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= Dexter Gordon =

Early Life
Dexter Gordon was born on February 27, 1923 in Los Angeles, CA. He was the son of Gwendolyn Baker, daughter of Captain Edward Baker (1 of the 5 African-Americans to receive a medal of honor in the Spanish-American War), and Dr. Frank Gordon, who was one of the first black doctors in Los Angeles. At the age of 13, Dexter entered the world of music through the clarinet, switching to the alto sax when he was 15  and settling with the tenor saxophone at the age of 17. As a youth, Dexter attended Jefferson High School, playing and practicing music there, sometimes painfully [..."they used to laugh at Dexter Gordon because I remember he couldn’t read as well as some of the other people” (David Bryant)], until his final year of high school. [...we had a very good teacher named Sam Browne- very dedicated” (Dexter Gordon)] Receiving his first break, he left Los Angeles to play in the Lionel Hampton Band after getting a call from Marshall Royal, a well-known alto saxophonist known for his spot in Count Basie’s band. Thus, the beginning of Dexter Gordon’s career began, travelling at first south and going across the nation, although not without visits back to his home of Los Angeles.

Career
After learning from Illinois Jacquet(a notable tenor saxophonist) and Joe Newman (best known for his trumpet and compositional skills, along with his work with Count Basie), the group headed  to Chicago in 1941. There, they spent six months playing at the jazz club, The Grand Terrace and recording for radio broadcasts. It was during the first several years of the 1940s that Dexter Gordon began establishing himself as a prominent musician, putting out recordings as both performer and band leader and playing in New York City. There in Minton’s Playhouse, playing with Lionel Hampton’s Band and observed by Lester Young and Ben Webster, is where Dexter truly began to garner the attention of others.

In 1943, Dexter was back in Los Angeles and still performing, now with Lee Young (brother to Lester Young), Jesse Price, and on occasion, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. A year later, his playing had landed him a position in Louis Armstrong’s band and brought him to his first substantial solo recording, composed of a quintet with Dexter leading and including Nat “King” Cole.

Over the next decade, and into the 1950’s, Gordon released recordings for Savoy that helped define his characteristic style. His bellowing tone that he was able to produce from the tenor sax helped define the bop genre for his relatively obscure instrument. However, the recognition that he received for these records was nowhere near what was deserving of his contributions to the genre. Therefore, he traveled overseas to pursue his music career elsewhere after receiving offers for work in England and mainland Europe.

During his 14 years in Europe (1962-1976), Gordon continued to adhere to the classic definition of bop that had been forged in the United States. He frequently played with visiting American artists such as Bud Powell and Ben Webster. Overall, Gordon favored the environment in Europe during this time period over the politically tumultuous United States. He also felt a greatly diminished presence of racist sentiment in Europe, and general increased respect for Jazz musicians when compared to that of America. During this time period Gordon switched labels to Prestige Records from his former company Blue Note, however his overall style and tone of music remained constant.

Upon his return to America in 1976, Gordon was welcomed with eager ears by many who longed to hear the classic, distinctive player perform on American soil for the first time in years (he did make occasional trips to America during his time living in Europe). His return prompted a reinvigoration of the swing and bop sounds of Jazz, as opposed to the fusion style of Jazz that had began to proliferate in the time of his absence.

In 1980, after an illustrious career that helped to define some of the most popular sounds in jazz, such as the bellowing foghorn tone, he was inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame. Dexter Gordon died in Philadelphia on April 25, 1990 from kidney failure and cancer of the throat.

Style
Gordon was individualistic in accord with Bebop. Free of the restraint commercial pressures placed on the bandleaders of old, Gordon was a practitioner of an outsider art, free to push beyond the edges of swing and play around this new sound. Gordon reveled in the opportunity to make a statement with bebop, and welcomed difficulty. He often practiced musical quotation, inserting music from others directly into his composition. In addition, Gordon was known for his humorous asides as a form of comedic relief. Moreover, unlike many bebop musicians, Gordon's playing was smooth and refined without sacrificing the power and robustness of his tone. Based in Los Angeles, Dexter Gordon proved among the best of soloists of the generation. Gordon helped to define a distinct bop sound for the tenor sax, “liberated from the Hawkins mannerisms displayed on most early modern jazz tenor outings. His style manifested in a huge and hard tone in addition to ascetic paired down lines.

Gordon adopted the style of Illinois Jacquet early on in his career, but derived the majority of his style from Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, and Charlie Parker. Lester Young provided Gordon with a relaxed, laid-back style, Hawkins lended his big tone, and Parker his complex harmonies. Gordon blended the influences seamlessly taking songs in unexpected directions while preserving elements and making it sound right regardless. Renown saxophonists like John Coltrane owe their musical styles to Gordon. Cool school, hard bop, and free jazz retroactively view Gordon as their own, a testament to his mastery and variety and his impact throughout jazz.

"'His playing always reflected his bodily actions in a sense. Even today, when you listen to his records, it’s always laid back just a little bit, as though, ‘Look, I’m not in a hurry. I’m going to say what I want to say, how I want to say it, and nobody can rush me’” - Jack Kelson

“Of these three, (Wardell Grey, Teddy Edwards, Dexter Gordon) only Gordon would go on to enjoy widespread fame, albeit after twenty years of relative obscurity! His early recordings for Savoy from the mid1940s and infrequent releases during the 1950s demonstrated Gordon's  free-wheeling energy and his bellowing foghorn tone ─ one of the most distinctive signature sounds in modern jazz ─ while later sessions for Blue Note were mature statements of a major soloist. Few were listening, however, and Gordon moved overseas, where he spend most of the 1960s and 1970s. Only upon his return to the United States in 1976 did the tenorist, now in his mid-fifties, begin receiving the accolades and rewards his contributions warranted.”

Previous Band History
Before 1945 little of Bebop had been proliferated in the public scene, but gradually record companies like the Guild and Savoy acknowledged the benefit in advocating a modern jazz.

List of notable collaborations: First gig with Lionel Hampton, 1943 Recording session with Nat King Cole, Stints with Lee Young and The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, Louis Armstrong Big Band for 6 months, Billy Eckstein’s Orchestra, Recordings with Dizzy Gillespie, Powell in 1963, Central Avenue scene with Wardell Gray and Teddy Edwards.

Discography
Dexter is most famous for hits such as: