Jump to content

Dexter Gordon


Alon Marcus

Recommended Posts

"he was no surface hipster" -

this I see as something of a contradiction - as I believe the hipster to be, ultimately, lacking in depth -

depth in your world, maybe......obviously you're no hipster, and it shouldn't take someone 30 years to determine if they don't like someone........why don't you tell us who your opposite of Dex is, the guy who goes as "deep" as you'd like, the guy whose not under the influence of Robitussen, whoops excuse me, I meant heroin..................
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 406
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Jim, I have to agree with your point of view here. There are those who play at being hip, and there are those who just are hip. Dexter was certainly among the latter. But the issue of hipness is irrelevant. For me, Dexter is one of the great individual voices in jazz, one of the first major jazz musicians I was lucky to see in person when I was 19, and a musician who I have loved and admired for over 40 years. Whenever Steeplechase comes out with yet another live recording or broadcast, I'm there, I so love Dexter. If Allen doesn't hear it, and I've had many conversations with Allen about a wide variety of music over the years, and I respect his opinion, so be it. Nothing he says is gonna convince me of anything - Dexter has been my "friend" for a long long time!

Jim accurately points out a handful of lesser performances in the Dexter discography, but man, these are so few among hundreds of masterpieces that Dexter has given us. I love his musical demeanor - laid back, laconic, playful, but underneath he conveys tremendous passion to me. How can anybody not be moved by a performance like "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" (from Go)?

A problem I have with these kinds of discussions is that sometimes too much is said - I just sit back bemused that people feel a need to debate what many of us consider to be the truth, and while I follow these discussions, I rarely feel the need to join in. I hadda chime in here - Dexter is "my main man"!

extremely well stated..............
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest akanalog

didn't gordon also steal woody shaw's woman??? wasn't this something that helped shaw along on his journey into despair?

that isn't cool and makes it easy for me to believe he did have some darkness in his soul.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

didn't gordon also steal woody shaw's woman??? wasn't this something that helped shaw along on his journey into despair?

that isn't cool and makes it easy for me to believe he did have some darkness in his soul.

Dex didn't have to steal women. Women stole him. :g

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Jazzman - what is going on here? Some benzadrene in your ovaltine? How can I keep up with your eloquent indictments of my opinions and your perceptive observations - yes, I must be on drugs or something.

And don't talk about Art Pepper: I met Art Pepper, I knew Art Pepper - and you, sir, are NO Art Pepper -

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And don't talk about Art Pepper: I met Art Pepper, I knew Art Pepper - and you, sir, are NO Art Pepper -

I talked with him serveral times at Donte's and Maiden Voyage. Art Pepper was one STRANGE dude, that's for damn sure. Other than being the greatest alto player I have ever heard live, there's not a whole lot of nice things I can say about Art Pepper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just for fun, I went back to the very first post in this thread, jus to remind myself how it started.

There were few small talks about the guy but no general discussion. Please write your opinions about him, personal favorites out of his huge discography...

Well, I think we've solved that problem in spades!

Then I noticed that Alon's signature tag was "Talk Less, Say More"

Hmmm... I think we're batting .500

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Jazzman - what is going on here? Some benzadrene in your ovaltine? How can I keep up with your eloquent indictments of my opinions and your perceptive observations - yes, I must be on drugs or something.

And don't talk about Art Pepper: I met Art Pepper, I knew Art Pepper - and you, sir, are NO Art Pepper -

Excuse me, maybe Pepper's heroin was whiter than Dex's...........
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Jazzman - what is going on here? Some benzadrene in your ovaltine? How can I keep up with your eloquent indictments of my opinions and your perceptive observations - yes, I must be on drugs or something.

And don't talk about Art Pepper: I met Art Pepper, I knew Art Pepper - and you, sir, are NO Art Pepper -

I met Dexter Gordon, I knew Dexter Gordon - and you, sir, are NO Dexter Gordon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dad played trumpet with Dave Burns in Dizzy Gillespie's band of the late 40's

And this makes you what - an authority? :bwallace2:

No, it makes me the son of a trumpet player who played with Dave Burns in Dizzy Gillespie's band of the late 40's...............

Er, isn't that the same as being the son of someone who played trumpet in Dizzy Gilespie's band?

MG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By the way, DEX is the only musician that have SEEN in concert but no HEARD.

He was (in the middle of the afternoon) to drank to play. He was sitting on a chair during the entire performance and didn't blow a single note (it was around 1975 or something like that).

Kind of similar to the one time I saw Dexter live. It was sometime in the late 70s or early 80s at the Vanguard. I caught the last set (mistake) on a weekday night. Dexter with Eddie Gladden, Kirl Lightsey, and Dave Eubanks. Dexter looked wasted and just played the heads (well enough) and let the sidemen blow.

I dig Dexter on record. I was disapointed that I didn't reallyget to hear him play, but at least I did get to see him and I'm glad of that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...