****RINGER OF THE WEEK****Dexter Gordon: Copenhagen Coda

Returning to his “home” of Denmark after a successful “comeback” in his native United States, Dexter Gordon sounds inspired on this four song concert session recorded at Montmartre back in February, 1983. One of my biggest regrets is that I never had a chance to hear Gordon in concert, as by every hint of evidence, confirmed on this album, he had not only a big toe, but a voluminous one. His team of Kirk Lightsey/p, David Eubanks/b and Eddie Gladden/p stretch out the tunes with muscles flexed left and right.
There are some tunes from his vintage Blue Note days, a 17 minute “ Hanky Panky” that has a hip blues march cadence, with everyone getting a moment in the spotlight, while “It’s You Or No One” starts off slowly and then builds up to a rousing finish along with Gordon and Lightsey glimmering with their solos. Gordon bops and bounces on “More Than You Know” while the team pops the clutch for a rapid run on “Backstairs” that has Gordon galloping like a wildebeest in the Serengeti. Who plays like this anymore? Is it all the hormones in the food that have made today’s sax  players so anemic in comparison?

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