Dexter Gordon: Lullaby for a Monster, Bouncin’ With Dex, Brand X: Unorthodox Behavior; Fifty Year Friday: June 1976
Dexter Gordon: Lullaby for a Monster
Recorded on June 15, 1976 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Lullaby for a Monster provides maximum Gordon Dexter in a trio format with two of Europe’s finest jazz artists: Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass and Alex Riel on drums. The album was not released in 1976, or even the 1970s, seeing the light of day for the first time in the early 1980s. I would like to claim I was a Dexter Gordon fan in the 1970s, but my first encounter with either him or his music was in 1986, while I was in England. I wish I could say I saw him in person, but the reality is very different.
I lived in West Sussex and often would catch a movie on Saturday, usually in Brighton, East Grinstead, or Royal Tunbridge Wells. I was a big fan of Thelonious Monk, and was instantly attracted by the title of one particular movie, “Round Midnight” and figuring out from the movie poster that it was indeed a jazz-related story, I eagerly bought a ticket, and entered the modest, but mostly empty theater. Without taking a complete detour from Fifty Year Friday — hopefully I will be around in 2036 to include this in a future post — this was a great movie, and Dexter Gordon’s music making and acting were both of the highest caliber. Two years later, back in America, I purchased an album that contained the famous “The Chase” with Wardell Grey and Dexter Gordon, and I have been a big Dexter Gordon Fan since.
What makes Lullaby for a Monster a perfect starting place for someone wanting to explore one of the greatest tenor saxophonists of all time, is it showcases Gordon’s humor (from the very start with his own composition, a clever bluesy treatment of the nursery song “Ah! vous dirai-je, maman,” also known to us as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” or “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep), his musical inventiveness and his lyricism.
Dexter Gordon: Bouncin’ with Dex
Bouncin’ with Dex, recorded on September 14, 1975, in Copenhagen, Denmark, was likely released in 1976; however, it is worth discussing now within the broader context of Dexter Gordon’s career. The lineup here is top-notch: Dexter Gordon, bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, the virtuosic and rhythmically and harmonically adventurous Barcelonian Tete Montoliu on piano, and one of the most musically responsive drummers on record, American Billy Higgins. Despite Dexter’s extended time in Europe, this remains the only studio recording partnering him and Montoliu. That is just one of many reasons to check out this album; the session represents a pinnacle of Gordon’s mid-1970s SteepleChase output, showcasing the quartet’s seamless interaction on a set of quintessential bebop standards, alongside Gordon’s own “Benji’s Bounce,” a skillfully faithful contrafact based on the harmonic structure of Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-a-Ning” showcasing both Gordon’s and Montoliu’s inventiveness and their deep understanding of Monk’s musical essence. The original LP contained an amazingly lyrical rendition of “Easy Living,” with the CD version topping that by including a luxuriously longer alternate take.
Brand X: Unorthodox Behavior
Released June 18, 1976, Unorthodox Behavior is the first and finest Brand X studio album; tight, cohesive, proficient and musically engaging, this is exemplary English progressive-rock jazz fusion. Phil Collins, John Goodsall, Robin Lumley and Percy Jones blend into one musical force, sounding as if they had played in small venues for many months before recording this debut album. Rock fans, and even some progressive rock fans, may be disappointed in the lack of lyrical or infectious melody, but the energy and creativity are undeniable and make this an important and distinct landmark of the mid-70s fusion movement and an indispensible document of Phil Collins’ impressive technical capabilities on percussion.
