Label: Blue Note Records (UK & Europe), 7243 4 98794 2 3
Style: Jazz, Bop, Saxophone Jazz
Country: Los Angeles, California, U.S. (February 27, 1923 - April 25, 1990)
Time: 37:44
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 283 Mb
Unanimously
hailed by jazz critics as one of his greatest ever albums, Go was
Dexter Gordon’s third LP for Blue Note Records. It heralded a remarkable
upturn in the tenor saxophonist’s career, which briefly bloomed in the
late 40s before floundering during the next decade as a result of his
battle with heroin addiction.
But by 1960, Gordon, a gentle giant
from Los Angeles who stood at six-foot six-inches tall, appeared to have
gained control of his demons and was driven by a newfound sense of
purpose. The first tenor saxophonist to fully absorb the argot of bebop,
Gordon visited New York in 1960 and attracted the attention of Blue
Note boss Alfred Lion, who signed him to his label on November 7 of that
year. It was the start of what was arguably the most fruitful recording
period in the saxophonist’s career.
Gordon’s first two sessions for
the label, in May 1961, resulted in the classic albums Doin’ Allright
and Dexter Calling, whose critical success prompted Lion to put Gordon
in the studio again. He scheduled a session for Monday, August 27, 1962;
it would yield Go, an album that the saxophonist himself regarded as
his favorite recording.
Lion had arranged for Gordon, who was then
six months shy of his 40th birthday, to record with a younger rhythm
section comprising 31-year-old pianist Sonny Clark (who had been making
his own records for Blue Note since 1957) alongside two musicians still
in their 20s: bassist, Edward "Butch" Warren and drummer Billy Higgins,
whom Gordon was already familiar with, having played with them on Herbie
Hancock’s debut album, Takin’ Off, three months earlier.
Go begins
with an original Gordon composition, "Cheese Cake," which quickly became
a stalwart of Gordon’s live performances right up until his death, in
1990. The song was an unofficial homage to fellow tenor titan Lester
Young and drew inspiration from the latter’s song "Tickle Toe," though
it was recast in a minor key. After Gordon’s statement of the song’s
memorable "head" theme, he then breaks off for a magnificently fluid
solo and shows that, despite the difficulties he encountered in the 50s,
his musical ability never suffered.
Ballads were Dexter Gordon’s
specialty and his interpretation of the Jules Styne-penned "I Guess I’ll
Hang Out My Tears To Dry" is an exquisite example of his ability to
show his softer, lyrical side. Nonetheless, his tone is virile and
muscular, but his phrasing, which is sensuous and delicate, reveals a
more vulnerable side. Gordon instinctively knows how to squeeze every
drop of emotion out of a melodic phrase, but in a subtle way without
being maudlin or melodramatic.
"Second Balcony Jump" is Gordon’s
revamp of a 1946 swing record by crooner and bandleader Billy Eckstine.
Gordon’s version is less frenetic than the original, though it’s still
imbued with a propulsive sense of rhythmic elan. After stating the
infectious main riff, Gordon embarks on an expansive solo that
highlights his melodic invention. It also includes a melodic snippet
from Nat "King" Cole’s 1950 hit "Mona Lisa," reflecting Gordon’s love of
quoting from other songs in his solos.
Gordon also drops in a quote
from "Mexican Hat Dance" on his jaunty interpretation of Cole Porter’s
jazz standard "Love For Sale," where the rhythm section initially
creates a Latin-style undertow before launching into a passage of
full-throttle swing.
Go’s second and final ballad is "Where Are
You?," co-authored by noted songwriter Jimmy McHugh, who was also
responsible for penning the standards "I Can’t Give You Anything But
Love" and "The Sunny Side Of The Street." Prior to Gordon’s Blue Note
recording, the song had been covered by singers Frank Sinatra and Johnny
Mathis, as well as jazz instrumentalists such as Ben Webster and Kenny
Dorham. But Gordon, with simpatico accompaniment from his young quartet,
summons up the essence of late-night loneliness with a tender
interpretation that captures the forlorn mood of the song’s lyrics.
The
mood is lighter on the gently swinging "Three O’Clock In The Morning,"
which ends the album on an upbeat note. The original song was a hit in
1922 for bandleader Paul Whiteman, but here Dexter Gordon transforms it
into a bebop-inspired vehicle that highlights the fluency of his
saxophone improvisations.
Though Gordon would go on to release three
more superb albums for Blue Note (including A Swingin’ Affair, recorded
with the same personnel just two days after Go), it is the LP he made on
August 27, 1962, that stands tallest in the saxophonist’s catalogue.
(udiscovermusic.com/stories/dexter-gordon-go-blue-note-album/)
01. Cheese Cake (06:33)
02. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (05:22)
03. Second Balcony Jump (07:05)
04. Love For Sale (07:37)
05. Where Are You (05:21)
06. Three O'Clock In The Morning (05:43)
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