At a New York bar In 1962, Dexter Gordon ran into saxophonist Ronnie Scott, the co-owner of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. Scott asked Gordon if he wanted to work at his place. Gorden, as his wife, Maxine, notes in her 2018 book, The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon, had never been out of the country except for a brief visit just over the border in Mexico. Gordon surely asked Scott about pay and any other incentives he wanted. Then he agreed to play there that fall, and they shook hands. [Photo above of Dexter Gordon by Jan Persson/CTSImages.com]
In anticipation, Gordon finished recording Go! and A Swinging Affair. Then he was off to London in September. While Gordon was at Ronnie Scott's, Harold Goldberg, an American pianist living in Copenhagen and a quasi manager of the Montmartre jazz club, called Ronnie Scott's. He invited Gordon to perform at the Danish club. Gordon agreed, but for some reason didn't arrive until several days after he was supposed to in early October.
By November, the German TV show "An Ort und Stelle" ("On the Spot") caught wind of Copenhagen's heady jazz scene and decided to tape an episode there. The show on Copenhagen had a hip, documentary format, opening with an express train from Stockholm, Sweden, pulling into the Copenhagen station. On the platform waiting are pianist Harold Goldberg, bassist Benny Nielsen and drummer Alex Riel.
Emerging from the train is Swedish baritone saxophonist Lars Gulin, who interestingly is without his horn. In the station, Gordon is waiting. They exchange handshakes. Outside, they greet saxophonist and flutist Sahib Shihab, who had moved to Copenhagen a year earlier.
Then, everyone except Gordon pile into a car for a drive to what one assumes is a bar and then dinner before the gig. Meanwhile, Gordon waits and a chic woman shows up—actress Hanne Borchsenius. They embrace and window shop. Then Gordon has to split. Borchsenius turns up again later in the documentary at a table admiring Gordon.
The club music that follows, backed by close-up candids of young Danes and footage of Copenhagen's stores and neon at night, are wonderful. For me, Gordon was at his playing peak in late 1962. Here's the broadcast of "On the Spot: Jazz in Copenhagen," with a performance of Cole Porter's I Love You...
