Dexter Gordon accompanied more vocalists than you might imagine. There was Helen Humes in 1950, Gladys Bentley in 1952, Kitty White in 1965, Pony Poindexter in 1966, Vi Redd in 1970, Miriam Klein in 1973, Eddie Jefferson in 1978 and Tony Bennett in 1990. In the mid-1940s, while in Lionel Hampton's band, Gordon accompanied Rubel Blakey; in Louis Armstrong's band in 1944, Gordon and the band accompanied Velma Middleton, Jimmy Ross and Pops himself; and with Benny Carter in 1946 he accompanied Maxine Sullivan, Lucy Elliott, Candy Ross and Kay Starr. And there were plenty of others. [Photo above of Dexter Gordon and Karin Krog]
One of Gordon's more unusual vocal-accompaniment albums was backing Norwegian singing star Karin Krog in Oslo, Norway. Recorded in 1970, Blues and Ballads included Krog (vcl), Gordon (ts,vcl) Kenny Drew (p,org), Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (b) and Espen Rud (d). The songs were Some Other Spring, Blue Monk, How Insensitive, Blues Eyes, Jelly Jelly, I Wish I Knew, Everybody's Somebody's Fool, Shiny Stockings and Ode to Billie Joe.
To American ears, Krog's voice takes a little getting used to. At first, it's like listening to an accented cross between Dinah Washington and Little Jimmy Scott. But to her credit, Krog had plenty of power, a jazz feel and terrific intonation. Gordon picked up on her sensitivity and dug in. The result was a collaboration that worked splendidly thanks to a collection of smartly chosen tunes.
Songs of note are Blues Eyes (written by Swedish jazz pianist Berndt Egerbladh and Krog), Jelly Jelly (on which Gordon joins Krog; his voice is reminiscent of Joe Williams), Everybody's Somebody's Fool, Shiny Stockings and even Ode to Billie Joe, accompanied during the first run-through by Pedersen playing the bass like a guitar. On the recent reissue, you'll find alternate takes of Some Other Spring, Blue Monk and Shiny Stockings.
Gordon throughout is in peak form, particularly on solos. He and Krog feed off each other beautifully, as you can hear on Some Other Spring and Jelly Jelly. And if you've never heard Gordon sing, you'll be quite surprised and impressed.
Dexter Gordon died in 1990; Karin Krog lives in Norway.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Karin Krog and Dexter Gordon's Blues and Ballads (Sonet) here.
You'll also find the album at Spotify.
JazzWax note: For more on Karin Krog, copy and past the following link into your browser: https://www.karinkrog.no/en/biography.html Also, Francis Capeau tells me that Krog recently won the 2017 French Academy of Jazz singer prize for The Many Faces of Karin Krog: Recordings 1967-2017 (ODN), a six-CD box set covering her career (go here).
JazzWax clips: Here's Blues Eyes...
Here's Jelly, Jelly...
And here's Karin Krog in 1968...
