Dexter and Coltrane

[mjzee]

Mosaic posted a link to a 1976 interview with Dexter Gordon (it can be found here).  I found this passage fascinating:

Berg: Many people have mentioned your influence on 'Trane. Did you know ‘Trane?

 

Gordon: Not really. I knew him, but not well. He was from Philly. He was younger, of course, but I had met him here and there. Philly Joe reminded me recently, a few months ago when we were on tour together in Europe, of the time that Miles' band came out to Hollywood. 'Trane was playing his shit, but it wasn't projecting, he didn't have the sound. So one day we were talking and I said, "Man, you play fantas­tic, but you have to develop that sound, get that projection." I gave him a mouthpiece I had that I wasn't using. I laid that on him and that was it. That made the difference.

 

Berg: That's incredible because there are many things in 'Trane's sound that are reminiscent of your sound.

 

Gordon: He was playing my mouth­piece, man! Again, it's the same line— Lester to Bird to Dexter to 'Trane. There was evolution, of course, but really the same line.

[Gheorghe]

Yes, I have read that interview.

One thing Dexter said in another interview, was a very important thing about mutual influences. Like, young Coltrane was quite influenced by Dex and then became one of the most influencial leaders of the instrument himself, with a lot of followers.

And in the 70´s Dexter would "borrow" some of Trane´s ideas, like his version of Body and Soul on "Manhattan Symphony" and on numerous live occasions I witnessed myself. And Dexter did also quite a lot of modal tunes, based on stuff like "Impressions" etc., .

So that´s a really wonderful thing that happened: Dexter as the prototyp of the bop movement influencing the next young players in the 50´s, and than later getting influences from them too.