The Best of Dexter Gordon - The Blue Note Years

Dexter Gordon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 1, 1988
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Blue Note Records
• ASIN: B000005HET
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,501 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to Dexter Gordon (Corrected), February 17, 2001

By 

Lynn D. Larrow (Lafayette, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Dexter Gordon - The Blue Note Years (Audio CD)

If you are looking for a good introduction or if you really can't decide on which Dexter Gordon album to buy, (it really is a difficult decision), you might just pick this guy up. It has some of Dexter's best recordings.

Donald Byrd's (trumpet) Tanya has got to be one of the best Jazz songs ever recorded. Period. This recording sends shivers done my spine. Dexter reaches the "other side" on this one. You might recall it from episode 10 of Ken Burns' Jazz.

I really like the happy Latin sound of Soy Califa. It is a great tune with Sonny Clark shinning brightly on piano while Billy Higgins is phenomenal on drums and Butch Warren plays a tight bass making for one splendid recording.

Other standouts on this CD are Cheese Cake (same personnel as Soy Califa) from Dexter's acclaimed Go! album and Society Red, which was made famous in the movie Round Midnight. There really are no bad cuts on this CD. Great background music for every occasion.

The only problem I see with buying this CD is that you might just end up buying all 5 of the albums that this collection is taken from anyway.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the best, January 25, 2002

By 

Todd Ebert (Long Beach California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Dexter Gordon - The Blue Note Years (Audio CD)

A very good choice of recording for anyone who would like to
be pleasantly introduced to Dexter Gordon's music. Besides the beauty of the tunes, what astonishes me most about Dexter's playing is that when I listen I picture him playing in a very laid back, relaxed manner, in which the notes flow like water.
It's obvious that throughout his career, Dexter played the saxophone as naturally as someone speaking in their native tongue (for Dexter, that may have been his native tongue!).
Moreover, the way he plays these songs is very similar to a good storyteller who pays attention to the small details, but always has the big picture in mind. "It's You or No One", "Society Red", "Soy Califa", and "Tanya" are my favorites, but then again I always listen to this recording from start to finish. All the music is very accessible, but also done with great artistic integrity. "Tanya" ranks as one of my top-10 all-time favorite pieces of music, from any genre.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to Dexter Gordon, February 11, 2001

By 

Lynn D. Larrow (Lafayette, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Dexter Gordon - The Blue Note Years (Audio CD)

If you are looking for a good introcution to or if you really can't decide on which Dexter Gordon album to buy, (it really is a difficult decision), you might just pick this guy up. It has some of Dexter's best recordings.

Donald Byrd's (trumpet) Tanya has got to be one of the best Jazz songs ever recorded. Period. This recording sends shivers done my spine. Dexter reaches the "other side" on this one. You might recall it from episode 10 of Ken Burns' Jazz.

I really like the happy Latin sound of Soy Califa. It is a great tune with Sonny Clark shinning brightly on piano while Billy Higgins is phenomenal on drums and Butch Warren plays a tight bass making for one splendid recording.

Other standouts on this CD are Cheese Cake (same personnel as Soy Califa) from Dexter's acclaimed Go! album and Society Red, which was made famous in the movie Round Midnight. There really are no bad cuts on this CD. Great background music for every occasion.

The only problem I see with buying this CD is that you might just end up buying all 5 of the albums that this collection is taken from anyway.