Evan Cobb Jazz
Nashville Saxophonist and Oboist, Composer, Instructor

Saxophonist Dexter Gordon is one of the first names I mention to young students looking to get hip to the sounds of jazz.  Unmistakable for his saxophone sound and rhythmic feel, Dexter’s playing remains easily identifiable among legions of followers and imitators.  I learned a number of standards from his recorded renditions, including It’s You Or No One, Love For Sale, The Shadow of Your Smile, You Stepped Out of a Dream, and Star Eyes.

While Dexter became known to a mainstream audience late in his career due to his leading role in the movie ‘Round Midnight for which he was nominated as best actor for the 1986 Oscars, he has always been known to jazz fans for his use of riffs and quotes in his solos.  Wanting to find a better understanding of where that vocabulary came from, I’ve started listening to some of his older tracks, mainly from the disc ‘Dexter Rides Again‘, his first album as bandleader.

Once Dexter got a recording contract from Blue Note Records, he recorded very few original tunes.  On ‘Dexter Rides Again’ however, ten of the eleven tracks were penned by Gordon himself.  Listening to the heads of a few of these tunes gives the listener an idea of how his compositions reflected his riff-based playing.

Settin’ the Pace, Pts. 1 & 2 -  similar to a rhythm changes (Leo Parker on bari)

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Blow Mr. Dexter - an unfortunately titled blues

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Dexter Rides Again – an original tune and the title track

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It’s also worth noting how much you can hear Lester Young’s direct influence on Dexter’s playing in 1945.  In fact, if you check out the Verve album ‘Lester Young Trio‘ released in 1994, you’ll find four Dexter Gordon tracks recorded in 1943 at the end of the disc.

At the Cobb’s Mob! gig last weekend here in Nashville, we played a Dexter Gordon tune penned in similar fashion.  Here’s our version and my solo:

The Chase – recorded 6.7.09 at Cafe CoCo

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How has Dexter Gordon influenced you?

- evan

Tags: Cobb's Mob, Dexter Gordon, media, Saxophone

Summer seemed to arrive here in Nashville in full force this past Thursday, and upon looking at my calendar I realized we’re already 4 months into the year 2009.  Things have been going well for me here in Tennessee – I’ve become quite busy with teaching and gigging.

I got to play two more concerts with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra: one downtown at the Nashville Convention Center where I covered  alto saxophone and flute, and then tenor saxophone and clarinet at this past Thursday night’s “Writer’s Night” at the Blair School of Music.  The saxophone section had some serious shredding to do in Bruce Dudley’s arrangement of Parisian Thoroughfare.

…and I got a chance to wail on the debut of a Jim Williamson tune.

Spent a little time doing studio work.  I laid down some oboe and clarinet tracks for the hip local band The New Whole Usuals.  I also recorded a couple of tunes with a jazz quartet for the Generations Jazz Competition.  We didn’t make it to the finals, but an ensemble of my friends Ken Fowser, Behn Gillece, and Adam Cote did.  I was proud of the work my quartet did though – below I posted our version of an original tune of mine.

Don’t Hold Your Breath

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Jonathan Epley, guitar;  Mike Rinne, bass;  John Alvey, drums

This past month also provided me with a couple surprise last-minute gigs: at Sambuca in the quartet of Ralph Pace Jr, as well as provide horn support to local heart throbs Pico versus the Island Trees at the Mercy Lounge.

I have an array of events coming up in May as well.  On Thursday the 7th I’ll be joining a slew of Nashville’s most talented players in a group titled the Nashville Writers Ensemble at Nashville’s Community Music School: W.O. Smith. The ensemble will feature one of my original tunes and includes Bob Mater, Joe Davidian, and Oscar Utterstrom, among others.

On Sunday May 10th I’ll be leading the Cafe CoCo Jazz Jam Session at 4:30.  If you’re around be sure to stop by and bring an instrument.  I’ve also got some dates coming up with blues man Justin Conn, and even a performance with an ABBA tribute band.

Did I mention that it’s wedding season?  I’ve been playing some events with the Pat Patrick Bands this month, and next month I will be attending the weddings of two old friends.

Hope to see you at the gig/ceremony

-evan

Tags: gigs, media, Nashville, Nashville Jazz Orchestra, pictures

Last Sunday was an exciting day for me as I got a chance to play with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra in the afternoon and lead Cobb’s Mob! at night.  NJO played an afternoon set at the Limelight, and I got a chance to wail on a Mike Crotty arrangement of Dolphin Dance and Christina Watson’s tune Free. I’ll be playing with the NJO two more times this month as well, on the 15th and the 23rd.

EC behind Jim Williamson, next to Denis Solee

At Cafe CoCo I debuted a couple new tunes and arrangements.  I’m not going to spoil those for you by posting them on here, but I have included some playing highlights below.

Straight, No Chaser arranged by EC.

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Rhythm-a-ning by Thelonious Monk

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There should be another Cobb’s Mob! show coming soon as well as a bunch of other performances.  Keep checking back here for details.

- evan

Tags: Cobb's Mob, media, music, Nashville, photos, Thelonious Monk