Tangerine

Dexter Gordon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 18, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 1972
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ojc
• ASIN: B00004SAZU
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #246,087 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dexter Gordon had been resident in Europe for a decade when he recorded the 1972 New York sessions that make up this CD. While the U.S. jazz scene was dominated by fusion at the time, Gordon had remained an adherent to the classic bop and hard bop molds, retaining his full-bodied tenor sound and magisterial ease. He could also incorporate at will touches of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, the two tenor giants he had helped form, into his own style. The first three tracks here match Gordon with Thad Jones on flügelhorn and his brother, Hank, on piano. Thad's oblique lines and slightly muffled sound are a striking complement to Gordon's more direct approach, while Hank's subtle accompaniments strike an uncanny balance between reserve and inspiration. The young Stanley Clarke adds some adroit bass solos, and Louis Hayes has a lithe, sparkling beat, but it's Gordon's commanding presence that distinguishes the hard-swinging title track and the boogaloo blues of "What It Was." Henry Mancini's "Days of Wine and Roses" shows Gordon's mastery of romantic balladry, with able support by the trio of pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Billy Higgins, and Freddie Hubbard joins the band for an animated, and previously unreleased, take of Gordon's hard-bop anthem, "The Group." --Stuart Broomer

From Jazziz

Dexter Gordon was a tenorman who adopted ideas from Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, both of whom he'd once anticipated or influenced. On 1972's Tangerine, he's heard in two groups with trumpeters Thad Jones or Freddie Hubbard, pianists Hank Jones or Cedar Walton, bassists Stanley Clarke or Buster Williams, and drummers Louis Hayes or Billy Higgins, all superb artists. Performing in relaxed settings, they jam on standards, blues, and a rather unusually constructed Gordon original, "The Group."

This is the kind of album that's easy to overlook. It got little attention when released because it was a loosely recorded post-bop item cut after that era and because it was made for Prestige at a time when that label had lost its cachet. If the same record had been produced by Alfred Lion for Blue Note, it'd be a collector's item. But all of these wonderful musicians are at or near the tops of their games, as are the rhythm sections, which add up to a superb disc - among Dexter's best since the 1940s.

--- Harvey Pekar, JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Obscure Dexter, June 24, 2011

By 

Brad Smith (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tangerine (Audio CD)

Go figure: my local library has a copy of this, so I burned it. It's one of Dexter's least known efforts, but that doesn't make it less than stellar. I have never heard a bad Dexter album. This 1972 session came long before his celebrated New York "comeback" when he had a CBS recording contract for awhile and way before he earned a little fame with his role in the film "Round Midnight." If you are a Dexter man or woman, you will want this.

4 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great record!, January 13, 2004

By 

Corrado Beldi (Jazz Critic, Milano, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tangerine (Audio CD)

Tornato a suonare ed incidere in America all'inizio degli anni settanta, in seguito all'ennesima scomparsa, Dexter Gordon colse un successo insperato. Molti, nei club newyorkesi, dubitavano di rivedere il saxofonista che già un'altra volta, quando pareva uno dei più legittimi candidati alla successione di Charlie Parker, piantò tutti in asso e non si fece più vedere per diverso tempo. Per alcuni, Gordon era ancora associato agli antichi, ruggenti "duelli" con Wardell Gray, nel 1947 ad Hollywood. A sorpresa, Dex ebbe una seconda giovinezza ("Go", 1962 e "Our Man in Paris", 1963) e poi una terza, ben documenta da "Tangerine". L'album raccoglie due sessioni registrate nel 1972 dal "mago" Rudy Van Gelder. Intendiamoci: nulla era più impermeabile, della musica di Gordon, alle avanguardie musicali dell'epoca (proprio nel 1972, l'anno del viaggio di Nixon in Cina, imperversavano i Weather Report e la Mahavishnu Orchestra), tuttavia egli era ancora uno splendido saxofonista hard bop, che soprattutto sui tempi lenti, dimostrava una maestria che lo ha reso uno dei più grandi balladeurs mai esistiti. Come potrei non adorare, il musicista che ha fatto amare il jazz ad almeno una parte di me?
Arthur Cravan