DEXTER GORDON Biography - Musicians

 
 

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DEXTER GORDON

Name: Dexter Gordon                                                                   
Born: 27 February 1923 Los Angeles, CA, U.S.                                           
Died: 25 April 1990                                                                   
Genre(s): swing, bop, hard bop                                                         
Occupation(s): Composer, bandleader, saxophonist, actor                               
Instrument(s): Tenor saxophone                                                         
Years active: 1940 - 1986                                                             
                                                                                       
                                                                                       
Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923-April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor           
saxophonist, and an Academy Award-nominated actor. He is considered one of the         
first bebop tenor players. A famous photograph by Herman Leonard of Gordon             
smoking a cigarette during a set at the Royal Roost in New York City in 1948 is       
one of the more iconic images in the history of jazz.                                 
                                                                                       
Gordon's height was 6 feet 5 inches, and so consequently he was also known as 'Long   
Tall Dexter'.