click on CDs for more info

	Sax Gordon P.O. Box 410193 Cambridge, MA  02141 USA

SOME OF GORDON'S FAVORITES

 

1. I Want To Groove With You - Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson (1989 Rounder/Bullseye Blues 9506)     Working with Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson was a big break for me. Joining in 1989 I stayed for 5 years, toured all over the USA & Canada as well as places like Istanbul, Morocco, Nicaragua, Haiti, Trinidad, and Guyana. When Ron Levy started Rounder's Bullseye Blues label, Luther was one of the first artists signed. He took the road band into Tone-Cool Records founder/president Rosy Rosenblatt's basement studio and we played just like we did on stage night after night, all over the world.  I still keep in touch with pianist Joe Krown (www.joekrown.com), who later became a mainstay of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's band and records his own CDs for the New Orleans label STR Digital Records, and bassist Buster Wylie, who leads a band in Michigan.  Listening to "Leaving Chicago" or "Graveyard Dogs" brings me right back to those days, I miss 'em!

2. Back Home In New Orleans - Champion Jack Dupree (1990 Rounder/Bullseye Blues 9502)     Another one of Ron Levy's first signings to the new Bullseye Blues label was blues piano legend Champion Jack Dupree. Jack left the United States for Europe long ago and hadn't returned until it was arranged for him to appear at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the first time he'd been back in his hometown in 30 years. Ron got a session together and I was fortunate enough to play on some of the tracks along with classic New Orleans musicians like saxophonist Red Tyler (whose "Lonely For You" I covered on my second CD), and guitarist Wayne Bennett. While he could play and sing the most lowdown blues (check out his "Blues From The Gutter" on Atlantic Records), there was something uplifting about Jack's music at this point, a reflection of the spirit that carried him through such a difficult and amazing life.

3. Duke's Blues - Duke Robillard (1995 Stony Plain 1195)     Another Milestone in my career was this CD, marking the beginning of my association with the great Duke Robillard. As a side project for a small Canadian label Duke recorded this tribute to his blues heroes, T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Lowell Fulson, Albert Collins, BB King, Roy Milton, and others.  I had sat in with the band a few times and got a call to make the session.  The disc went on to become one of Duke's most successful recordings and was later released on the Pointblank label with a different cover. I've continued to work with Duke on and off the road and in the studio ever since.

4. McGriff Avenue - Jimmy McGriff (2002 Milestone 9325-2)     I flew in from Europe just to make these sessions with the great Jimmy McGriff. What a thrill to be back in the famous Rudy Van Gelder studios (where so many classic jazz and blues records were recorded for labels like Blue Note and Prestige) alongside so many soul-jazz greats. Ronnie Cuber digs in on baritone sax like no one else, while Melvin Sparks and Ronnie Jones define classic organ combo guitar. The rhythm section of bassist Wilbur Bascomb and drummer Bernard Purdie was a dream as was the music and presence of Jimmy McGriff, who's records I've been digging for so long. Jimmy is a wonderful, positive person as well and it was great to hear all the guys telling stories about the old days. Tenor saxist Bill Easley played so soulfully and let me ask him a million questions about all the great saxophonists I never got to see.

5. Hootie's Jumpin' Blues - Jay McShann (1997 Stony Plain 1237)     What better place could a saxophonist hope to be than playing between Jay McShann and Duke Robillard at the Monterey Jazz Festival?  I've been fortunate to get to play with Jay at festivals in Monterey, Kansas City, Tanglewood, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and Edmonton, Canada where we recorded this CD.  Jay is a beautiful person, and reacts perfectly as you play, enhancing phrases with his complimentary support. He often arranged the horn section on the spot, telling the different horn players what to play, calling out the notes already transposed for each instrument right off the top of his head. To me this recording captures the classic swinging Kansas City sound, where jazz and blues meet and have fun!

6. Sweet Black Angel - Pinetop Perkins (1998 Verve/Gitanes 537 187-2)     I don't think this CD was ever released in the U.S., too bad, it has Pinetop doing some new tunes from outside his regular and oft-recorded repertoire. An all-star lineup of Willie "Big Eye" Smith - drums, Calvin "Fuzz" Jones - bass, Bob Margolin - guitar (like Pinetop, all veterans of Muddy Waters' band), along with Duke Robillard, and me and Kaz Kazanoff on saxes, backed Pinetop on vocal and instrumental numbers, while a few acoustic recordings round out the set giving the session a laid-back, down-home feel. Liner notes are by the late Mai Cramer, a much loved and influential Boston area blues DJ. Not just another Pinetop album, too bad it got overlooked in the USA.

7. Rhythm & Bones - Porky Cohen (1996 Bullseye Blues & Jazz 9572)     Porky had retired from touring with Roomful of Blues when I joined in 1996 so it was a great pleasure for me to get to work with him on this recording (I later featured him on my own debut CD "Have Horn Will Travel"). Porky never ceases to amaze and entertain with his stories of traveling with big bands in the 40s and 50s like Lucky Millinder, Charlie Barnett, and Artie Shaw, and playing with legends like Big Joe Turner, Charlie Parker, Wynonie Harris, and Louis Armstrong. How many trombone players, or any musicians for that matter, can say they've played with everyone from W.C. Handy himself, right up to Stevie Ray Vaughn!  Porky's playing reflects his vast experience and I jump at the chance to work with him whenever I can.

8. Whup It! Whup It! - "Earring" George Mayweather (1992 Tone Cool 1147)     Along with Luther "Guitar Jr." Johnson it was my friend George who had the biggest impact on my own performance style. George wanted you to blow, he'd yell "Whup it!" if you weren't getting right down to business. If you weren't playing with feeling you weren't playing nothing!  He'd come along on gigs with Chris "Stovall" Brown, Madeleine Hall, and Eric "Two Scoops" Moore and invariably when he got on stage everything shifted into high gear.  Even a slow blues burned with George. I was so happy he was able to record, maybe for the first time since his classic Chicago blues sides with J.B. Hutto and Eddie Taylor in the 50s. Also backing George on this disc are New England blues veteran Chris "Stovall" Brown on guitar and bassist Buster Wylie, the musicians that knew how to give him what he wanted.  What a voice!

9. Rockin' And Shoutin' The Blues - Jimmy "T99" Nelson (1999 Bullseye Blues & Jazz 9593)     There will never be voices like this again. Jimmy's at ease singing with authority,  feeling, and class over standards and tunes associated with his mentor and friend Big Joe Turner, while his own tunes are wonderfully crafted tales of life and love. Maybe only in Rhode Island are there musicians so dedicated to this style, so with the addition of the great Texas blues and jazz guitarist Clarence Hollimon the result was perfect. Jimmy sings sweet on "When You're Smiling", rocks on "Boogie Woogie Country Girl", and wails the blues on "How Long" as one of the last great practitioners of the big-voiced blues-shouting style. "I'm Going To Miss Show Business" is one of my favorite songs of all time!

10. Zim Zam Zoom - Ron Levy (1996 Bullseye Blues & Jazz 9570)     Organist/pianist/producer Ron Levy has been instrumental in helping me at many different stages of my career. This time we went into the legendary studios of Rudy Van Gelder just outside of NYC, where a significant amount of classic American jazz and blues has been recorded, most notably hundreds of sessions for the Blue Note and Prestige record labels. After years of focusing on producing other artists, Ron returned to his love of the funky, bluesy Hammond B-3 organ and organized this session with some of the masters of the "soul-jazz" or "acid jazz" style, Idris Muhammad on drums and Melvin Sparks on guitar. A deep feeling comes through on originals like "Lost Tribe" and "Sons Of Abraham", "Zim Zam Zoom" stands up with the best funky organ work, while "Silver Cannonball", "U Rockin' Me" and "CC Rider" lay right in the great grooving B-3 tradition.

11. The Deep Blues Of Paul Oscher - Paul Oscher (1997 Blues Planet 1427)     I'll always be grateful to Dave Maxwell for bringing me along to this session. A hot little studio in NYC's Chinatown, Hubert Sumlin was working on something when we got there but had to go. Willie "Big Eye" Smith was along for the ride but the old Chicago Blues veteran S.P. Leary kept it rocking with his loose and animated style. Live to 2-track, no fixing!  Paul's great songs and style really came out on this one, thanks to great, sympathetic support from Calvin "Fuzz" Jones on bass and Dave Maxwell on piano, and without the over-amped guitar sound that's usually associated with "blues" these days.

12. Dangerous Place - Duke Robillard (1996 Pointblank 42857)     The follow-up to the "Duke's Blues" CD is as strong as any of Duke's work and many of these songs went on to become staples of the live show, but somehow this disc got lost in the shuffle of record company business. We'd been touring hard as a band for a while when we went into the studio to record. The songs, playing and production are all excellent. It's not often that a band gets so focused and plays together so well. Not long after this I used the same core group for my own recordings.

13. Big Buffet - Two Scoops Combo (1996 Two Scoops EM001)     My old friend Eric "Two Scoops" Moore knocked the ball out of the park on this one! Possibly the most requested song of all time on Boston's long-running "Blues After Hours" radio show, the song "Big Buffet" is a glorious ode to overeating. The rest of the songs are more Two Scoops classics and songs born of our collaboration, as well as input from the pen of Tom "T.H." Hambridge, who co-produced the session with me. Tom went on to write and produce hits for Susan Tedeschi, but for straight-up fun and good time music I don't think any of us will top this! Also check out the CD "Hungry" from Eric "Two Scoops" Moore if you like this one, they're all available from his website at www.twoscoopscombo.com.

14. Butter Up And Go - Two Bones And A Pick (1998 T-Bo 003)     A local Boston band led by guitarist Dave Haley comes through with a great disc featuring original songs, some obscure classics and Dave's exciting and inspired guitar work. Dave and I share a passion for under-appreciated guitar heroes Bill Jennings, Billy Butler and Tiny Grimes which is reflected in a lot of the music here. Simply a great and fun disc from a unique and inspired group. You can find it at www.twobones.com.

Home  Bio  Quotes/Articles  Photos  Discography  What's New  Schedule  Merchandise  Listen  Contact 

Website by T&M Creations  © 2003 Sax Gordon Beadle