Barry HarrisThe method

People Barry talks about

Dexter Gordon

tenor saxophone

Tenor saxophonist of the bebop era; Barry played piano on two or three of his records and remembered him as a lot of fun, though not quite what he would call a bebopper.

mentions
6
recordings
5
Barry speaking
0

What Barry says

Asked about Dexter in the Smithsonian interview, Barry says they had a really good relationship. He hears Dexter as slightly different from Bird: around from Bird’s beginnings and part of that period, but not quite what Barry would call a bebopper, though good.

Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶375Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶377Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶379Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶381

Placing the tenor players, Barry puts Dexter a little in between, on a notch of his own, apart from Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster; then he names Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons and Yusef Lateef as others who could play too.

Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶387

Barry made about two or three records with Dexter and met him mostly through those projects, since Dexter was seldom in New York. Dexter, he says, was a lot of fun to work with and played standards.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶446Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶448Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶450

On comping for Dexter and players like him, Barry says nobody dominated: they were interactive and blended. On a record date, he says, five players bring five heartbeats and five ideas of the tempo, so everyone must compromise, and he thinks they managed that well.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶452

The record dates, Barry says, were his chance to play with players like Dexter. Beyond records, his one time playing with him was a Lincoln Center concert for Dexter’s birthday, where at Dexter’s request Barry arranged some of his music for singers who backed him.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶387Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶388

Asked what it was like as a youngster to play with more advanced players such as Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt, Barry says he felt honoured to work with them, and was probably nervous, but not for long.

Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶10Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶11Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶13

In his own words

He was during that period but he wasn’t quite what I would call bebopper, it was good though, you know. These cats was different, you know.

Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program. Smithsonian oral history, asked about Dexter’s harmonic sense ¶381

Dexter might be a little in between. Here’s Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and...other people. They’re sort of here, Dexter might have been a little notch on his own the way he played.

Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program. Smithsonian oral history, placing tenor players ¶387

Oh, he was a lot of fun. Dexter was a lot of fun. He played standards. So one had a lot of fun with Dexter.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. Phone interview with Ted Panken, on working with Dexter ¶450

I think I met him more through those projects, and just knowing he was Dexter Gordon, if you know what I mean. Because he wasn’t here that much.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. Phone interview with Ted Panken, on their records together ¶448

We did a concert on one of Dexter’s birthdays at Lincoln Center, and he asked me to have some singers, and we took some of his music and I arranged it for the singers and we backed him up.

Barry Harris on WKCR-FM. Phone interview with Ted Panken, on playing with Dexter ¶388

Every mention

6 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.

The Spirit of Bebop

USA, 1999

  1. 25:44

    Speaker unclear

    Barry or the narrator names Miles Davis and Dexter among players who came through Detroit and used Barry.

    Watch on YouTube at 25:44

Barry Harris Spanish TV

Madrid, 1988

  1. 7:18

    Someone else

    Spanish TV narrator: players like Dexter Gordon or Lee Morgan called Barry for their records.

    Watch on YouTube at 7:18

  2. 5:38

    Someone else

    Spanish TV narrator: when jazz work dried up, Dexter Gordon took the road of European exile.

    Watch on YouTube at 5:38

Interview: tap dance and bebop

various, 1987–2019

  1. 26:08

    Interviewer

    Podcast host reads a biography listing Dexter Gordon among those Barry played with in New York.

    Watch on YouTube at 26:08

Ali Jackson’s ’Bout It, episode 7

  1. 0:31

    Someone else

    Podcast host lists Dexter Gordon among the elite musicians Barry worked with as a young man.

    Watch on YouTube at 0:31

Detroit Jazz: Ancient to the Future

  1. 1:37

    Someone else

    A poet’s roll call of saxophonists seems to name Dexter (garbled caption) before Coltrane.

    Watch on YouTube at 1:37

In the interviews and notes

Recordings that name them

Barry’s performances and records in the archive that credit or name them.

Method ideas nearby

Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.

  1. 11.4Play from the body and the arm, not the fingers1
  2. 14.3Learn from the masters by ear; study the small things1
  3. 15.4The lineage1