Ethan Iverson pays tribute to a transformative pianist with Bud Powell In The 21st Century (Sunnyside).
(Photo: Jimmy Katz)Feb 26, 2021 8:28 AM
Whenever Ethan Iverson takes on a repertory project, his goal is to do two things simultaneously. “One side is to play it like the composer would want,” said the…
Dexter Gordon (1923–1990)
(Photo: Rob Bogaerts/National Archives of the Netherlands)Jan 27, 2021 10:20 AM
When Dexter Gordon won the Tenor Saxophone category in the 1971 DownBeat Critics Poll, the honor could hardly be considered premature. Gordon, who celebrated his 49th birthday last Feb. 17, is one of the great voices in modern jazz and has been a professional musician since the age of 17, when he joined Lionel Hampton’s band. After a stint with Louis Armstrong, he became a charter member of Billy Eckstine’s famed big band, with which he made his mark.
For nearly a decade, the tall, debonair tenorman has made his home in Copenhagen, Denmark, where…