Life Is Suffering - Send And Receive Love Only

Album Sleeve Notes

Dexter Gordon: Tall Tales on Tenor Sax

Long tall Dexter was indeed a tall man. On stage at Copenhagen’s famed Jazzhus Montmartre, his head would barely miss the artistic low ceiling over the stage, and a single office lamp would give enough light for us to see the changes in his facial expression during his long, long solos, from smile to intense concentration, his light green eyes tightly closed. When he opened them it was like he came back from a long trip and had to re-orientate himself. In all his years in Copenhagen – from 1962 to 1976 - that little stage was his home away from home and the club was synonymous with the name DEX. Gordon was a handsome, sexy and graceful man. The women would swoon when he looked directly at them, maybe through a smoke ring from his cigarette – he smoked two packs a day. He oozed a kind of exotic super charm in then-so-innocent little Denmark.

Born in 1923, Dexter began playing clarinet, but joined Lionel Hampton’s band just a few months after picking up the tenor sax at the age of 17. After that it was Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong and Billy Eckstine. In Eckstine’s band he developed his powerful bebop and ‘invented’ the long tenor battles with Gene Ammons, a trademark he would nourish throughout his entire career with anyone who had the guts to challenge him. Gordon had a special way of wobbling his knees while playing, and he would say, “You have to keep your wobbling in shape if you play the tenor.”

This recording will give you a comprehensive impression of Gordon’s mastery in his artistic trajectory.

The reason for Dexter Gordon’s lusty playing in the three numbers here – the hardest bop, the swingiest Afro-inspired music, the most tender of ballads – is without doubt that his stay in Copenhagen brought out the best and most powerful playing of his whole career. Gordon himself acknowledged this several times publicly in radio and TV interviews. Just recently (2014) DRTV (Danish Public Television) aired four 40-minute programmes dealing specifically with Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster in Copenhagen, with several quotes by a bright and optimistic Gordon about his wellbeing, as well as the known and dreaded picture of a man trying hard to escape his addiction. His ‘crime’ gave him a ton of legal problems with work permits and no access to France or Great Britain for a long while, but a group of jazz intelligentsia – if there is such a label – convinced the Danish Justice Department that Gordon was an important cultural figure in Denmark and thus fixed his permit, etc. As payback, Gordon offered to bring his knowledge of music out to schools and music institutions with small live sessions, teaching in his broken-but-charming slow Danish.

The media was friendly to Gordon - and to all jazz in those days, for that matter. Two years of direct weekly radio transmissions from the Montmartre club was a natural. Dexter was also the main character and soloist in at least seven TV specials and features – very much like the other expatriate, Ben Webster. Dexter knew he was the beloved ‘Lord Mayor of Jazz in Copenhagen’ and the mutual respect with the media resulted in rewards like the session on this record.

Magleaas is an old school in the tradition of what we call ‘højskole’, a special Danish invention from around 1900, a place for people who seek further input or wisdom in artistic, musical, literary or gymnastic pursuits. Once a year in the summer there is – still - a good week for professional or semipro jazz musicians to meet and have mostly American ‘stars’ as teachers. Enter Dexter Gordon and his quintet in August 1967 before an enthusiastic crowd of young musicians-to-be. Bam! It was a bull’s-eye on a bright afternoon, the Danish TV was there and the sound is now on your vinyl. The group came from almost two months at the Montmartre in the unusually hot summer of ‘67. Pictures show Tootie Heath topless behind the drums, and I have solid memories of those nights that never seemed to end. Dexter would play from 9 pm to 3 am if the feeling was there – and it often was. Johnny Griffin had gigs at the Montmartre as well, and he told me once: “Oh God, do I have to climb this mountain again tonight?”, meaning that Dexter would come for Griffin’s last set and destroy him in a tenor battle, with ‘The Blues Up And Down’ as the favoured duelling grounds. Gordon’s towering tremendous solo on the B-side of this album explains why Griff dreaded going against the tallest of all tenor players. Here you have a five-minute exhilarating solo where everybody gets a bite before Dex re-enters for a stunning chase with Heath.

In Montmartre Dexter had what he called “the best rhythm group in Europe”, which included old friend and dope compatriot Kenny Drew, who also chilled out and went clean in ‘Copenheaven’, as he called it. Add to this the now legendary – then almost adolescent (21 years old) – Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (in non-Danish jazz media known has NHOP), plus the eminent drummer, Alex Riel, forever young and still playing with everybody at the Montmartre. But it got even better. Dexter often mentioned that he needed a New York drummer to kick his behind, a different attitude than the European drummers’ very schooled and maybe polite, polished way of playing. Enter Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath, who also settled in Copenhagen for a while and saw to it that everybody had a ball. He prescribed Dexter the right medicine, as one can hear on these tracks. He came here to play again in December 2013 and can be seen in Niels Lan Doky’s documentary ‘Between a Smile and a Tear’, reminiscing with Johnny Griffin about the old Montmartre.

According to NHOP, Kenny Drew was one of the finest - but often underrated – pianists in the world. Listen to his beautiful solo on ‘The Shadow’ and you’ll know what he meant. NHOP himself was right on the spot every time. Dexter Gordon used this ballad often. “It seems like a plain ballad, but it has some challenging changes. And it’s a good song with catchy lyrics,” Dexter explained about this tune by Johnny Mandel, from the film, ‘The Sandpiper’.

My personal friendship with Dexter was not tight; few people came too close for comfort, except, of course, his Danish family. We partied and socialized often, before and after hours. When we talked about music, he had his heroes ready: Billy Eckstine and Duke Ellington. Style and elegance meant a lot to Dexter, and now and then he would try his vocal baritone on ‘Hello Baby’ and other Eckstine imitations. It was fun when experienced live, but not for recording, and one is spared Dex’s singing on this session. Perhaps surprisingly, Gordon’s personal guru was Basie’s grand tenor, Herschel Evans, and not Lester Young, as one might think. Evans was a compassionate teacher for Gordon during the formative years in Los Angeles and Dex never forgot him. Still, he named his son Benjie, after Ben Webster.

These selected live recordings bring back Dexter Gordon in full flight, like we want to remember him: the elegant, concentrated tenor, the wobbly knees and the will to express a world of feelings from deep inside.

Henrik Wolsgaard-Iversen,
Jazz writer, radio commentator
Chairman of the Ben Webster Foundation, DK.

Dexter Gordon: tenor saxophone
Kenny Drew: piano
Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen: double bass
Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath: drums

Recorded on August 5, 1967, live at Magleaas High School, by Danish TV. 
Producer: Jørgen Nissen

Dexter Gordon - The Shadow Of Your Smile

Dexter Gordon - Soy Califa

Artist: Kathrin deBoer
Title: EP 1
Formats:10” Vinyl + HQ Download (WAV)
Record Label: Gearbox Records
Release Date: 1st July 2014

For all press enquiries please contact Dom Christophers at AirMTM
dom@airmtm.com / 020 7386 1607 / 07736 039 031

Belleruche singer goes solo with a 4-part series of 10inch vinyl EPs,
recorded and released by analogue vinyl-only record label, Gearbox
Records.

In 2013, ‘handmade hip-hop-blues/soul’ group Belleruche decided to call it
a day, the close-knit trio making the decision to pursue individual
creative and personal avenues after eight hardworking, exhilarating and
globetrotting years and 4 critically acclaimed albums on Brighton’s
Tru-Thoughts label.

Following the amicable split, lead singer Kathrin deBoer, already a
talented multi-instrumentalist, decided to pick up the bass guitar. She
was the beneficiary of an old Fender P Frankenstein bass called Annie and
in under a year, with a little tuition from punk rocker friends, she set
out on her first solo live gigs armed with a plethora of new material.
Backed by a drummer and viola player, deBoer performed to spellbound
crowds at London’s Jazz Café and The Elgin in Camden, and it was here that
London’s foremost vinyl-only label Gearbox Records came calling.

With a commitment to put the ritual back in to music listening, Gearbox
has hitherto focused on releasing extremely high quality and previously
unreleased vinyl cuts, however as soon as he heard deBoer’s work Darrel
Sheinman, owner of Gearbox Records, decided to sign Kathrin. "I first
worked with Kathrin on a recent Max Cooper project we did, and her exotic
voice, which has such perfect pitch, blew me away. When I heard she was
going solo, I put my hat in the ring to give her the Gearbox treatment,
and hey presto, she has decided to come along on the journey. We are going
to have fun!”

Based in Kings Cross’ Tileyard studios complex, which also plays host to
Mark Ronson, Sub Focus and more, Gearbox records live in a completely
analogue environment, from studio to tape, then tape direct to vinyl. This
approach suited deBoer perfectly - her solo work is an altogether more
poetic approach to songwriting than in previous projects, and the pared
back arrangements give her remarkable voice space to roam. Says deBoer,
“As an artist you have the luxury and responsibility to be truthful to
yourself, to the melody, the rhythm and the songs story, I try to find and
weave a silver lining in each song. Recording and mixing in one take takes
skill from everyone involved beyond the musicians, it’s exciting, you have
to think fast, flow, perform and accept the 'imperfections' and think of
the music as a whole, accept the moment, the recordings don't lie!”

The 4 tracks across EP1, the first of a series of 10” Vinyl releases for
the Gearbox label, see deBoer explore topics such as the blurred lines
between friends and lovers (‘Something Said’) or being the pawn in someone
else’s mind games (‘Not For Me’). Though these are not songs of love as
seen through the rose-tinted naïveté of an old romantic, deBoer presents
the complexities of human relationship with all its flaws, something she
was keen to reflect in the recording process: “To lose ones individuality,
the small faults, essentially the humanness in the recording phase, to be
edited to 'perfection' leaves me a bit cold.”

The decision to release on vinyl was also a relatively simple one for
deBoer: "Multitracking, compression, buckets of production has lead to
some great albums but the downside in its wake is the homogenization of
sound and music production. It sounds better, vinyl sounds better, and
analogue is better. That’s all really, that’s why we do it."
For Gearbox, this signing marks a new chapter in their repertoire. It is
the first time they have worked with an artist whose career development
fits closely with the label’s own frontline vision to take on artists with
roots in jazz/soul and mix in an eclectic range of influences for
something entirely unique.

Buy Vinyl

Kathrin deBoer - Knitbone

Personnel: Leon Thomas - vocals, Ian Carr - trumpet & flugelhorn, Karl Jenkins - oboe & piano, Brian Smith - soprano & tenor sax, flute Chris Spedding - guitar, Jeff Clyne - bass, John Marshall - drums

Format: 2 x 12” 33rpm Vinyl LP in gatefold sleeve includes free download code sticker

This is the first official release of the June 1970 Montreux Jazz Festival concert featuring trumpeter Ian Carr’s pioneering Nucleus performing with US vocalist Leon Thomas on a set of Thomas’ own repertoire including ‘The Creator Has A Master Plan’ (originally recorded in 1969 with Pharaoh Saunders). Nucleus won first prize representing the United Kingdom at the Festival that year, and were performing at the height of their powers with their first and finest lineup. The collaboration with Thomas is (in Ian’s words) a combination of the “rock thing...with the roots of the music”, but it is more than that: a band and singer in tune with one another, aware of all the contemporary developments in jazz, and of the music’s past, who are prepared to delve into all those areas to produce a sound that’s gloriously alive!

Mastered by Jeremy Cooper at Gearbox Records 
Produced by Darrel Sheinman for Gearbox Records 
Cut on Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, Westrex 3DIIA cutting head and Telefunken U73B tube limiter; Maselec master control and equalisation

Nucleus With Leon Thomas - One

Nucleus With Leon Thomas - Echoes

Binker and Moses release their debut duo LP Dem Ones on analogue vinyl record label, Gearbox Records

Binker and Moses are tenor saxophonist Binker Golding and drummer Moses Boyd - two of the most exciting young jazz musicians on the thriving London jazz scene. Originally meeting through double bassist/educator Gary Crosby’s Tomorrow’s Warriors jazz development programme, they have played together in various large and small format groups including recording and touring extensively as members of Zara McFarlane’s band.

Dem Ones is their debut recording as a duo and will be released as a 12” 180gm vinyl LP on 29th May 2015. The record has its roots in experiments between soundchecks and gigs while on the road with McFarlane. Over time these initial ideas and jams have become templates for improvisation, and with their echoes of late period Coltrane and Charles Lloyd are as listenable and memorable as they are full of invention and surprise.

All the tracks were performed in the live room at Mark Ronson’s Zelig Studio and recorded direct to Gearbox's vintage Studer 1/4" tape machine next door. The vinyl lacquers were cut directly from this original stereo master on Gearbox’s 1967 Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, using a Westrex 3DIIA cutting head and Telefunken U73B tube limiter, Maselec master control and equalisation and Audio Note monitoring equipment.


Binker and Moses - Black Ave Maria

The James Taylor Quartet - Root Down

The James Taylor Quartet - Parallelo

Binker and Moses leave the now behind and Journey to the Mountain of Forever.

Binker Golding and Moses Boyd will release Journey to the Mountain of Forever -  their second album for London record company Gearbox Records - on 2nd June 2017 in double vinyl LP and double CD formats.

When Binker and Moses’ debut album Dem Ones was released in the Summer of 2015 it kickstarted a remarkable year for the young saxophone and drums duo, who won a string of awards including the 2015 MOBO Awards: Best Jazz Act, Jazz FM Awards 2016: UK Jazz Act of the Year and Breakthrough Act of the Year and the 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Awards: Jazz Newcomer of the Year. Like the album itself, their festival and club performances received rave reviews and ever-growing audiences, culminating in a November 2016 UK tour with The Bad Plus. 

Journey to the Mountain of Forever is a story album about travelling from the known to the unknown. You can expect to meet with Shamans and Ultra Blacks and immerse yourself in strange rituals and echoes from the infinite.

Sessions for the new album took place on July 21st and 22nd 2016, resulting in 10 reels of tape filled with over five hours of music. Like it’s predecessor Dem Ones, the new album was recorded completely live from Mark Ronson’s Zelig studio by Grammy award winning engineer Ricky Damian. direct to a 1960’s Studer C37 1/4” tape machine at Gearbox’s studio next door with no edits or mixing. The vinyl lacquers were cut directly from this original stereo master on Gearbox’s 1967 Haeco Scully lathe with Westrex RA1700 series amps, using a Westrex 3DIIA cutting head and Telefunken U73B tube limiter, Maselec master control and equalisation and Audio Note monitoring equipment.

- - - - - - -
Journey to the Mountain of Forever

Disc One: The Realm of Now 
Binker Golding - tenor and soprano saxophone
Moses Boyd - Drums

Disc Two: The Realms of the Infinite
Binker and Moses with: 
Evan Parker - tenor and soprano saxophone
Byron Wallen - trumpet
Tori Handsley - harp
Sarathy Korwar - tabla
Youssef Dates - drums

Produced by Darrel Sheinman for Gearbox Records
Recorded by Ricky Damian and Caspar Sutton-Jones
Mastered by Darrel Sheinman and Caspar Sutton-Jones at Gearbox Records

Binker and Moses
Journey To the Mountain of Forever
Cat No: GB1537
Barcode: 5065001717482
Formats: Double Vinyl LP Gatefold, Double CD

Order Here: http://smarturl.it/BinkerandMosesJTTMOF

Journey To The Mountain Of Forever

Valley Of The Ultra Blacks

Intoxication From The Jahvmonishi Leaves

Intoxication From The Jahvmonishi Leaves by Binker and Moses

Activate by Theon Cross

Music by Simon Ratcliffe, Binker Golding, and Moses Boyd

Village of the Sun title track full animated video out now! https://bit.ly/2CnYJ2w
Thank you for supporting!

Village of the Sun by Village Of The Sun

Founded in 2009, Gearbox is a vinyl-led record label, mastering and vinyl-cutting studio and turntable manufacturer situated in London and Tokyo. What started out as a focus on previously-unreleased archival jazz recordings,  (including Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, and Yusef Lateef), has now branched into contemporary jazz, electronic music, and folk. 

Output includes London jazz duo Binker and Moses, Indian percussionist and tabla-player Sarathy Korwar, tubist Theon Cross, and American jazz and funk five-piece Butcher Brown.

Gearbox Records

Popular tracks