Sax Gordon

Hobbes · 01-13-2006, 04:32 PM

Hi all,
I saw him the last summer in a Blues festival near Barcelona (Spain), with James harman and junior wells.... WOW !!!
Great show !!! and great Jams after festival acts in a village club. I have some pics.
My question is for his setup, I saw him using a HR mpc, and a vintage sax...
Anybody know more?

pumseig · 01-13-2006, 04:36 PM

When I saw him, he was playing an older Mark VI held together by many rubberbands. Mouthpiece was a metal Link, huge opening.

pumseig · 01-13-2006, 04:37 PM

Oops! I confused him with Greg Piccolo. Sorry about that.

Bill Mecca · 01-13-2006, 04:57 PM

Gordon uses an old black lacquer(yeah there are a few flecks left) Couf tenor with a Selmer Neck, he was playing a Link STM 9 with Rico 4's and 5's but recently switched to an RPC (not sure if rollover or high baffle, or if he is still using it.

I have a couple of his CD's including the live CD, and the latest with Doug James, killin stuff.

www.saxgordon.com

Hobbes · 01-13-2006, 05:24 PM

little pics

the jam

Mike Ruhl · 01-13-2006, 05:38 PM

I keep waiting for the day Gordon is the musical guest on SNL.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

Bill Mecca · 01-13-2006, 06:13 PM

It would be very cool to see Gordon and LP have a tenor battle.

Gotta say, I Love those pants!!!

Bob M · 01-13-2006, 09:38 PM

Great pics!!!!

Gordon plays a Couf Superba 1 with a MkVII neck. Although he used a Link 9 or 9* for many years, Gordon is now using an older ('98) RPC 120R with a small epoxy baffle added. BTW, HonkBopSax is probably the local expert on Gordon's set-up, so he may want to chime in with any amplifications or corrections.

I've seen Gordon in person a number of times and also had the chance to sit in with him. IMHO, what drives his sound is his amazing air stream control, rather than the specifics of his set-up. The best example that I can give of what I mean by this is about 18-months ago I saw Gordon with guitarist Jr. Watson. They were playing in a medium sized room and at one point Gordon took the "walk of shame" around the room. Despite not being mic'd (and the band being amplified), I could hear him clearly, no matter where he was in the room. His sound projected. It was not always loud in a decibel sense (although some of the time it certainly was), but but it could be heard clearly....it filled the room. Also, listen to Gordon's recordings and you'll hear Ben Webster in one tune followed by Jr. Walker in the next. He can really use his air stream to shape his sound as needed.

Speaking of Doug James, I'm going to see the Doug/Gordon band tomorrow night. Should be a great show. Check out their CD....

HonkBopSax · 01-13-2006, 10:34 PM

Yes, two Couf's, one black laq when gold, and he uses the VI neck on the black one and the VII neck on the gold one. He was going back and forth between a link 9 and 9*, but said he woke up one morning and neither of them would play for him.

For reeds, last he told me was that he had an old shopping bag full of boxes of used reeds, and he just played through them until he found one that worked.

I was there that night w/ Jr. Watson, and Bob is right. In fact, I remember sitting at the bar and I heard him warming up. I thought he was right there next to me but he was actually up stairs. His tone is so full, though not necessarily loud. I remember seeing him at the Top of the Hub with Duke Robillard, Marty Ballou, Marty Richards and Matt McCabe ... on all acoustic swing and jazz set. Man, I never realized what he sounded like until I heard him that night. One of the biggest and darkest sounds I've ever heard. All I remember is going home and practicing for 3 hours in my basement, trying to mimic that sound.

Hobbes · 01-14-2006, 06:22 PM

I believe that in the "Festival of Blues of Roses" (where I saw him) he use the RPC since it was a HR mpc. What sound! potent, brilliant, edge, full....
AH!
and I saw he the rest of the festival seeing other performances and he was always very well accompanied of very nice girls! hehehehe ;-))
In the Jams he was terrificcccccccc !!!
What RPC uses him? Is easy get one in 2ª hand marketplace? is expensive? is a dificult mpc?

Sax and Junior

**gary** · 01-14-2006, 06:51 PM

I've been wondering about asking this question for some time, so this thread seems like as good a time as any to do it...and to really get flamed, so here goes.

I have only heard Sax Gordon on one recording, a live one. First off, I wish I could play like him. He's got the chops and he's got the style, or rather styles, down cold. But that is my problem with what is on that recording. He sounds to me almost like a parody; a mimic. If I was looking for characteristic licks in that style there would be no need to grab a bunch of recordings by the past masters because they're all there on this one recording. And that's the rub. Of course you want to hear depth in a player in a certain style, but to me that's not the same as hearing a whole lot of licks, no matter how well executed.

I want to be clear. I would love to hear the guy live. I think being in a club with him playing would be great fun and he might be a great guy. And if I was on the set with him he would smoke me, that's for sure. But when I read (not necessarily on this thread, but generically) about him from other players they are writing about him like he should be regarded as a really substantial player and to me a player with substance is not just parroting, but has something personal to say that takes precedence over a bag of licks. Nothing against licks per se - they should be there- but I believe there should be a whole lot more between them.

So...that's only based on one recording. If that is not characteristic of his playing then I would like to know it. If it is, then I'm interested in if anyone can tell me what I might be missing. Seriously- I'm not interested in bashing the cat. I just don't understand, chops aside, what all the fuss is about.

Oh, lawdy, lawdy, lawdy now I've gone an' done it! The last time I stepped into it like this was when I said I thought Hans Dulfer was a crass player.

HonkBopSax · 01-14-2006, 07:48 PM

Gary,

I can understand what you are saying - Gordon is a retro player but he absolutely brings his ownt hign to his recordings and his playing. His albums on Rounder are a good example of the breadth of stuff he can play - swing jazz, blues, bop, R&B and more. His records with Duke Robillard show him playing from a jazzier, Ben Websterish side ... his recording with Jimmy McGriff is pure Sax Gordon, a mix of the guys he admires, plus his own things... his albums with Eric 'Two Scoops' Moore are just outrageous honk bop and swing outings ...

Having heard him live and shared the bandstand with him, I can say he is a brilliant musician capable of playing like 'the old masters', but unlike many of the Brecker heads who just learned the licks and not the harmonic fundamentals that created the licks, he's taken what they did and added his own to it.

I don't even know if you could call some of his playing 'licks'. Unless they are Ben Webster or Maxwell Davis licks...but he doesn't spit out cheesy harmonic lines, whole tone patterns or the like ... if he plays a 'lick' chances are it came from an old Earl Bostic record or a Dexter Gordon recording with Helen Humes.

Bob M · 01-14-2006, 09:10 PM

Gary-

I concur with everything HonkBopSax said above. Sax Gordon Live is a great CD, but its all really rockin' stuff, so ne pretty much sticks to that genre. Check out some of the recordings Honk mentions, particularly the Jimmy McGriff CD. Gordon plays with and stays with Ronnie Cuber in Bill Easley...no mean feat!

Listen to the way Gordon uses his sound on these recordings. It is incredible and, like the greats such as Ben Webster, "Lockjaw" Davis and Gene Ammons, as much a part of what he's trying to say musically as the notes he plays. At the risk of getting flamed myself, many of todays tenor heros (the "Breckerheads" as HBS calls them) have little or no personality to their playing. They can certainly play fast, and in any key, but IMHO don't use their sounds well and, I suspect, in some cases don't in fact have a well developed sound, just fast fingers.

Hobbes - As I mentioned above, the last time I saw Gordon (about 6-weeks ago) he was playing a '98 vintage RPC 120R with a small epoxy baffle added. I happen to know this, because I know the guy he got it from (and who added the baffle). These are available used if you look, but be careful because the blank is extremely short and so the piece didn't tune particularly well with my 10M. I am playing a 110R that I got from Ron a few weeks ago that is very similar to the older 120R, but with the new longer blank Ron now uses.

I'm seeing Gordon tonight, so I'll let you know if anything has changed.

Bob M · 01-15-2006, 01:43 PM

Hobbes - Gordon is still using the RPC.

Bill Mecca · 01-15-2006, 04:06 PM

Bob, we gotta get Gordon to play closer to Jersey!! maybe Foxwoods? or ooh oohh!! maybe HOB in AC??? that would be to cool or I could take a trip to Italy!

Hobbes · 01-16-2006, 09:45 AM

Thanks Bob.
Nice show?????? any pics?
is in the forum some subforum or section of Photos?

**gary** · 01-16-2006, 12:42 PM

Thanks HonkBop and Bob; appreciate the thoughts.

Mike Ruhl · 01-16-2006, 01:00 PM

Gary, what's going on? Isn't being the Most Prolific Poster enough any more? Now you have to to and get Insightful on us, too?

You realize you're running on Dave Dolson's turf, right?

**Kritavi** · 01-16-2006, 01:40 PM

Gordon played at the theatre I used to manage a few years ago, opening for and backing Big Jay McNeely. His own set was wild and he pulled out all the stops, just incredible. ( I kept the #5 reed I found on stage the next day, thinking that if I need to reroof the house I had the first shingle).

When he was part of the back up band for Big Jay he played like a backup player, no showmanship, all humility and respect. A great cat and a knowladgeable player with some real depth.

Mike Ruhl · 01-16-2006, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kritavi

When he was part of the back up band for Big Jay he played like a backup player, no showmanship, all humility and respect. A great cat and a knowladgeable player with some real depth.

That says a lot right there.