Favorite Dexter Gordon Blue Note session

[Popper Lou]

I am leaning towards Go!. Sonny Clark brought his "A" game to this session, along with Dexter.

[Hardbopjazz]

I never heard Landslide before, but I love every other session he's done for Blue Note. I voted for Go! as well. It has the whole package. I love Reid Miles' cover desgin and of course the music swings.

[sal]

I almost voted for "One Flight Up", which has been in constant rotation since the RVG came out. I had never heard it before, and it was mind-blowing. But in the end, "Go" played a huge part in getting me into jazz, and it will probably always be my favorite.

[ajf67]

I almost voted for One Flight Up as well, but voted for Go!. I love both.

[jazzbo]

"The Squirrell" is my favorite. B-)

[BruceH]

Put me down for Go! Our Man In Paris and Gettin' Around are up there, but then, so are ALL his Blue Notes. If you gotta go for one, go for Go!, that's my motto.

[Brad]

Go is the best, with Getting Around and Doing Allright close seconds. Even Dexter called Go a classic.

[danasgoodstuff]

Our Man In Paris, no contest. I just love the swaggering authority with which Dex plays on this. I always figured the reason that nothing from it was on the best of was because you were supposed to buy Our Man & the Best of...

[Jim R]

I can't pick just one, but in addition to GO, I think my personal favorites are OUR MAN IN PARIS, DEXTER CALLING, and GETTIN' AROUND.

[tonym]

Our Man In Paris for me!

[brownie]

GO Dex GO!!

Edited August 24, 2004 by brownie

[sidewinder]

'Dexter Calling' and 'Our Man In Paris' for me, closely followed by 'Go'. All truly excellent, difficult to pick between them. 'Getting Around' is the only one I haven't really latched on to, although that may change if I ever hear the vinyl.

[Spontooneous]

Doin' Alright for me. Seems he was out to consciously make a better album than he'd ever made before, and that he came with superior material and arrangements. And the rest of the band rises to the occasion. Every cut has perfect architecture.

I don't have a problem with the Go crowd, for that's one of the best blowing albums ever made. But Doin' Alright shouldn't be in its shadow.

I feel almost the same about Dexter Calling.

[mikeweil]

I voted for "Clubhouse" - I dig Dexter's laid back phrasing and Barry Harris so much on this one!

I'd have preferred his only sideman date, Herbie Hancock's "Takin' Off" on the list instead of "The Other Side of Round Midnight", to keep things in the 1960's.

"Landslide", BTW, like "Clubhouse", was a vault issue, but "Landslide" combined material from two aborted session with an outtake from an earlier session. These two were planned as a reunion of Dexter with his old buddy from the Billy Eckstine band's "Unholy Four" sax section - Leo Parker - who died shortly before the session. That would have been the one ...

[mikeweil]

"Dexter Calling" and "Doin' Allright" are close calls - this is a tough choice to make!

[Leeway]

For me, in order of appreciation:

GO

OUR MAN IN PARIS

ON FLIGHT UP

DOIN ALLRIGHT

DEXTER CALLING

BUT they are ALLl da--n TERRIFIC!

[DrJ]

DOIN' ALRIGHT for sure, with OUR MAN IN PARIS a close second.

As huge a Sonny Clark fan as I am I have never felt that either GO or A SWINGIN' AFFAIR were all that they've been cracked up to be - especially GO which seems to be on everyone's short list of "BN's Best." Sure, it's a fine session, but why so lauded I don't understand - and I do fully realize Dex thought is was "the stuff." But I just don't hear it, though I can understand and appreciate that others clearly seem to feel differently.

It's more than the playing that makes DOIN' ALRIGHT such a classic to me. It's a damn near perfectly sequenced album, with the full range of moods Dex operated in, some of his simplest but most memorable compositions, a ballad reading that is truly one for the ages in "You've Changed" - seriously, play this one as I make my transition into whatever hereafter there might be - and a hugely sympathetic support cast. The cherry on the top is one of those great NYC location cover shots BN used to do (right up there with the one on the front of THE MAGNIFICENT THAD JONES).

Edited August 27, 2004 by DrJ

[mgraham333]

I had to go with Gettin' Around. I really do love GO! and it was one of the first RVGs I purchased, but Gettin' Around just gets me every time. And One Flight Up is right up there too! Doin' Alright is alright. Sometimes Dexter Calling calls out to be played. Usually it happens sometime on the other side of midnight.

My guess is for Ed Swinnich, Our Man In Paris wins by a Landslide.

Okay so I left out A Swingin' Affair and Club House.... You don't have to swing clubs at my head...

[dsgtrane]

One Flight Up

"Tanya" is my all-time favorite Gordon recording.

[P.L.M]

I vote for OUR MAN IN PARIS because of his incredible rythm section and the sharp and in the same time generous sound of DEX.

DOIN' ALRIGHT is a close second followed by ONE FLIGHT UP, GETTIN'AROUND, GO, A SWINGIN' AFFAIR and DEXTER CALLING.

[marcoliv]

One Flight Up

"Tanya" is my all-time favorite Gordon recording.

ditto

MCO

[Bright Moments]

I almost voted for "One Flight Up", which has been in constant rotation since the RVG came out. I had never heard it before, and it was mind-blowing. But in the end, "Go" played a huge part in getting me into jazz, and it will probably always be my favorite.

i have the pre-RVG cd "one flight up". is there any reason to get the RVG?

is it an upgrade? is there ANY discernable difference in sound quality?

mine sounds pretty darn good!

B-)

[John L]

So much great music! I finally went for Doin' Alright. There are few albums that give me more pure pleasure. One Flight Up is not close behind. Dex's guest appearance on Herbie's Talkin' Off makes that one a scorcher too.

[MartyJazz]

DOIN' ALL RIGHT for sure. Great Dex & Freddie. Love the versions "For Regulars Only" and "I Was Doing All Right". Wonderful session.

[undergroundagent]

Here's my vote:

"The Complete Sixties Blue Note Sessions"