Jazz at Lincoln Center greats play the music of Dexter Gordon at Fairfield University | Press Releases

Jazz at Lincoln Center's popular music of the masters series celebrates a saxophone legend with "The Music of Dexter Gordon" on Friday, Feb. 25, at 8 p.m. at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. The evening features several modern-day masters, including members of the Dexter Gordon rhythm section, The George Cables Trio and saxophonists Wayne Escoffery, Jimmy Greene and Jerry Weldon.

The performance is part of the Quick Center's season-long Jazz Tribute Project, which will also feature appearances by Diane Schurr, a tribute to Stephane Grappelli and an evening with some of the grand masters of modern jazz piano.

One of the key innovators of the bop era, Gordon enjoyed a career that spanned more than 40 years and took him from the jazz clubs of Los Angeles to Europe to a triumphant return to American shores in 1976.

A strapping man, "Long Tall Dexter" was known for being able to wrestle a gigantic sound and mature phrasing from his instrument.

"Dexter always had that big sound, from the early days," said fellow saxophonist Zoot Sims. "He's a big man. Stands to reason he's gotta lot of lungs."

Gordon's father was one of the first black physicians in Los Angeles and he counted among his patients composer Duke Ellington and percussionist Lionel Hampton, so it's no surprise the younger Gordon became interested in the burgeoning world of jazz. He started playing clarinet at 13 and, by the time he was 17, he went on the road with Hampton's orchestra.

In the 1940s, Gordon made a name for himself as a part of the Billy Eckstine Orchestra and as a regular collaborator on both coasts with several of the biggest names in jazz and bop, including Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Sarah Vaughn.

In the early 1960s, Gordon began working and living in Europe, settling for a time in Copenhagen, before returning to the United States in 1976 with a legendary engagement at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The group he chose to work with during this seminal period of creativity and improvisation included Cables, a fine pianist and trusted sideman in his own right.

Gordon found himself a second career of sorts in the 1980s, when he received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in "'Round Midnight," a Bernard Tavernier film about an expatriate jazz musician in Paris. He followed that with an appearance as a psychiatric ward patient in 1990 film "Awakenings" before his death later that year.

Gordon's recordings, particularly of the 1960s era, remain among the staples of many jazz collections and have influenced the talented musicians who will take the Quick Center stage. In addition to playing with Gordon, Cables gained recognition from stints with Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey and Art Pepper, who called him his favorite pianist. He has helped define modern jazz piano for the new generation and has a deep understanding of Gordon's work.

At 29, saxophonist Escoffery , a London native who was raised in Connecticut, has played and studied with Bill Charlap, The Charles Mingus Big Band and toured with Herbie Hancock. In addition to the Dexter Gordon tribute, Escoffery is featured in Jazz at Lincoln Center's "The Music of Miles Davis."

Saxophonist Jimmy Greene also hails from Connecticut and showed such early promise he was selected for the 1993 Grammy All-American High School Jazz Band conducted by Branford Marsalis. Though he only moved into the New York jazz scene in 1999, he has been a member of the Horace Silver Quintet, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the big bands of Harry Connick Jr. and Jason Linder.

One of Downbeat Magazine's 1999 "25 Young Rising Stars in Jazz," Greene continues to receive critical acclaim.

A native New Yorker, Weldon has performed with some of the most prominent names in jazz, including a stint as a featured soloist with Lionel Hampton's band. He has also been a featured soloist with the Harry Connick Jr. big band and organist Jack McDuff's Heatin' System. He has also recorded and performed live with Mel Torme, Jimmy McGriff, Al Grey, Keeter Betts and Latin jazz great Machito.

Tickets for the Quick Center performance are $30 and $25. For tickets, call the Quick Center box office at (203) 254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit www.quickcenter.com.

Editor's Note: The credit for the accompanying photo is The Estate of Dexter Gordon.