A jazz classic is coming back in style. Dexter Gordon’s album Landslide, comprised of recordings made in 1961 and 1962 over three different Blue Note sessions, is getting rereleased on vinyl as part of Blue Note’s Tone Poet Audiophile series. Landslide is officially hitting shelves in its newest form on July 4, and the LP is available for preorder beginning on Monday, May 12.
Though recorded in the early 1960s, it wasn’t until 1980 that Blue Note finally released Landslide as part of its classics series. Collected from previously unreleased recordings, Landslide matches Gordon with a range of different musicians over its seven tracks, including three different pianists and three different bassists. But every track is anchored by Gordon’s saxophone playing, demonstrating one of the masters of the 20th century at his peak.
Born in the 1920s, Gordon got his professional start in the 1940s and quickly became part of a musical revolution that became known as bebop jazz. “Was I conscious back in the early ‘forties that I was taking part in a musical revolution? Yes, I was, but perhaps not to the extent that I realize now,” Gordon said in a 1962 interview, per the National Jazz Archive. “I knew this was something new and different and it was very exciting.” His career saw him work with major jazz stars like Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock among countless others.
Throughout his career, Gordon also spoke about the important role that Blue Note played for him. “I’m very happy about the Blue Note association,” the musician said in the same 1962 interview. “They’re a very responsible, conscientious label. So many of the jazz record companies are unreliable in some ways. This is the first company I’ve been with that I’ve got any statements and royalties from. Everything’s right on time. They conduct business like a major company, such as Victor, Decca, Capitol—on that level.”
Buy Dexter Gordon’s Landslide on vinyl now.
