Talk:Dexter Gordon

Untitled

"A famous photograph by Herman Leonard of Gordon smoking a cigarette during a set at the Royal Roost in New York City in 1948 is one of the more iconic images in the history of jazz." I feel that this should be footnoted and, if the picture is as iconic as you claim, why have you not included the picture in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.203.49.248 (talk) 02:05, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

The Royal Roost was in Boston, not New York.75.111.54.141 (talk) 17:57, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

I agree about the footnote, but keep in mind that the photo in question is most likely protected by copyright, and we can't simply add it. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 22:47, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

How can you say: "that proved he was as good if not better than before his years in Europe"? Have you listened to his recordings in 1964 at Montmartre Jazzhus? I've listened to Gordon quite a bit and I think he played at his best when he was in Europe.

The comment seems superfluous, although the Homecoming recording does show him in peak form (as he was in Europe immediately prior).75.111.54.141 (talk) 03:05, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Dexter's Instrument

The article states: "He played a Conn 10M 'Ladyface' tenor until it was stolen in a Paris airport in 1961."
I doubt that this is correct. Photos of a 1965 recording session show Gordon using a Conn saxophone:
http://www.informatik-dienst.ch/perma/images/cover-island.com_415056-2.jpg
http://www.informatik-dienst.ch/perma/images/cover-island.com_415056-4.jpg
http://www.informatik-dienst.ch/perma/images/cover-island.com_415056-5.jpg
-- Gorgon Haas, Bern, Switzerland — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.162.118.74 (talk) 15:21, 23 September 2011 (UTC)

There exist many photographs and some film/ television footage taken in Europe and America between 1962 and 1965 that show Dexter with the Conn 10M and Dukoff mouthpiece set-up. if his saxophone was "Stolen at a French airport in 1961" , he replaced it with an near-identical setup for the next 4 years. There is no reference to any theft in the biography by Stan Britt. Andy Whiteford, Glasgow, 2012. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.62.251.18 (talk) 09:21, 17 July 2012 (UTC)

SOOO... Someone delete the section. It cites no references and is probably wrong. I removed the part about the mouthpiece, which I know for sure was wrong. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.36.151.166 (talk) 02:03, 19 October 2014 (UTC)

"Dexter Blows"

A 2 CD set titled "Dexter Blows" was released in 2011. It is a re-issue of Dexter Blows Hot and Cool (1955) and The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon (Riverside, 1960). 24.27.31.170 (talk) 11:59, 12 March 2012 (UTC) Eric

Mouthpieces

I removed the part that said he played an Otto Link. In an interview he said he lost his Otto Link in '52 and replaced it with a different brand. He does not say what it was, but the consensus is that it was a 5* BD Dukoff Hollywood (.80 tip). He also warns against playing the mouthpiece-game.

I’ve made very few changes in mouthpieces and reeds. During the time of “The Chase,” I had an Otto Link mouthpiece which had been made for me and I used that until it got stolen around ‘52 or so. That’s when I got the mouthpiece I have now. However, they’re both metal mouthpieces. So in the last 17 or 18 years or so I guess I’ve had just the two mouthpieces.I use a medium strength reed. I’ve been using a La Voz for several years. It’s made in California and I think it’s the best reed on the market myself. It’s pretty consistent.

I kinda feel sorry for guys that constantly go through the mouthpiece and reed scene. I wonder how they do it. It must be a real panic scene. Naturally the mouthpiece, the reed and the horn you use are all very essential, but basically your tone, your sound is inside of you. You hear it before you produce it. The real ingredient of the sound is within the individual the way he hears things.

Actually this present mouthpiece of mine is relatively small. It’s just medium–size—a five–star. It’s been straightened out a little bit, but it’s not a big mouthpiece. It blows very free and gets a nice substantial sound. Most people are surprised because they think it’s a much larger mouthpiece than it is. They think it’s maybe an eight or nine or something like that, but it’s not. So that’s why I say it’s the projection that counts.

Text of interview

A discussion of DG's mouthpieces, based on the Lester Tomkins interview and a Downbeat interview from the late 1970s, has been incorporated under the "instruments" heading.75.111.54.141 (talk) 03:01, 27 May 2015 (UTC)

Dexter mentions that the Otto Link was stolen around '52 or so and that's when he replaced it with what we believe is the B.D. Hollywood. BUT the Smoking at Royal Roost photograph, which was taken in 1948, very clearly shows him using a B.D. Hollywood mouthpiece. There has been debate whether he used the 1945 one piece B.D. Hollywood or the later two piece Hollywood with large chamber and curved sidewalls. Seeing as the later model wasn't introduced until 1949, the "Roost" picture would seem to prove that he used the early 1945 one piece Hollywood. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:387:4:803:0:0:0:1B (talk) 06:28, 25 January 2020 (UTC)

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Wiki Education assignment: Academic Research and Critical Thinking

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 18 January 2023 and 3 May 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Campbja0 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Lmminich (talk) 17:14, 10 April 2023 (UTC)

Children list?

It says six children, and then lists five.

Should a list of children even be here?

Later on, there's a "survived by" list that includes one son. Is he the sixth? Wikipedia specifically prohibits lists of "survived by" so I was ready to remove that sentence, and I thought maybe this name needs to be moved to the other list. Then I thought "Are all these people notable enough to belong in an encyclopedia?" TooManyFingers (talk) 13:40, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

"Idiosyncratic rituals"

There's a comment in the article that reciting a song's lyrics before playing it was "one of his idiosyncratic rituals". However, no other rituals are mentioned - and I'm not sure of the status of this one.

It's perfectly reasonable to recite a song's lyrics before playing it - to inform or remind listeners what the song is about, or to create a more complete performance by including the words even though they won't be sung, or to set an appropriate mood, or put the band in a better frame of mind to play it well, or a number of other things. So I'm not convinced his habit ought to be viewed as odd, or as "just a ritual" - unless there are other clues that it was one and he had other well-known odd rituals too.

It seems to fit in logically with his frequent use of musical quotations during solos - just another part of his flow of associations and ideas. I don't think anybody calls his musical quotations an idiosyncratic ritual. TooManyFingers (talk) 23:32, 9 June 2023 (UTC)

Years in Europe section

The aforementioned section has an incomplete sentence " The albums he recorded during the 1970s for Steeplechase include" and that's that, no more text.

In addition to the recordings Gordon did under his American label contracts, live recordings by European labels and live video from his European period have been released. In 1975 Dexter Gordon signed an exclusive recording contract with Danish label SteepleChase and recorded some of his most inspired sessions like The Apartment (1974), More Than You Know (1975), Stable mates, Swiss Nights vol. 1, 2 and 3, Something Different, Lullaby For A Monster, and not least Biting The Apple, recorded during his homecoming trip to New York, featuring Barry Harris, Sam Jones and Al Foster. The album received the Grand Prix De Jazz in Montreux Switzerland 1977. SteepleChase released live dates from his mid-1960s tenure at the Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen. The video was released under the Jazz Icons series. The albums he recorded during the 1970s for SteepleChase include 2001:8A0:6A48:C000:5C75:CD8F:8571:FD13 (talk) 23:07, 26 July 2023 (UTC)