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4.0 out of 5 stars
The more things change...., March 4, 2011
This review is from: Something Different (Audio CD)
Dexter Gordon's magisterial style developed over the decades at a dignified pace that reflected the man's not inconsiderable self-confidence. It's a style that, while incorporating a little more harmonic complexity here and nod to Coltrane there, barely changed over time, or changed only glacially. But, as befitted this confidence, Dexter Gordon was never afraid to change the settings in which he performed. For this recording, one of Gordon's last studio sessions in Europe prior to his big American 'homecoming' in the 1970s, he played once again with the inestimable Billy Higgins, whose delicate stick work here is as light as a feather, and with long-time collaborator NHOP. So the 'something different' on this recording is the replacement of a pianist with Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine. Catherine will never burn anyone's house down, but he's a hugely versatile player. For this album, he largely plays in a kind of open-toned style that makes him sound almost like an organist. But for those moments in which he plays acoustic behind the Olympian Dex, it's a lovely sound indeed.
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