DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON

DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL

DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL
DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON - THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963 - VINYL

VINYL

DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON

THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963

First edition limited to 3000 copies

52,00€32,00€

45 RPM/SIDE A

  1. An Air for the Heir
  2. Blue Orchids

45 RPM/SIDE B

  1. Fly Me to the Moon
  2. The Dexter Byrd

3000 Copies


Donald Byrd & Dexter Gordon

By 1963, Dexter Gordon and Donald Byrd had become two of the leading lights of the Blue Note label, a gleaming showcase and an experimental laboratory for the evolutions and revolutions taking place in the small world of Afro-American jazz stemming from hard bop. Curiously, however, it was not until the autumn of that year that the two musicians made a recording together.

Dexter Gordon had been recognized since the mid-1940s as a major stylist of the tenor saxophone and for having created the perfect synthesis of Lester Young’s laid-back rhythm and Coleman Hawkins’ sensuality by way of the then-flourishing bepob style (the two were the historical fathers of the instrument). Gordon subsequently went through a long purgatory of numerous, chronic addictions, but by the autumn of 1963 he had emerged from the ordeal and was experiencing a creative renaissance. Working with a new generation of musicians, he had regained his enthusiasm, his inspiration and his charisma.

Donald Byrd’s talents were revealed in 1955 when he stood in for Clifford Brown to play with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Since then, he had been the much sought-after partner of the greatest musicians, including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Thelonius Monk and Jackie McLean. He was considered one of the most gifted young trumpetists of his generation, as well as an original composer. Drawing on his personal universe with its subtle modernity, he strived to renew the language of hard bop using modality and bold orchestral experiments.

Despite the ten-year age difference between Gordon and Byrd, despite their vastly dissimilar backgrounds, strivings and motivations, it was abundantly clear that both musicians made music rooted in the most genuine tradition. There was no valid reason for them not yet to have made a recording together.

The short Berlin session on 14 November 1963 put the situation right, thanks to the initiative of Herb Geller, an American alto saxophonist and arranger, who had been living in Berlin for several months and who played in the RIAS Big Band (the group supported by Radio in the American Sector). Geller was well-known in the jazz community. His saxophone style was fluid and lyrical, a synthesis of those of Benny Carter and Charlie Parker. He also partnered with Chet Baker, Quincy Jones and Shorty Rogers, and made fine arrangements with the major orchestras of Claude Thornhill and Billy May. He was a respected representative of West Coast jazz, and it would be no exaggeration to say that the carefully-prepared recording session bore the imprint of his aesthetic bent.

With Geller at the helm, the two special guests performed as part of a septet that featured a smooth mix of experienced American musicians, such as drummer Joe Harris, and talented young European soloists, including trombonist Ake Persson, who had caught the eye of Quincy Jones and Stan Getz, and was also a member of the RIAS Big Band at the time. The band leader demonstrated his orchestration, adding suave, elegant arrangements to a handful of varied compositions – the standards, “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Blue Orchids” – as well as his own “An Air for the Heir” and the original theme “The Dexter Byrd”, thereby ensuring they were both the medium and the showcase of the encounter between the top saxophonist and the top trumpetist.

The session was a fine one in itself. Each musician displayed a sample of his improvisational talents in his own style and in the context. But it went beyond the preliminaries of allowing them the pleasure of getting to know and appreciate each other. There was another happy outcome: Gordon, obviously enchanted by the playing of his young colleague, invited him a few months later to play on their one and only shared record on the Blue Note label: the sparkling One Flight Up.



Donald Byrd, Trumpet
Dexter Gordon, Tenor sax
Herb Geller, Alto sax
Ake Persson, Trombone
Heinz Kitschenberg, Guitar
Jürgen Ehlers, Bass
Joe Harris, Drums



Recorded at RBB Studio III, Berlin, on 14.X.1963
MONO ℗ 1963 RBB

Remastered by © 2023 THE LOST RECORDINGS from the original analog tapes
45 rpm Lacquer-cuts: Kevin Gray
180g vinyl album
1st edition, hand-numbered: 3000 copies
New Tip-on gatefold printed in Italy
Pressed by Marciac Workshop Pressings, France



*A 16-BIT ALBUM DOWNLOAD CARD IS INCLUDED WITH THE VINYL.

AN UNEQUALLED KNOW-HOW

- Phoenix Mastering™ restoration from original analog tapes
- Lacquer-Cuts by Kevin Gray
- 180g test-pressings approving in our studios
- New Stampers every 500 copies
- Slow pressing cycle
- Unequalled quality control in Europe
- New Tip-on gatefold printed in Italy
- Pressed by Simon Garcia, in France 🇫🇷

DELIVERY & WARRANTY

We ship our products worldwide with the utmost care. In the event of any damage during transport, we undertake to replace, at our exclusive expense, any products.

Returns are accepted within 14 days of receipt of your order, however return costs are the responsibility of the customer.

VINYLE

DONALD BYRD & DEXTER GORDON

THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963

DEXTER GORDON/DONALD BYRD

THE BERLIN STUDIO SESSION 1963

The History of this discovery

“Two idolized giants of Jazz. When we discover this 28-minute tape with these names on it, we can't believe our eyes, knowing that this is the second recording in the history of music of Donald Byrd and Dexter Gordon are together! The studio session, captured in the RBB Studio 1 – the world's first modular acoustic studio – is a true gem recorded brilliantly. Listening to the original tape for the first time, we knew that we had, once again, made music history! »

Frédéric D'ORIA-NICOLAS
Musical treasure seeker

Maxine Gordon

“I was thrilled to visit The Lost Recordings studio in Paris and listen to this wonderful session for the first time. It was like Dex was in the room!”

"What I'm doing, I prefer to call that jazz, because it is a beautiful word - I love it."

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