I get my tenors confused, so I thought to myself during the drive in that I should make a playlist of Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins and see how well I do. Here are some quick notes to myself. First, Dexter Gordon is more standards-driven than his peers, but when he writes an original, it's iconic, as in the case of "Cheese Cake" here. Also, Gordon likes to insert little ditties like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" into his solos, which the others usually don't do. On this album it's almost like a game to see what songs get checked during the course of another song. Additionally, Gordon does not frequently share the spotlight with a trumpet player, as is the case on this album, but sifting through the specs on his other albums, it looks like Freddie Hubbard makes a few appearances. And finally, not that this would help me with the ID game, Dexter Gordon rarely appears as a sideman. One of these rare instances is Herbie Hancock's first album, where Herbie "adopted" Gordon's band.
And, back to Go, wouldn't you know it....Sonny Clark on piano again. That guy is everywhere this week!
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