Wardell Gray & Dexter Gordon

[Peter]

Can anybody suggest some good recordings of Wardell Gray & Dexter Gordon? Anyone know if the Proper boxes for these guys contain a good selection of their work togather? Thanks.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

yes very much so

[paul secor]

Have to say that I like both of them better separately than together.

[Unk]

Have to say that I like both of them better separately than together.

I agree. So much of there work together was in concerts; as much as they might have been thrilling live, our recordings offer poor sound quality and a performance that emphasizes crowd excitement, rather than contemplative creativity and lasting value (...or some such 'ideal'.) That said, Dex and Wardell did do some studio sides together which have come out many times (Swingtime, Fontana, Black Lion...) and are worth picking up.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

DONT LISTEN TO THEM:

THEY ARE TOTALLY AWESOME LIVE AND ITS 10 BILLION TIMES BETTER THAN THE STUDIO DATES WHICH PRODUCED 3 MIN LONG 78s. LIVE THEY PLAYED CHORUS AFTER CHOURS AND THE SOUND QUALITY IS **NOT** BAD AT ALL, IVE HEARD SOME SERIOUSLY SHITTY ASS LIVE TAPES AND THESE ARE RESOUNDLY DONT ONE OF THEM.

[Big Beat Steve]

I have to agree with Chewy - of sorts ...:

The studio recordings by both of them from that era are fine, BUT:

I - These live recordings by Dex and Wardell (Chase & The Steeplechase or The Hunt, etc.) really aren't that bad sound-wise. No super hi fi but good enough compared to a lot of other live stuff that has been released through the years.

II - They do get to stretch out there, and creating pure excitement is no mean feat either. Remember you jazzheads out there: Wasn't it the jazziest of the jazzy jazzheads that have always complained both about the fact that the 3-minute 78rpm limit severely hampered the creative flow of the jazzmen and about the fact that jazz lost its grip on the people and its ties with popular music and retreated into an ivory tower after 1945? Now here you get both - jazzmen stretching out AND connecting with the crowds. There IS "lasting value" there. So what's the deal?

So just listen to these Gene Norman Just Jazz live sessions and all the rest and picture yourselves there, with no false pretenses but just for the ENJOYMENT of JAZZ. What can be bad about that?

III - Creative "contemplativity" is all well, but they did their share of that anyway so there's something for everybody. Do you need more of the same all the time? Creativity doesn't have to be contemplative forever in order to be just that - creative. And if you need yet more sax ballad contemplativity, spin another Ben Webster or Johnny Hodges disc.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Big Beat Steve

[Peter]

I've gone ahead and ordered the Wardell Gray & Dexter Gordon Proper boxes

Edited June 2, 2007 by Peter

[Van Basten II]

Was very pleased with the Gray Proper box, especially with the two last cds