JazzWax

JazzWax

2007-2025

Perfection: Dexter Gordon's 'Society Red,' 1961

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Marc Myers
Aug 15, 2024
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In her memoir, Sophisticated Giant, Maxine Gordon writes this about her late husband, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon:

“Dexter Gordon was known as 'Society Red.' He got this name when he was with the Lionel Hampton band as a 17-year-old in 1940—just about the same time Malcolm X (then Malcolm Little) was being called Detroit Red. Dexter wrote a tune with…

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