Dexter Gordon – Go

Go is the tenth studio album by jazz musician Dexter Gordon, recorded on August 27, 1962 and released in the same year on Blue Note. According to the liner notes by Ira Gitler, this session was "not recorded in a nightclub performance but, in its informal symmetry, it matches the relaxed atmosphere that the best of those made in that manner engender. Everyone was really together, in all the most positive meanings of that word." It was recorded by Rudy Van Gelder at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. Since its release, Go has received very positive reviews from critics, with Allmusic giving it a five star rating. The album was re-released in March 1999 as part of Blue Note's RVG Series, produced by Michael Cuscuna.

By the time he recorded GO! in 1962, Dexter Gordon had already lived several lifetimes in jazz. He was among the first to adapt the language of bebop to the tenor saxophone in the 1940s, but after a decade in which personal troubles limited his output, he signed with Blue Note in 1961 and began a run of essential albums that marked a rebirth for the tenor giant.

"Go" is the sensational masterpiece by Dexter Gordon. Gordon was one of music’s leading tenor saxophonists, joined here by virtuosos: Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins. This record has been deemed one of Gordon’s finest Blue Note releases. The master of bebop tenor saxophone performs hits including “Cheese Cake”, a Latin-tinged version of Porter’s “Love for Sale”, a breathtaking reading of “Where Are You?” and “I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry”.

"A Swingin' Affair" was recorded two days after Dexter Gordon's classic album "Go" in 1962 with the same quartet consisting of Sonny Clark on piano, Butch Warren on bass and Billy Higgins on drums. The songs include three originals and three standards, giving Gordon lots of room for his brand of melodic musical improvisation.

GO! is a studio album by jazz musician Dexter Gordon featuring Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins, recorded on August 27, 1962 and released in the same year on Blue Note. According to the liner notes by Ira Gitler, this session was "not recorded in a nightclub performance but, in its informal symmetry, it matches the relaxed atmosphere that the best of those made in that manner engender. Everyone was really together, in all the most positive meanings of that word".

Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was one of the first players of the instrument in the bebop idiom of musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". His studio and performance career spanned over 40 years.

Dexter Gordon's second recording for Blue Note is a solidly swinging affair, yet constantly full of surprises. It's not unexpected that Gordon's tenor at this time (1961) was one of the most enjoyable in mainstream jazz, but his transition from the cool California scene to the hotter music environs of New York City had energized his sound and attitude.

AVID Jazz continues with its Four Classic album series with a re-mastered 2CD release by Dexter Gordon (Second Set), complete with original artwork and liner notes. Dexter Gordon really did have quite an extraordinarily prolific career starting from a very early age when he began learning the clarinet at 13 before switching to the alto and then tenor sax at 15. His career could be said to pretty much span the great jazz decades from the 1940’s to the 1970’s with the most important time being the 1940’s to the 1960’s when he made his great comeback.

In 1963, the year when Our Man In Paris was recorded, Dexter Gordon turned 40 and moved to Europe for what would be a dozen-year stay. Gordon had been the first important bebop tenor-saxophonist and a giant of Jazz since 1945. After some time off the scene in the ‘50s, he was signed to Blue Note. He returned with full force, playing with power, wit and his trademark huge sound, creating one masterpiece after another. On Our Man In Paris, he is clearly inspired by the playing of the innovative bebop pianist Bud Powell, himself at the peak of his powers, bassist Pierre Michelot and the pioneering bop drummer Kenny Clarke. Gordon plays chorus after chorus of fresh, swinging ideas on such tunes as “Scrapple From The Apple,” “Broadway” and “A Night In Tunisia,” making these Jazz standards sound as if they were written for him. This blazing bebop date is a constant joy.