"r&b
dynamo Gordon shows his reeds no mercy"
- DownBeat
"...doesn't
have any trouble ripping up his audiences."
- Billboard
"Gordon Beadle is cut from the same cloth as his honkin' heroes: Al
Sears, Ike Quebec, Gene Ammons, Arnett Cobb, Red Prysock, Big Jay
McNeely...raw, rippin' and rockin'."
- Jazz Times
"One of the best and most vibrant young sax players in the
business"
- Blues Revue
"A
one-man renaissance for the driving, highly danceable and decidedly
manic late-'40s style of "honkin' " sax playing championed by
the likes of Illinois Jacquet and Big Jay McNeely."
- Living Blues
"...the leading torchbearer of the sax-fired music that became rock
and roll."
- the Boston Phoenix
"(Sax Gordon) has a huge, full-blooded tone on his tenor and great
execution to boot...evokes the spirit of sax rave-up men Junior Walker,
King Curtis, Oliver Sain and Louis Jordan."
- Blues Access
"Sax Gordon always raises the bar a notch or two"
-Saxophone Journal
"A talented pro with great enthusiasm, it's no wonder Gordon is one
of the most popular musicians wherever he goes, with both musicians and
fans alike."
- Ron Levy (award winning producer & musician)
"Versed in every facet of R&B saxophone"
- Duke Robillard
"This guy's got the spirit; he's got the feeling; he's got
the goods."
- Billy Vera (producer, singer, & music writer)
"Gordon has total command...His enthusiasm is
boundless."
- Frank-John Hadley (writer for Amazon.com / Downbeat Magazine)
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(March 2006) BLUES
- by Frank-John Hadley
Doug
James & Sax Gordon (D&G 001; 49:16) jjj
Two saxophonists who
know the score in the jump-blues major leagues rip and roar through a
program of original songs, trading fours and taking compacted choruses
that affirm their great admiration for King Curtis, Gene Ammons and Big
Jay McNeely. James' baritone spouts bebop in spots and r&b dynamo
Gordon shows his reeds no mercy walking the imaginary bar. They visit an
old strip joint on "Steppin'." Duke Robillard, Mike DiBari and
Rick Russell, keeping their clothes on, play good guitar all over.
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Big City Blues April/May 1998
Sax Gordon: Have Horn Will Travel (Bullseye Blues & Jazz)
Serious bar-walking, hornblattin', groove juiced, fired up, screaming blues
saxophone. King Curtis resurrected! One of the coolest discs of the
year, Gordon is backed here and there by Roomful of Blues (a natural pairing),
but he doesn't need nobody's help. Outstanding and highly recommended!
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Sax
Gordon
Have Horn Will Travel
Bullseye
9589
"Sax" Gordon
Beadle's inspirations come from two sources, neither of which has enjoyed much
respect from "serious" music fans. On one hand he evokes the spirit of
sax rave-up men Junior Walker, King Curtis, Oliver Sain and Louis Jordan, who
were too ebullient to get imprimatur from the highbrows, and on the other he
evokes jazzers Gene Ammons, Illinois Jacquet and Arnett Cobb, who were too
bluesy.
Beadle has a huge, full-blooded tone on his tenor, and great execution to boot.
Buffs of either or both sax subgenera will welcome this, his debut CD as a band
leader. On the rollicking instrumentals "For Whom the Horn
Honks" and "DD Rider" (both of which Beadle penned) the first
camp was plainly his source. Likewise the leering "You Said She
Wouldn't" (originally by Louis Jordan alumnus Bob Mitchell). Throughout,
he's backed ably by no less than the Roomful of Blues horn section, guitarist
Duke Robillard (with whom he has toured and recorded) and drummer Marty
Richards. It's Richards' boomin' tom-toms that open "Hubcap Pete," a
manic honkfest that brings to this correspondent's mind the image of
well-dressed pachyderms doing the Twist.
Then comes the steak. Beadle offers excellent reprisals of "Melancholy
Serenade," "The Last Mile," "Deep River" and
"Heavy Soul." The latter three tunes were cut by (respectively) Gene
Ammons, Arnett Cobb and Ike Quebec, all major men of the big-toned tenor mode.
The Ammons tune is a smoky blues that has Beadle's dark, rich-sounding sax
panning over a night-lit city skyline, spurred by the ROB horners, and is simply
excellent. "Heavy Soul" is just as good. Quebec had huge, huge tone
and Beadle interprets him superbly on this episodic and moody jazz-blues opus
that weighs in at just a tad over eight minutes. Tom West provides lush B-3
back-up, while Richards' drumming punctuates and Marty Ballou offers subtle but
strong stand-up bass work.
"Melancholy Serenade" may ring nostalgic bells -- it was the theme to
Jackie Gleason's television show -- but Beadle's reprisal draws more from King
Curtis' spirited remake than the TV version.
One reviewer has indicted Beadle for being derivative, which shows that society
is rougher on saxists than it ought to be. Ten billion guitarists are
shamelessly derivative, derive from the same two or three guys, and still get
critical acclaim.
Beadle, on the other hand, draws inspiration from artists who have been
under-appreciated despite their talent and towering coolness, and for this we
should appreciate him. Have Horn Will Travel is a must-buy for sax
maniacs and a welcome purchase for any fan of solid, well-executed music.
-- Tim
Schuller
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Boston Phoenix - MARCH 16th, 2000 YOU
KNOCK ME OUT (Bullseye
Blues & Jazz)
Gordon Beadle sexes
up his saxophone all over this strong CD, with a big tone that leers and cheers
-- and sheds some tears -- through 13 tunes. The Boston-based blues MVP
rekindles the slow burn and the fireworks of the late-'40s/early-'50s honkers
and wailers -- players like Big Jay McNeeley and Red Prysock and Noble Watts,
with a little bit of King Curtis thrown in for soul on instrumentals like the
hangover hazy "Crawling Home." Beadle's got a sense of humor that
comes across most obviously in the few tunes with lyrics, like the musician's
lament "20 Dollar Gig" and the title track, which is sung by a chorus
of Beadle, guitarist Duke Robillard, and the most recent ex-Roomful of Blues
vocalist, Sugar Ray Norcia. But it's also audible in the giddy joy he sprays all
over the fast numbers, like "Speed Rack" and Watts's "90
MPH."
Still, for the old-timers Beadle models his surly and sensuous sound upon, life
was more than inspiring strippers and walking the bar for tips. So when he dips
into Red Tyler's "Lonely for You" or the gospel-sauced "Tino's
Dream," he plays straight from the heart...Beadle emerges as the leading
torchbearer of the sax-fired music that became rock and roll.
-- Ted
Drozdowski
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