Album Reviews

Dexter Gordon led the Clubhouse session May 27,1965 with Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Barry Harris on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. Two days later Gordon recorded Gettin’ Around, trading Freddie Hubbard for Bobby Hutcherson on vibes but otherwise maintaining the same lineup. However, until 1979 the former didn’t see the light of day. What happened?

Blue Note originally shelved releasing the Clubhouse session in favor of the superior Gettin’ Around (I enjoy both, but by a hair prefer the latter). In 1979 Michael Cuscuna discovered Clubhouse while combing through the vaults for the Liberty/United Artists/Blue Note LT series (an effort which also turned up unreleased albums by Wayne Shorter, Grant Green, Lee Morgan, Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Blue Mitchell, and many others). Liberty/UA released Clubhouse with a hideous album cover that took the title literally to the point where it made no sense, and that was that.

Musically, Clubhouse shows Dexter playing in a more relaxed, thoughtful manner (and not just on the ballads) than his earlier Blue Note recordings (see my review of Blue Note’s recent Doin’ Allright reissue, showing that his playing definitely evolved following his move to Paris. There’s an expressive cover of Frank Sinatra’s “I’m A Fool To Want You,” a rendition of Ben Tucker’s “Devillette,” and a version of Rudy Stevenson’s swinging jazz blues “Lady Iris B.” More interesting here, however, are Gordon’s original compositions, of which there are three, more than on most of his albums. The upbeat, straightforward side openers “Hanky Panky” and “Clubhouse” are enjoyable listens (so far, I haven’t come across any terrible, unlistenable Dexter Gordon recordings) and the ballad “Jodi” has extremely melodic soloing from Gordon, Hubbard, and Harris. Clubhouse makes for an enjoyable listen for anyone other than those with a stupid hatred for jazz (or music in general).

While I don’t have anything to compare, this reissue’s sound is great as is the rest of the Tone Poet series, albeit a bit lacking in bass compared to the others I’ve heard (Wayne Shorter’s Etcetera and Sam Rivers’ Contours). However, that slight lack of bass is probably what’s on the tape (given that the sonic goal of the series is to enhance Rudy Van Gelder’s work but not change it, I can’t imagine Kevin Gray and Joe Harley messing around with the tape that much. RTI’s 180g pressing quality, as usual, is top-notch. The vinyl is thick, flat, and silent, securing the plant’s status as the best 180g pressing facility in the world. The laminated Stoughton tip-on gatefold with recreated artwork and session photos (I don’t think all of the photos inside are from this particular session, but I could be wrong) is also of the highest quality. My only gripe with it is that the back cover’s header type is placed too close to the top, but maybe that was intentional. All in all, this reissue is another win for the Tone Poet series, which is set to continue for the foreseeable future.