Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Dexter Gordon: Best Of 3CD

464

Dexter Gordon: Best Of 3CD

By

View read count
Dexter Gordon: Best Of 3CD
As shoddily put together compilations go, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon's three-disc Blue Note collection, Best Of 3CD, scrapes rock bottom. From the asinine title, through the inadequate liner annotation (no recording dates, no original album titles, misspelled musicians' names), to the full page photo of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, in simultaneous saxello, stritch and manzello flight, on the inner gatefold cover, it's a lame effort. And it gets worse. That photo is followed by another double-page photo of Kirk, this one unambiguously titled "Dexter Gordon," on the centerfold of the liner booklet.



Take a bow EMI France, who put the package together.



Here's what the liner notes don't tell us. Best Of 3CD is a compilation Gordon's 1961-65 period on Blue Note. There are selections, chronologically programmed, from Doin' Alright (1961), Dexter Calling (1961), Landslide (1962), Go! (1962), A Swingin' Affair (1962), Our Man In Paris (1963), One Flight Up (1964), Clubhouse (1965) and Getting' Around (1965). Armed with that information, you can work out the personnel for each track—if you have time, strong overhead lighting and maybe a magnifying glass, for the type size and color-way of the booklet conspire against easy reading (as does the translation of the brief introductory essay, from French to an approximation of English, presumably made by an online program).



The music on the discs is, of course, exceptional. The early 1960s were golden years for Gordon and there are glories here in abundance. Few things in life can compare with the saxophonist's shamanistic performance of "Night In Tunisia" (from Our Man In Paris), and there are many, many other moments of bliss. Devotees may quibble about the inclusion of some tracks, or the omission of others, but really, you can't go wrong.



Which begs the question, who is Best Of 3CD aimed at? Not hardcore fans, who'll have the original albums already. The casual listener then. But surely, for these folks, a single or perhaps double disc—with a decent accompanying booklet—would be more appropriate?



Who knows? Not EMI France, for sure.

Track Listing

CD1: I Was Doing All Right; You've Changed; Society Red; Landslide; Modal Mood; I Want More; The End Of A Love Affair; You Said It; Blue Gardenia; Soul Sister. CD2: Where Are You?; Cheese Cake; Love For Sale; The Backbone; Soy Califa; Our Love Is Here To Stay; Stairway To The Stars; A Night In Tunisia; Tanya. CD3: Kong Neptune; Hanky Panky; Devilette; Jodi; Lady Iris B; Le Coiffeur; Flick Of A Trick; Shiny Stockings; Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me).

Personnel

Dexter Gordon
saxophone, tenor

Dexter Gordon: tenor saxophone. Collective personnel: Freddie Hubbard: trumpet; Tommy Turrentine: trumpet; Dave Burns: trumpet; Donald Byrd: trumpet; Sonny Stitt: tenor saxophone; Horace Parlan: piano; Kenny Drew: piano; Sir Charles Thompson: piano; Sonny Clark: piano; Bud Powell: piano; Barry Harris: piano; Bobby Hutcherson: vibraphone; Don Patterson: organ; Paul Weeden: guitar; George Tucker: bass; Paul Chambers: bass; Al Lucas: bass; Ron Carter: bass; Butch Warren: bass; Pierre Michelot: bass; Niels Orsted Pedersen: bass; Bob Cranshaw: bass; Al Harewood: drums; Philly Joe Jones: drums; Willie Bobo: drums; Billy James: drums; Billy Higgins: drums; Kenny Clarke: drums; Arthur Taylor: drums.

Album information

Title: Best Of 3CD | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: EMI Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.