Settin' the Pace

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This CD gathers all of Dexter Gordon's recordings as a leader for Savoy, with one session each from 1945 and 1946 and two from December 1947. Gordon had already worked in the bands of Lionel Hampton, Louis Armstrong, and Billy Eckstine, and he was among the very first players to adapt the innovations of Charlie Parker to the tenor saxophone, creating his own voice out of an amalgam of Parker and Lester Young. Gordon's sound was already his own, a harder-edged tenor sound with very little vibrato, and there's evidence as well of the striking harmonic imagination that would later influence John Coltrane. Ballads like "I Can't Escape from You" and "Dexter's Mood" show Gordon's romantic side, but it's the bop tunes that most clearly chart his rapid evolution.

Two of bop's most brilliant--and doomed--players make substantial appearances here. Pianist Bud Powell is present on the eight takes from 1946, adding Tatum-esque filigree to the ballad and driving, incandescent play to the other tracks, prodding, testing, and usually exceeding the horns. Trumpeter Fats Navarro appears on the final session, along with composer-pianist Tadd Dameron, and it's once again apparent that he was Dizzy Gillespie's only serious rival among bop trumpeters.

Whether it's the presence of a working band or growing maturity, Gordon is at his best on "Index" and "Dextivity," with a relaxed drive and full command of his substantial ideas. While most of the tracks are around three minutes--the compressed jolts of bop energy dictated by the limited playing time of the 78--"Settin' the Pace," originally divided over two sides, is nearly six minutes. It's a saxophone chase with baritonist Leo Parker, in the same vein that Gordon explored to great acclaim with Wardell Grey. The wealth of alternates includes several issued for the first time, among them tracks with Powell and Navarro. --Stuart Broomer

Settin' the Pace,Dexter Gordon,Savoy Jazz,Bop,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop

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