Dexter Gordon, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Dexter Gordon

American jazz tenor saxophonist

Date of Birth: 27-Feb-1923

Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, United States

Date of Death: 25-Apr-1990

Profession: composer, saxophonist, jazz musician

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

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About Dexter Gordon

  • Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
  • He was one of the first players of the instrument in the bebop idiom of musicians such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell.
  • Gordon's height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant".
  • His studio and performance career spanned over 40 years. Gordon's sound was commonly characterized as being "large" and spacious and he had a tendency to play behind the beat.
  • He was known for humorously inserting musical quotes into his solos, with sources as diverse as popular tunes, "Happy Birthday", and the operas of Wagner.
  • This is not unusual in common-practice jazz improvisation, but Gordon did it frequently enough to make it a hallmark of his style.
  • One of his major influences was Lester Young.
  • Gordon, in turn, was an early influence on John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins.
  • Rollins and Coltrane then influenced Gordon's playing as he explored hard bop and modal playing during the 1960s. Gordon was known for his genial and humorous stage presence.
  • He was an advocate of playing to communicate with the audience.
  • One of his idiosyncratic rituals was to recite lyrics from each ballad before playing it. A photograph by Herman Leonard of Gordon taking a smoke break at the Royal Roost in 1948 is one of the iconic images in jazz photography.
  • Cigarettes were a recurring theme on covers of Gordon's albums. Gordon was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the Bertrand Tavernier film Round Midnight (Warner Bros, 1986), and he won a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist, for the soundtrack album The Other Side of Round Midnight (Blue Note Records, 1986).
  • He also had a cameo role in the 1990 film Awakenings.
  • In 2019, Gordon's album Go (Blue Note, 1962) was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

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