This was the final statement in the tragically brief life of Joe Gordon (1928-1963), the underrated Boston native who ended his career as a first-call sideman in Los Angeles. It captured not just an established trumpeter who had worked and recorded with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and Shelly Manne, but also a budding composer whose originals remain melodically compelling while presenting structural challenges. Gordon had clearly reached a new plateau in his music, one in… MORE