Reading Response
Dexter Gordon

There is a famous photo of Dexter Gordon smoking a cigarette during a set at the Royal Roost in New York City in 1948 by Herman Leonard. This photo was blown up into a poster I’ve probably seen hanging on a dozen people’s walls. As the title of this section suggests, Gordon truly was a “jazz icon.” As familiar as I was this image I didn’t know much about the artist or his music so I was excited when I saw Dexter Gordon on the syllabus. We never quite made it to that far on the syllabus but I went ahead and took a look at the material on my own just to satisfy my curiosity. I found it most interesting that one of Gordon’s early influences was Lester Young and in turn Gordon had influenced John Coltrane in the 40’s and 50’s however by the late 50’s and 60’s Coltrane was the one influencing Gordon. I can here a distinct difference in Gordon’s style by the 60’s that did not permeate his earlier works. In Willow Weep for Me and another faster track I came across Night in Tunisia the solos sound very much like Coltrane. Gordon has modified his style absorbing ideas from musicians, who originally had been influenced by him. Both have an incredible range and ability to swing. What strikes me about Gordon however, is the fullness of body of his sound, which seems to fill the whole room and perhaps he owes to his large physical stature standing 6’5’’ tall. Gordon’s life seems to be full of excitement and he lived in Europe for 15 years only to