Our Man in Paris

Our Man in Paris
Our Man in Paris
Studio album by Dexter Gordon and Bud Powell
Released	December 1963
Recorded	May 23, 1963
Studio	CBS Studios, Paris
Genre	Jazz
Length	38:05; 50:03 (reissue)
Label	Blue Note; BLP 4146
Producer	Francis Wolff
Dexter Gordon chronology
Bud Powell chronology

Our Man in Paris is a 1963 jazz album by saxophonist Dexter Gordon. The album's title refers to where the recording was made, Gordon (who had moved to Copenhagen a year earlier) teaming up with fellow expatriates Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke, both Parisian residents, and native Parisian Pierre Michelot. Powell, Clarke and Michelot, under the name The Three Bosses, had played together often in Paris since Powell moved there in 1959.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	^[2]
Allmusic	^[3]
The Guardian	^[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	^[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	^[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[7]

The album was remastered by Rudy Van Gelder in 2003 and released as part of Blue Note's RVG Edition series.

Music

The original intention was for the pianist on the recording to be Kenny Drew and for the music to be new compositions by Gordon. However, the actual pianist used was Bud Powell, who would not play new music, so jazz standards were chosen during the rehearsal. The two tracks added to the CD release were originally issued by Blue Note on Bud Powell's Alternate Takes in 1985.^[8]

Critical reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a maximum four-star rating and added it to the core collection, commenting that Gordon's playing on "A Night in Tunisia" "is one of his finest performances on record" and concluding that the album is "a classic".^[5] The review of the 2003 remastered version in The Guardian was similarly positive, stating that it is "one of the all-time classics".^[4]

Marc Davis, writing for All About Jazz, described Gordon's playing on the opening track as "on fire" and Powell's as "sublime". He concluded, "If [Our Man in Paris] not in your collection, it should be. Gordon is one of the all-time best boppers, and Paris is arguably his best recording."^[2]

Track listing

Original release

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Scrapple from the Apple"	Charlie Parker	7:22
2.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronell	8:47

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Broadway"	Billy Bird Teddy McRae Henri Woode	6:44
2.	"Stairway to the Stars"	Matty Malneck Mitchell Parish Frank Signorelli	6:57
3.	"A Night in Tunisia"	Dizzy Gillespie Frank Paparelli	8:15

CD reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Scrapple from the Apple"	Charlie Parker	7:22
2.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronell	8:47
3.	"Broadway"	Billy Bird Teddy McRae Henri Woode	6:44
4.	"Stairway to the Stars"	Matty Malneck Mitchell Parish Frank Signorelli	6:57
5.	"A Night in Tunisia"	Dizzy Gillespie Frank Paparelli	8:15
6.	"Our Love is Here to Stay"	George Gershwin Ira Gershwin	5:39
7.	"Like Someone in Love"	Jimmy Van Heusen Johnny Burke	6:19

Personnel

Musicians

Dexter Gordon – tenor saxophone (except track 7)
Bud Powell – piano
Pierre Michelot – bass
Kenny Clarke – drums

Production

Francis Wolff – production and cover photography
Reid Miles – cover design
Claude Ermelin – recording engineering
Ron McMaster – digital transfer engineering

References

^ Billboard Dec 28, 1963
^ ^a ^b Jazz, All About (2015-07-16). "Dexter Gordon: Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris – 1963 album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2024-09-08.
^ Jurek, Thom (2011). "Our Man in Paris - Dexter Gordon | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b Fordham, John (September 5, 2003) "Under the bonnet" The Guardian, p. B24.
^ ^a ^b Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2008) The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.), Penguin, p. 581.
^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 87. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
^ Cuscuna, Michael. In Our Man in Paris [1986 CD liner notes] Blue Note 0777 7 46394 2 2.

External links

Our Man in Paris at Discogs (list of releases)

This 1960s jazz album-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Billboard Dec 28, 1963

[AllAboutJazz-2] Jazz, All About (2015-07-16). "Dexter Gordon: Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris – 1963 album review @ All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2024-09-08.

[3] Jurek, Thom (2011). "Our Man in Paris - Dexter Gordon | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 August 2011.

[guardian-4] Fordham, John (September 5, 2003) "Under the bonnet" The Guardian, p. B24.

[PGJ-5] Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2008) The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.), Penguin, p. 581.

[RSJRG-6] Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 87. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.

[7] Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.

[8] Cuscuna, Michael. In Our Man in Paris [1986 CD liner notes] Blue Note 0777 7 46394 2 2.

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