Dexter Gordon - The Complete Prestige Recordings (2004)

From the mid-'40s to his death in 1990, Dexter Gordon had an extraordinary career, ranging from a lengthy prison term to an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Round Midnight. Throughout it all, Gordon embodied bop and classic modern jazz--hard swinging, acoustic improvisation on the changes of standards. He recorded for Prestige between 1965 and 1973, years when he was living in Europe and largely out of the American spotlight, but his annual visits home produced a treasure trove of hard bop. Leading a series of quartets and quintets made up of New York's finest, Gordon is absolutely magisterial here, from the special bullying warmth of his ballad playing to his authoritative command on blues and bop tunes, often sprinkled with witty quotations. Among his partners here are trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Thad Jones and some superb pianists, including Bobby Timmons, Wynton Kelly, Tommy Flanagan, and Hank Jones, but his encounters with fellow tenor saxophonists bring out the most in Gordon, as he matches power and fluency with Gene Ammons, James Moody, Booker Ervin and--in a 1950 recording--his early partner Wardell Gray. The 11-CD set is a monument to a giant.