Dexter Gordon - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection (7 CD, 2011/FLAC)

 

Dexter would be very happy to know that his Columbia recordings have been reissued by Sony Legacy / PopMarket. This box set represents a very important period in Dexter Gordon’s career, and an important stage in jazz history. Dexter’s return from Europe after 14 years residing there helped rekindle a new level of enthusiasm in the jazz world, a wave of excitement that many other musicians benefited from. Dexter also won a number of Downbeat Critics and Readers Poll Awards during this period, and two Grammy nominations for Homecoming and Sophisticated Giant, respectively. These recordings on Columbia, signed off on by then-President Bruce Lundvall, also facilitated a reunion of sorts between many musicians who might not have otherwise ever recorded together or been featured collectively within the same release, the likes of which included: Tony Williams, Slide Hampton, Frank Wess, Stan Getz, Hubert Laws, Jimmy Heath, Eddie Gladden, Billy Brooks, Ronnie Matthews, Stafford James, Louis Hayes, Art Blakey, and others.

All of these musicians appear on The Complete Columbia Albums Collection in various settings from the original studio dates to live performances in NYC and at the Havana Jam in Cuba in 1979.

Dexter’s triumphant return and his rise back into popularity in the 1970s and 80s had a reverberating affect on the music world, a lasting impact which has laid much of the ground work for the music of today. Albums in this set include a double-CD of ‘Homecoming: Live at the Village Vanguard’ featuring Woody Shaw, Dexter’s big band recording ‘Sophisticated Giant’ with arrangements by Slide Hampton, ‘Live at Carnegie Hall’ with Johnnie Griffin, ‘Gotham City’ (never before issued on CD) with Art Blakey, Woody Shaw, George Benson, Percy Heath, and Cedar Walton, and a new CD of unreleased material. Other bonus recordings are included intermittently throughout the set. The recordings are also remastered, and the set includes new photos and liner notes by producer Michael Cuscuna and Gordon’s widow Maxine Gordon.

CD1 Homecoming: Live At The Village Vanguard [2 CDs] (1976)

1.Gingerbread Boy

2.Little Red's Fantasy

3.Fenja

4.In Case You Haven't Heard

5.Fried Bananas

CD2 Homecoming: Live At The Village Vanguard [2 CDs] (1976)

1.It's You or No One

2.Let's Get Down

3.'Round Midnight

4.Backstairs

5.Body and Soul

CD3 Sophisticated Giant (1977)

1.Laura

2.The Moontrane

3.Red Top

4.Fried Bananas

5.You're Blase

6.How Insensitive

7.Diggin' In

8.It's Only a Paper Moon

CD 4  Manhattan Symphonie (1978)

1.As Time Goes By

2.Moment's Notice

3.Tanya

4.I Told You So

5.Body and Soul

6.LTD

7.Ruby, My Dear

8.Secret Love

CD5 Live At Carnegie Hall (1978)

1.Introduction

2.Secret Love

3.Introduction

4.The End of a Love Affair

5.Introduction

6.More Than You Know

7.Introduction

8.Blues Up and Down

9.Introduction

10.Cheesecake

CD6 Gotham City (1980)

1.Hi Fly

2.A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square

3.The Blues Walk (Loose Walk)

4.Gotham City

5.A Conversation with Dexter Gordon: Gotham City/A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square/Hi Fly/Blues Walk

6.Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas [Short Version]

7.Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas [Long Version]

CD7 Bonus Tracks (a new compilation disc of bonus material)

1.Fried Bananas

2.The Moontrane

3.Red Top

4.Polka Dots and Moonbeams

5.Project S

6.Isn't She Lovely