From 1944-45, pianist Art Hodes led nine sessions for Blue Note in addition to being a featured sideman on a quartet date headed by drummer Baby Dodds. This limited edition five-LP box set from Mosaic has all 70 selections, including ten that were previously unissued. Hodes, a veteran of 1920s Chicago who later…
Sidney Bechet (ss) Meade “Lux” Lewis (p) Teddy Bunn (g) Johnny Williams (b) Sidney Catlett (d) probably WMGM Studio, NYC, June 8, 1939 George “Pops” Foster (b) replaces Lewis, Williams Reeves Sound Studios, NYC, March 27, 1940 Sidney DeParis (tp) Vic Dickenson (tb) Sidney Bechet (ss, cl) Art Hodes…
Bunk Johnson (tp) Sandy Williams (tb) Sidney Bechet (cl) Cliff Jackson (p) George “Pops” Foster (b) Manzie Johnson (d) WOR Studios, NYC, March 10, 1945 Albert Nicholas (cl) Sidney Bechet (ss, cl) Art Hodes (p) George “Pops” Foster (b) Danny Alvin (d) WOR Studios, NYC, February 12, 1946
Wild Bill Davison (cor) Sidney Bechet (ss) Art Hodes (p) Walter Page (b) Fred Moore (d) WOR Studios, NYC, January 21, 1949 Ray Diehl (tb) Slick Jones (d) replaces Moore WOR Studios, NYC, March 23, 1949 Pierre Dervaux (tp) Bernard Zacharias (tb) Claude Luter (cl) Sidney Bechet (ss) Christian…
Wild Bill Davison (cor) Sidney Bechet (ss) Art Hodes (p) Walter Page (b) Fred Moore (d) WOR Studios, NYC, January 21, 1949 Ray Diehl (tb) Slick Jones (d) replaces Moore WOR Studios, NYC, March 23, 1949 Pierre Dervaux (tp) Claude Phillippe (tp, bj) Mowgli Jospin (tb) Claude Luter (cl)…
Dexter Gordon was on a roll in 1962 when he recorded A Swingin’ Affair. Two days earlier he and this same quartet recorded his classic album Go!; the band included pianist Sonny Clark, bassist Butch Warren, and drummer Billy Higgins. Gordon wrote two of the set’s six tunes, the…
The title of this Blue Note set, Doin’ Allright, fit perfectly at the time, for tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon was making the first of three successful comebacks. Largely neglected during the 1950s, Gordon’s Blue Note recordings (of which this was the first) led to his rediscovery. The tenor is…
From the first moments when Dexter Gordon sails into the opening song full of brightness and confidence, it is obvious that Go! is going to be one of those albums where everything just seems to come together magically. A stellar quartet including the stylish pianist Sonny Clark, the agile…
Dexter Gordon’s mid-’60s period living in Europe also meant coming back to the U.S. for the occasional recording session. His teaming with Bobby Hutcherson was intriguing in that the vibraphonist was marking his territory as a maverick and challenging improviser. Here the two principals prove compatible in that they…
Dexter Gordon’s second recording for the Blue Note label is a solidly swinging affair, yet constantly full of surprises. It’s not unexpected that Gordon’s tenor at this time — 1961 — is one of the most enjoyable in mainstream jazz, but his transition from the cool California scene to…