Merry Christmas from the people of Los Angeles and the late, great, Dexter Gordon, one of our Favorite Sons. . A Swingin Affair . I Was told as a child Blacks had no worth, Not a nickel’s worth of dimes. I believed that myth ‘Til Dex rode in With his ax In double time. . His Horn was soarin’, The changes flyin’, His rhythm right on time; My heart Beat with the pleasure Of new found pride, Knowing, His blood Flowed through mine. . Dex Took the chords The keyboard played, And danced around each note; Then shuffled ‘em Like a deck of cards, And didn’t miss a stroke. . B minor 7 with flatted 5th, A half diminished chord, He substituted a lick in D, Then really began to soar. . He tipped his hat To Charlie Parker, And quoted Trane with Miles, Then paid his homage to Thelonious Monk, In Charlie Rouses style. . He tookA Scrapple From The Apple, Then went to Billie’s Bounce, The rhythm section, now on fire, But he didn’t budge an ounce. . He just Dug right in To shuffle again, This time A Royal Flush, Then lingered a bit Behind the beat, Still smokin’ But in no rush. . Then he Doubled the time Just like this rhyme, In fluid 16th notes, tellin’ Charlie and Lester, your baby boy, Dexter’s, On top of the Bebop you wrote. . Wailin’ Like a banshee, This prince of saxophone, His ballads dripped of honey, His Arpeggios were strong. . Callin’ on his idles, Ghost of Pres’ Within in the isles, Smiling at his protege, At the peak of this new style. . His tenor Drenched of Blackness, And all the things we are-- Of pain, and pleasure, And creative greatness Until his final bar. . Eric L. Wattree https://youtube/watch?v=lrGAXWNdlZc
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 11:29:17 +0000
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