Homecoming
If asked to name an influential saxophonist of the modern-jazz era, a casual fan would probably first cite John Coltrane or Charlie "Bird" Parker. But tenor saxman Dexter Gordon is as much a giant of the genre as they--his visionary work linked modern jazz's early-1940s infancy to its late-'60s adulthood. Gordon's 1962 relocation to Copenhagen may account for his relative lack of renown today.Homecoming, recorded in 1976 upon a return to New York, proves that in Europe, Gordon had further refined his classic mastery of ballads and blues. More intriguingly, the teacher had become the student, as the abundant influence of Coltrane's free-jazz breakthroughs attest.--Anders Smith-Lindall