Dexter Gordon - Our Man in Paris - Blue Note Classic LP

Dexter Gordon's 1963 album Our Man in Paris was his first dispatch from Europe and is also symbolically considered to be the last true bebop album. After recording his masterful albums GO! and A Swingin' Affair in the Summer of 1962, the great saxophonist left the United States for what would be a 14-year period living in Europe. In May 1963, Gordon assembled a quartet with bebop legends and fellow expats Bud Powell on piano and Kenny Clarke on drums, along with the French bassist Pierre Michelot, and headed into CBS Studios in Paris to record this all-time classic album. Powell had been in a state of poor health, but on this particular day the pianist was in fine form sounding inspired in the glow of Gordon's commanding presence on a set of well-known jazz standards and bebop mainstays including "Scrapple from the Apple," "A Night in Tunisia," "Willow Weep for Me," and "Stairway to the Stars."

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.

Gordon is at the very top of his game here. His playing is crisp, tight, and full of playful fury.