Dexter Gordon – GO (1962)

“When Dexter Gordon recorded ‘GO’ for Blue Note Records on August 27, 1962, jazz was
moving in many different directions. Tenor/soprano saxophonist John Coltrane and trumpeter Miles Davis were leading the modal explosion, alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman and pianist Cecil Taylor were exploring the possibilities of dissonant free jazz, and the soul-jazz organists of Philadelphia favored a funky, groove-oriented mixture of jazz and R&B. Gordon, however, remained a committed hard bopper, although ‘GO’ was by no means a carbon copy of the tenor saxophonist’s 1940s and 1950s output. ‘GO’ came at a time when Gordon was enjoying a renaissance despite his well-publicized battles with heroin addiction and periods of incarceration during the 1950s. Although Gordon was among the most influential bop saxophonists of the 1940s, he recorded only sporadically
during the following decade. Gordon, in fact, was on parole from California’s Chino Prison
when, in 1960, alto saxophonist Cannonball Adderley produced his comeback album, ‘The
Resurgence of Dexter Gordon,’ for the Jazzland label–and the following year, Gordon signed with Blue Note. Gordon’s Blue Note albums of 1961-1965 are widely regarded as being among the most essential of his career–including ‘GO,’ which underscores the ways in which he had evolved since his ‘Daddy Plays the Horn’ and ‘Dexter Blows Hot and Cool’ sessions of 1955. Gordon was still quite distinctive and recognizable, and many of his 1940s influences remained (including Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young). Yet on ‘GO’ and other albums he recorded for Blue Note in the early to mid-1960s, one hears Gordon incorporating elements of Coltrane and Sonny Rollins–two of the most influential tenor saxophonists of that era. …”
LOC: [PDF]
‘Go’: How Dexter Gordon Raced Into The Jazz History Books (Video)
W – Go
YouTube: Go 38:20