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Dexter Gordon's tenor sax solo opens the improvised portion of this recording, followed by Bud Powell on piano. Spanning eight choruses of the 32-bar AABA form at an up-tempo 232 BPM with a swing feel in F, the solo runs approximately 4:21. The tune is a contrafact based on the chord changes of "Honeysuckle Rose." Gordon's eight-chorus solo at 232 BPM over Charlie Parker's AABA contrafact on "Honeysuckle Rose" in F is a masterclass in bebop saxophone, his big, warm tone and behind-the-beat phrasing giving the music a relaxed grandeur that contrasted with Parker's quicksilver approach to the same material. Dexter Gordon was 39 to 40 years old at the time of this 1963 recording.
Dexter Gordon was 39 to 40 years old at the time.
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