thanks to a mention in Gioia's West Coast Jazz book I knew it was worth a listen. Never regretted the purchase.

[BFrank]

FWIW, both the Joe Gordon and Jimmy Woods albums are available on eMusic. I downloaded them quite a while ago. Definitely give my thumbs up, too.

[mikeweil]

Very fine trumpet player. He's on half of the Horace Silver Columbia Legacy CD that's due for release soon. Too bad he didn't stay with Silver.

Isn't he on some of the 1954 Blakey stuff on EmArcy, too?

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Yes. See my website for detailed Joe Gordon discography.

Mike

[ghost of miles]

Very fine trumpet player. He's on half of the Horace Silver Columbia Legacy CD that's due for release soon. Too bad he didn't stay with Silver.

Isn't he on some of the 1954 Blakey stuff on EmArcy, too?

←

Yes, that's a Verve Elite well worth tracking down... and I'm excited to hear the Silver re-issue.

Gordon's also on the Shelly Manne Blackhawk recordings.

[Bright Moments]

If you like this one, be sure and also get Jimmy Woods' Awakening:  same lineup a half year later.  I even like it more than Lookin' Good.

←

just listened to "awakening".

[Jazz Kat]

picked this up on cd as a result of the recommendation here. GOOD STUFF!!!

the notes refer to Joe Gordon's "tragically brief life" - what happened to him??!!

was he shot by a common law wife? did he die in an auto accident? was his body found in the east river?

inquiring minds want to know!

←

He died in a fire in his apartment in 1963.

←

I believe the word is perished..

[JSngry]

Canned goods perish.

[mgraham333]

I've been in a trumpet mood lately and came across Joe Gordon's Lookin' Good!. I have to agree with the positive comments here. I can see this one getting a lot of playing time.

I also picked up in the same CDU order:

[mikeweil]

Just found out that this Lp fell victim to one of my fundraising Lp sales in recent years. Another OJC to get before it's too late ....

[Chas]

The scene-stealing performances of both Jimmy Woods and Dick Whittington should not obscure the fact that Lookin Good was the pinnacle of Joe Gordon's career , both instrumentally and compositionally . This makes his demise shortly thereafter all the more tragic . John Tynan wrote as definitive a review of the circumstances surrounding Gordon's death as we're likely to get :

Downbeat January 30 , 1964

[Kalo]

picked this up on cd as a result of the recommendation here. GOOD STUFF!!!

the notes refer to Joe Gordon's "tragically brief life" - what happened to him??!!

was he shot by a common law wife? did he die in an auto accident? was his body found in the east river?

inquiring minds want to know!

Actually, the real story is that he got in an argument with his common law wife, Svetlana, who compelled him at gunpoint into an automobile. She directed him to drive to the east river. Along the way they narrowly avoided an accident which resulted in the death of another trumpeter who shall remain nameless. Arriving at the river, they parked and got into another argument which resulted in them buying a house together which then burnt down, causing him to perish, a death which would have happened anyway some years later because he unknowingly suffered from mesothelioma owing to fact that his favorite trumpet had, before his acquiring it, been temporarily housed in a building under renovation where asbestos insulation was being installed. The album he would have recorded after Lookin' Good, which would have been entitled Feelin' Better had he lived, would have been nominated but would sadly have failed to win as "Best Small-Combo Jazz Recording without Vibraphone" in the Boston Musician's Union Newsletter "Member Recording of the Year" poll.

[Kalo]

But seriously, I recently acquired Lookin' Good and the Jimmy Woods's Awakening!! session and have been enjoying the bejesus out of them.

I sure wish that Gordon had lived.

[paul secor]

Ain't no good way to die, but that was a damn BAD way to go.

[BruceH]

I just happened to be playing Lookin' Good a few days ago, and thinking how this ain't such a bad world after all, that has such albums in it.

[Kalo]

I just happened to be playing Lookin' Good a few days ago, and thinking how this ain't such a bad world after all, that has such albums in it.

So the album's title is quite appropriate in your book!

(Not to mention mine as well...)