I’ve been enjoying a significant series of historical releases on the Elemental Music label featuring bandleaders tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon and trumpeter Woody Shaw. These previously unreleased tracks have been sitting unheard since they were recorded between 1965 (Gordon in Germany) and 1981 (Shaw, with one track by the Paris Reunion Band in 1985). Now licensed and fully authorized, each set offers bonus tracks drawn from other performances.
Until he formed his own quartet in the late Seventies, the magisterial tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon toured most often as a single, assembling new bands in every town. The welcome release of the two-CD set At The Subway Club 1973 provides a few snapshots of three different editions of the Dexter Gordon Quartet. The main event, mostly well recorded at a German night club in September 1973, takes up all of the first disc plus the first tune on disc 2. His comrades for this evening were pianist Irv Rochlin, bassist Henk Haverhoek and drummer Tony Inzalaco. Not exactly household names, even in the most jazz-obsessed home, but they acquit themselves quite well. The leader is in a typically expansive mood, stretching out even on tunes not usually in his repertoire, like Wave, the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic that opens the show. Jimmy Webb’s Didn’t We is next, with Gordon in story-telling mode as he limns the melody after reciting a few lyrics. The whole crew flies through On the Trail, from Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite (1933), which has been a staple for improvisation for decades. A muscular romp through another favored Gordon song, Secret Love from the Webster-Fain musical Calamity Jane (1953), concludes the first CD. Leading off the second disc is a 27-minute excursion through the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn standard It’s You or No One. This was one of Dex’s favorite vehicles for improvisation, and he soars through the song to close the set. To fill out the second disc, the producers have come up with material from two earlier European performances. We get to hear him play Fried Bananas, a Gordon original that he played frequently, and to caress the ballad Some Other Spring, best known from Billie Holiday’s 1939 recording, from a 1971 appearance in the Netherlands quality and the all-Dutch rhythm section of Cees Slinger on piano, Maarten van Regteren Altena on bass, and Martin van Duyhoven on drums. Then we slip further back into the past for renditions of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight and Tadd Dameron’s Lady Bird taken from a 1965 German concert with the curious grouping of George Gruntz on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Stu Martin on drums. Sound quality on the Dutch set is acceptable, though I would be happier with more saxophone in the mix. The 1965 material is a bit murky, with the drums way down in the mix, but Dexter is in good form. It’s the earliest known performance of the Monk tune by Gordon, though he sounds thoroughly at home with it. Short liner essays by Maxine Gordon, Dexter’s widow and biographer, and Michael Cuscuna, who produced a number of Dexter Gordon albums in the late Seventies and early Eighties, provide valuable context and background for this very satisfying release. Recommended.
When the Dexter Gordon Quartet played a night in Tokyo 1975, the personnel was a group that the saxophonist played with frequently in Copenhagen, his home at the time. Fellow expatriate Kenny Drew was on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen was on bass, and Albert “Tootie” Heath was on drums, an exceptionally swinging and supportive rhythm section. The audience is quite enthusiastic as the quartet offers another helping of Fried Bananas, follows up with Days of Wine and Roses, a Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer song that appeared on Gordon's Tangerine Lp (Prestige, 1972), and the much-loved Erroll Garner song Misty, before the set ends with Gordon singing a couple of choruses on the Billy Eckstine blues Jelly, Jelly, Jelly. Drew and NHØP play on the first bonus track, a version of Monk’s Rhythm-a-Ning recorded in 1973 in the Netherlands with drummer Espen Rud on board. Gordon is in a fun mood in a long exchange with Rud before the out-chorus. The last track jumps ahead in time to 1977, for a gorgeous version of Old Folks, a tune from 1938 by Dedette Lee Hill and Willard Robison. The rhythm section of pianist Ronnie Mathews, bassist Stafford James, and drummer Louis Hayes is the same as on his well-received Homecoming album, recorded in late 1976. Mathews shines here, with a dynamic solo sandwiched between two of the saxophonist’s forays. Informative liner notes by Maxine Gordon and Michael Cuscuna plus period photos in a 16-page booklet made a perfect complement to the music.
Subway Club: Elemental Music 5990433; Dexter Gordon (ts) Irv Rochlin (p) Henk Haverhoek (b) Tony Inzalaco (d); Köln, West Germany, September 11, 1973; exc. *Gordon (ts) Cees Slinger (p) Maarten van Regteren Altena (b) Martin van Duyhoven (d); Den Haag, The Netherlands, March 22, 1971; and #Gordon (ts) George Gruntz (p) Jimmy Woode (d) Stu Martin (d); Stuttgart, West Germany, November 23, 1965; Disc 1 (68:12): Wave/ Didn’t We/ On the Trail/ Secret Love; Disc 2 (76:50): It’s You or No One/ Fried Bananas*/ Some Other Spring*/ ‘Round Midnight#/ Lady Bird#.
Tokyo 1975: Elemental Music 5990428; Dexter Gordon (ts; vcl on #) Kenny Drew (p) Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b) Albert “Tootie” Heath (d); Tokyo, Japan, October 1, 1975; exc. * Gordon (ts) Drew (p) Pedersen (b) Espen Rud (d); Laren, The Netherlands, July 18, 1973; and #Gordon (ts) Ronnie Mathews (p) Stafford James (b) Louis Hayes (d); New Haven, CT, May 5, 1977; Fried Bananas/ Days of Wine and Roses/ Misty/ Jelly, Jelly, Jelly#/ Rhythm-a-Ning*/ Old Folks#; 63:42. elemental-music.com
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