Sax Gordon & Vince Vallicelli Band - Live At La Casa Del Blues

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:47
Size: 141.5 MB
Styles: Blues/Jazz saxophone
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[5:14] 1. Rock On
[8:06] 2. Dd Rider
[5:28] 3. Melancholy Serenade
[4:04] 4. The Hold Up
[3:32] 5. Fla
[5:11] 6. Hot Cha
[7:31] 7. Talking Blues
[7:26] 8. Missy
[5:03] 9. Tino's Dream
[5:27] 10. I Got That Feeling
[4:40] 11. Soul Serenade

Practicing the honking, jump blues style of jazz, saxophonist Sax Gordon appeared alongside numerous well-known artists and even recorded albums of his own. Born Gordon Beadle, the Boston-based musician performed on albums by such artists as Champion Jack Dupree, Luther "Guitar Jr" Johnson, Duke Robillard, and many more during the 1990s. He began recording solo albums with Have Horn Will Travel, which Bullseye Blues released in 1998, followed by a second album, You Knock Me Out, in 2000. On his solo releases, Gordon leads his bandmates through a variety of styles that variably fall somewhere between jazz and blues. He writes many of his own songs and carefully selects a few covers as well for his albums. In 2001 and again in 2002, he received W.C. Handy Award nominations. ~bio by Jason Birchmeier

Live At La Casa Del Blues

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Sax Gordon - In The Wee Small Hours

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:26
Size: 113.2 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2014
Art: Front

[6:09] 1. The Glory Of Love
[6:15] 2. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
[6:33] 3. When I Grow Too Old To Dream
[6:38] 4. My Old Fame
[4:26] 5. Whatever Lola Wants
[4:53] 6. Blue And Sentimental
[5:39] 7. Big Top Blues
[2:59] 8. Easy Living
[5:50] 9. Bubbles

Sobriquet and appearance aren’t likely to endear Sax Gordon to the jazz intelligentsia any time soon. Neither is his obvious acumen for creative facial grooming. Even so, In the Wee Small Hours is an aural book that belies the questionability of its cover with a program of proficient, if derivative, organ combo jazz. The instrumentation is identical and the vibe very similar to Stanley Turrentine’s 1961 classic Dearly Beloved for Blue Note with Gordon backed by Italian sidemen Alberto Marsico on Hammond B-3 and Alessandro Minetto on drums.

The Turrentine influence is audible from trio’s opening interpretation of “The Glory of Love” with the leader even going so far as to close the tune out with the sort of delicate, soulful trills that were one of Dr. T’s trademarks. Gene Ammons also weighs heavy in Gordon’s horn vernacular and that Chicago connection spells a big clue as to why Delmark impresario Bob Koester agreed to ink a deal for the album’s release. Gordon’s bonafides reside primarily in jazz-informed blues having served as a longtime sideman with Duke Robillard and helmed several projects for the Bullseye label, but the program here is steeped in a centrist jazz tenor lineage.

Each of the pieces except for Gordon’s own “Big Top Blues” has strong associations with past tenor greats. Gordon alludes to Ben Webster with the title tune, blowing the amorous melodic line against Marisco’s throbbing chords and Minetto’s drowsy brushes. “When I Grow Too Old to Dream” nods to Arnett Cobb in its leisurely bounce and relaxed phrasing while “Blue and Sentimental” brings the group back to a slow ballad smolder with Gordon stretching his pliable phrasing in a laconic manner that recalls Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis at his most even-tempered and effervescent.

“Whatever Lola Wants” brings some playful bump and grind to the proceedings with Marisco flipping his switches for a reverberating zamboni-ready sound and Minetto syncopating against Gordon’s sultry lead. The set winds down with a jukebox single-sized jaunt through “Easy Living” and a relatively obscure Wild Bill Moore number “Bubbles”, which threads in some jocular R&B honking. Sax Gordon may not exactly look the part, but on strictly auricular terms he’s earned convincing credibility as a journeyman worth noting. ~Derek Taylor

In The Wee Small Hours

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