Dexter Gordon - The Jumpin' Blues (1970)

01. Evergreenish (Dexter Gordon) (6:03)
02. For Sentimental Reasons (William Best, Deek Watson) (6:51)
03. Star Eyes (Gene DePaul, Don Raye) (6:50)
04. Rhythm-A-Ning (Thelonious Monk) (6:35)
05. If You Could See Me Now (Tadd Dameron, Carl Sigman) (5:21)
06. The Jumpin' Blues (Jay McShann, Charlie Parker) (5:47)

Dexter Gordon - tenor saxophone;
Wynton Kelly - piano;
Sam Jones - bass;
Roy Brooks - drums.

Recorded In New York, August 27, 1970.

Although tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon seemed to have been largely forgotten in the U.S. during his long residence in Europe, he was playing in prime form during the period and made occasional trips back to America. On this CD reissue, Gordon teams up with pianist Wynton Kelly (one of his last recordings), bassist Sam Jones and drummer Roy Brooks for an obscure original ("Evergreenish"), "The Jumpin' Blues," the veteran ballad "For Sentimental Reasons" and three songs that were long a part of Gordon's repertoire: "Star Eyes," "Rhythm-A-Ning" and "If You Could See Me Now." Dexter Gordon is in fine form on the excellent straightahead bop set. ---Scott Yanow, AllMusic Review

Recorded at the tail end of a three-month stay in the US in the summer of 1970, Dexter sounds on this date as if he arrived at the studio with a toothache: his tone is angrier, harsher than usual to my ears. This is especially noticeable on the slow ballads, especially FOR SENTIMENTAL REASONS, which is downright cold; near the end of his solo he plays a bluesy run that has some warmth to it, but that's it. The one original, EVERGREENISH, is also harsh-sounding, though his "Pop Goes the Weasel" quote is a gem. STAR EYES, one of my favorite songs, is played well, with Wynton Kelly taking a nice piano solo. Jay McShann's THE JUMPIN' BLUES is a medium-up blues with very strong Dexter on it, while Monk's RHYTYM-A-NING, besides the forceful Gordon, has a very nice drum solo by Roy Brooks followed by slashing 2x2 exchanges with Dexter. It's a decent enough album (anything with Gordon on it is bound to be good), but not as good as some of his other Prestige releases from the same time period, such as THE PANTHER, recorded the month before. ---Bomojaz, amazon.com

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