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"We'd like to begin this soiree with a little 'Tenor Madness', 'Tenor Madness'" That's tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon at the beginning of an evening performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1975 that was recorded and became his album "Swiss Nights, Vol 1" on Steeplechase Records. Dexter who knows the power of redundancy when addressing a large crowd, repeats Tenor Mad-ness twice in his gentle basso profundo stage voice. He counts out the tempo vigourously "Dah - Dah - Dah Dah Dah Dah", and then, Wham!, you feel like you're shot down the rails of a roller coaster at 80 miles per hour, no chance to catch your breath. What a ride! Tenor Madness is a jolly sounding riff blues line Sonny Rollins invented for a tenor battle he did with his friend John Coltrane at a session in the 50's. Rollins and Coltrane are considered by many to be musical children of Dexter's since they adopted parts of Dexter's sound and some of his musical mannerisms in the early part of their careers. Dexter was himself a protoypical tenor battler. A tenor battle ensued when two tenor saxophonists would join together on the bandstand, count off an agreeable tempo, and then trade solos, trying to blow something amazing that would cut their friend's reputation into musical ribbons. Dexter battled with his friend Wardell Gray in a very long recording in the 50's called "The Chase". In Billy Eckstine's band in the 40's, he battled with his buddy Gene Ammons. In these battles, each man would create long solos in turn. Then they would trade smaller statements, 8 bars long, then 4 bars, then 2, then 1 and then overlapping at the same time. On this particular Swiss Night, Dexter is not battling with a compatriot but maybe with the memory of the great things Rollins and Coltrane did on the tune. And boy, is he in a great mood! Long Tall Dexter (he was 6'8") mostly likely was standing there on his thin stork-like legs rapidly vibrating one of his knees in time with the pulse. His lines twist up and down. He throws in lines stolen from circus bands. In the middle he quotes "Why Don't We Fall In Love" expressing his pleasure with how his band is playing. The musicians this night are folks he's played with a lot. Kenny Drew is his piano player, a fellow American ex-pat who played regularly with Dexter in Copenhagen. His bass player is Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen, a Danish bass virtuoso who was in his early 20's at the time of this gig. Alex Riel (a Dane, I think) was the drummer. You get the feeling on this tune, that Dexter is spilling everything he knows about playing tenor during this solo. Truly Tenor Madness! And very inspiring to hear a man in his late fifties show such continuing mastery. I recommend this recording without reservation. I gotta talk about his sound! (You'll hear me do this for just about any jazz player I talk about. The most respected players are those who develop a unique relationship with their instrument. The best players can be recognized after two or three notes, because their sounds are as identifiable as a great actor's voice is.) Many would describe Dexter's saxophone voice as cavernous. I heard him once from a few feet away at a sound check at a concert I promoted. When he held a long note, he'd make your body shake. When he played high, he could quaver and twist one note like a muzzein at a mosque. At fast tempos, his lines jumped out like a coiled spring released. In this particular Tenor Madness, he's flying, playing long lines that end with a note twisting honk. I don't remember him going super low on this tune, but the lowest note on a tenor sax is usually low B flat. You can get a half step lower if you can somehow close off the bell of the horn. I saw Dexter get his low A once by standing on his right leg and throwing his left knee over the bell. Different jazz musicians adopt a characteristic relationship to the pulse of a tune. Some synchronize their notes so that they start notes exactly on the beat. Others get propulsion by playing a tiny bit ahead of the beat. Dexter preferred to lag behind a tiny bit. At slow tempos this gave his music a lazy relaxed feeling. Some have called his playing laconic because of this aspect of his playing. I checked Amazon a moment ago and found that they don't offer it. I'm sure I've seen it in record stores recently. If you can't find this recording, there are other excellent performances that will serve as fine introductions to Mister Gordon. My favorites in order of preference are:
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Last update: Tuesday, June 15, 2004 at 9:05 AM. |
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