Dexter Gordon - The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon: From Los Angeles to New York. Doin' Allright / Dexter Callin' (1960/2020)

Dexter Gordon, a native Californian born in Los Angeles in 1923, became a virtual fixture and a familiar figure on the hectic New York jazz scene of the Forties. He was the first to develop a bebop style on tenor saxophone, with a big tough masculine sound borrowed from Hawkins and Young, but essentially his own. In 1950, having barely scratched a reputation on the East Coast, he returned to Los Angeles, the city he considered his natural place.

The consolidation of the West Coast-style in the early fifties, along with the personal problems that keep him in and out of jail, relegated the vigorous voice of Dexter Gordon to relative obscurity. Although he tried to straighten out, it “took many years to work it out and to come to myself.”

He was waiting for a moment when people were interested in him again, and it came from the hand of Cannonball Adderley, who recommended him to Jazzland Records after hearing him play. So five years after his previous album, Dexter was stepping in a recording studio once again, to show how much the artist had progressed during his years of semi-retirement. Reunited under the title of “The Resurgence of Dexter Gordon”, the six tracks that marked this comeback were recorded on October 13, 1960.

In May 1961, Dexter returned to New York at the invitation of Alfred Lion to record two albums for Blue Note, “Doin’ Allright” and “Dexter Calling,” which confirmed, and even reinforced, the excellent impression produced by his return effort in 1960.

This trilogy of albums documents Dexter's resurgence in a moment when the changing development of jazz caused a return to a climate in which his outstanding, confident style could be properly appreciated. Dexter Gordon returned to full-fledged activity and deeply impressed all who heard his revitalized work, in person or on records.