Bob Gordon was a fabulous West Coast baritone saxophonist whose brilliant jazz career was cut short at age 27 by a fatal car accident. On Saturday, August 28, 1955, Gordon and trumpeter Earl McCrea were about to drive to San Diego to play in a Pete Rugolo concert. Gordon's car was proceeding north on St. Andrew Place in Los Angeles when he was broadsided on the left side at Browning Blvd. by Emmett York, 22. Gordon was killed but McCrea, who complained of neck injuries at the scene, declined medical assistance. York was booked on suspicion of manslaughter, which back then was code for drunk driving. Gordon was survived by his wife and two young children. [Photo above of Jack Montrose and Bob Gordon by Dave Pell (c) Fresh Sound Records]
Perhaps Gordon's finest recordings were with tenor saxophonist Jack Montrose. They appeared together on two albums under Montrose's name—Jack Montrose with Bob Gordon, recorded in May 1955, and the Jack Montrose Sextet, recorded in June and July 1955. The former was recorded for Atlantic and featured Jack Montrose (ts), Bob Gordon (bar), Paul Moer (p), Red Mitchell (b) and Shelly Manne (d). The latter was for Pacific Jazz and included Conte Candoli (tp), Jack Montrose (ts,arr), Bob Gordon (bar), Paul Moer (p), Ralph Pena (b) and Shelly Manne (d). [Photo above of the intersection where Bob Gordon was killed in 1955, from Browning Blvd. looking at St. Andrew Place; York must have been speeding and ran the stop sign, if the stop sign was in place at the time.]
Gordon and Montrose also recorded together on Meet Mr. Gordon (May 1954), Gordon's sole leadership album arranged by Montrose. They also played together as sidemen on other artists' leadership sessions. Gordon had a relaxed and playful quality on the baritone saxophone and could smoothly handle Montrose's intricate and often uptempo contrapuntal West Coast jazz charts. Virtually all of Gordon's sideman dates are terrific. He recorded with Jack Millman, Maynard Ferguson, June Christy, Les Brown, Clifford Brown, Pete Rugolo, Dave Pell, Tal Farlow, Zoot Sims, Lennie Niehaus and others.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Jack Montrose and Bob Gordon's Two Can Play: Complete Quintet and Sextet Sessions 1954-1955 as a Fresh Sound digital download here.
You'll also find Montrose and Gordon's Two Can Play (Fresh Sound) at Spotify.
JazzWax clips: Here's the entire Jack Montrose With Bob Gordon...
And here's Pretty from The Jack Montrose Sextet, with Bob Gordon...
