Dexter Gordon - The Complete Prestige Recordings [11 CD, 2004]

 

While it's unquestionably true that saxophonist Dexter Gordon is best known for his Blue Note sides made between 1960 and 1965, it is on his Prestige recordings, the vast majority of which were taped between 1969 and 1973, where the full depth and breadth of his gift and contribution are documented. What's more, this box finally sets the historical and chronological record straight as many of Gordon's records were assembled from various sessions. The Complete Prestige Recordings consists of 11 CDs, charting Gordon's rise as a soloist in 1950 as part of the With Wardell Gray memorial album, and his reemergence after a period of drug addiction and imprisonment in 1960 with the album Resurgence. The story drops again as Gordon went on to record his seminal Blue Note sessions and picks up again with Booker Ervin, Jaki Byard, Reggie Workman and Alan Dawson on the electrifying Setting the Pace five years later. Gordon moved to Europe following this date for an extended sojourn there, and isn't heard from again until 1969's Tower of Power and More Power, two albums' worth of material recorded while visiting New York, with Barry Harris, Albert "Tootie" Heath, James Moody and Buster Williams. From these sessions, there are six previously unissued takes of the material in addition to the albums themselves. From 1969 until '73 Gordon's is featured in all sorts of settings, from quartets with Junior Mance, Martin Rivera and Oliver Jackson, as well as with Larry Ridley, Tommy Flanagan and Alan Dawson, to a quintet co-led with Gene Ammons that starred a young Steve McCall on drums! There is also the fine Jumpin' Blues session with Wynton Kelly, Sam Jones and Roy Brooks, as well as a gorgeous quintet with Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins and Buster Williams that was issued first as Tangerine and then as Generation. The Montreux performances are included here as well. From the quartets with Hampton Hawes, Kenny Clarke and Bob Cranshaw, to the steaming Gene Ammons and friends jam at Montreux with that trio, plus Ammons, Nat and Cannonball Adderley and Kenny Nash in addition to Dex. There are no less than eight unreleased performances from these various outings making for a wealth of previously unavailable Gordon in this box. What it adds up to is one of jazz music's most compelling and labyrinthine stories. One of an expatriate jazzman whose style was moving ever more expressionistically into new expansive harmonic and lyric conceptions informed by a tough, swaggering swinging application of the blues. The sound is phenomenal, the track by track documentation is a bit idiosyncratic in description but is nonetheless complete. There are also many fine and rare photographs, and the liner essay by Ted Panken is both exhaustive and authoritative. This set is long overdue and, combined with the Blue Note box, this gives for all practical and intent purposes, the definitive portrait of Gordon. 





CD 1
01. Move [09:44]
02. Home Run [05:04]
03. Dolo [06:14]
04. Lovely Lisa [07:20]
05. Affair In Havana [07:39]
06. Jodi [06:37]
07. Field Day [06:43]
08. Setting The Pace [19:07]

CD 2
01. Dexter's Deck [22:44]
02. Montmartre [10:57]
03. Lady Bird [10:41]
04. Sticky Wicket [07:04]
05. Montmartre (alt) [10:44]
06. Lady Bird (alt) [12:31]


CD 3
01. Sticky Wicket (Alternate) [09:40]
02. Those Were The Days [08:04]
03. Stanley The Steamer [08:02]
04. The Rainbow People [08:48]
05. Boston Bernie [07:37]
06. Meditation [08:28]
07. Fried Bananas [06:06]
08. Dinner For One Please, James [06:07]
09. Stanley The Steamer (Alternate) [07:13]
10. The Rainbow People (Alternate) [07:14]

CD 4
01. Boston Bernie (Alternate) [08:30]
02. Fried Bananas (Alternate) [06:21]
03. Broadway [17:25]
04. Boston Bernie [17:50]
05. In A Sentimental Mood [08:49]
06. Blues Up And Down [19:52]

CD 5
01. Rhythm-A-Ning [24:09]
02. Misty [10:11]
03. Love For Sale [21:58]
04. Fried Bananas [08:11]
05. Sophisticated Lady [07:54]

CD 6
01. Rhythm-A-Ning [08:42]
02. Body And Soul [10:14]
03. Blue Monk [10:50]
04. The Panther [09:27]
05. The Panther [06:25]
06. Body And Soul [10:57]
07. Valse Robin [05:54]
08. Mrs. Miniver [07:33]
09. The Christmas Song [05:19]

CD 7
01. Blues Walk [07:21]
02. Valse Robin (Alternate) [05:51]
03. Mrs. Miniver (Alternate) [07:06]
04. Blues Walk (Alternate) [06:16]
05. Polka Dots And Moonbeams [10:04]
06. Wee Dot [17:15]
07. The Happy Blues [05:30]
08. Lonesome Lover Blues (Alternate) [12:41]

CD 8
01. Medley: Lover Man - I Can't Get Started - My Funny Valentine - Misty [14:02]
02. The Chase [10:29]
03. Lonesome Lover Blues [13:26]
04. Evergreenish [06:02]
05. Rhythm-A-Ning [06:34]
06. For Sentimental Reasons (I Love You) [06:50]
07. If You Could See Me Now [05:21]
08. Star Eyes [06:49]
09. The Jumpin' Blues [05:46]

CD 9
01. Evergreenish (Alternate) [06:13]
02. Rhythm-A-Ning (Alternate) [05:57]
03. For Sentimental Reasons (I Love You) (Alternate) [04:47]
04. Star Eyes (Alternate) [06:12]
05. The Jumpin' Blues (Alternate) [05:44]
06. Milestones [09:03]
07. Scared To Be Alone [07:45]
08. The Group [06:27]
09. Days Of Wine And Roses [08:43]
10. We See [11:26]

CD 10
01. Milestones (Alternate) [07:12]
02. Scared To Be Alone (Alternate) [07:08]
03. The Group (Alternate) [06:36]
04. Ca'Purange (Jungle Soul) [09:52]
05. Tangerine [08:59]
06. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face [05:53]
07. What Was It [08:11]
08. Airegin [05:07]
09. Oh! Karen O [12:09]
10. Airegin (Alternate) [05:32]

CD 11
01. August Blues [09:52]
02. Gingerbread Boy [12:49]
03. Blues La Suisse [10:30]
04. Some Other Spring [06:07]
05. Secret Love [14:33]
06. Tivoli [08:09]
07. 'Treux Bleu [17:08]

Dexter Gordon (tenor saxophone), Wardell Gray (tenor saxophone), Clark Terry (trumpet), Sonny Criss (alto saxophone), Jimmy Bunn (piano), Billy Hadnott (bass), Chuck Thompson (drums), Martin Banks (trumpet), Richard Boone (trombone), Dolo Coker (piano), Charles Green (bass), Larance Marable (drums), Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone), Jaki Byard (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), Alan Dawson (drums), James Moody (tenor saxophone), Barry Harris (piano), Buster Williams (bass), Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums), Bobby Timmons (piano), Victor Gaskin (bass), Percy Brice (drums), Junior Mance (piano), Martin Rivera (bass), Oliver Jackson (drums), Tommy Flanagan (piano),, Larry Ridley (bass), Gene Ammons (tenor saxophone), John Young (piano), Cleveland Eaton (bass), Steve McCall (drums), Jodie Christian (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), Wilbur Campbell (drums), Vi Redd (vocal), Wynton Kelly (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Roy Brooks (drums), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet, flugelhorn), Cedar Walton (piano), Billy Higgins (drums), Thad Jones (trumpet, flugelhorn), Hank Jones (piano), Stanley Clarke (bass), Louis Hayes (drums), Hampton Hawes (piano, electric piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), Kenny Clarke (drums), Cannonball Adderley (alto saxophone), Nat Adderley (cornet), Kenneth Nash (congas)

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