Track Listing

1. Cheese Cake
2. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
3. Second Balcony Jump
4. Love For Sale
5. Where Are You
6. Three O'Clock In The Morning

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5494 in Music
• Released on: 1999-03-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Amazon.com
Just before heading off to a 15-year stay in Europe, the stately Dexter Gordon waxed a pair of records for Blue Note in August 1962: this classic and, two days later, A Swingin' Affair. It's been widely reported that Gordon himself considered Go! his greatest achievement, and (if so) it's easy to hear why. Brimming with conviction and poise, Gordon's gentle-giant sax carries itself with a sort of graceful edge that is difficult to emulate. He's always quick with a humorous quote, yet it always seems to fit just right. He's always languishing behind the beat, yet he never seems late. He possesses an enormous tone, yet he never overwhelms the songs or the listener. He sounds unhurried at any speed. His song selection is typically creative, holding little-known ballads close to his brawny chest like a big, cuddly bear. A stellar rhythm section of the elegantly funky pianist Sonny Clark plus Butch Warren and Billy Higgins doesn't hurt either. --Marc Greilsamer

Album Description
Dexter Gordon considered this his finest album and few would disagree. With the perfect rhythm section of Sonny Clark, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins, this tenor giant reinvents standards like "Three O'Clock In The Morning," "Second Balcony Jump" and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" and introduces his most famous composition "Cheese Cake."

Customer Reviews

One of the best of its era...
This is my first Dexter CD, and I have wanted it for several years. The 38 minutes on here are well-spent, and they impress more with each listen. Still, there are CD's from the same period by John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, and Art Pepper in my collection that I like just as much if not a little more. "Go!" is often considered to be Dexter's best, and perhaps it is in the top 25 saxophone releases of the early '60's, but that was an era of jazz giants on that family of instruments, so the competition is fierce for the "very best albums" list. My favorite of the six tracks on here would be "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" a lovely ballad seldom given a jazz instrumental treatment. Dexter's friends on this disc, Sonny Clark on the piano, Butch Warren on bass and Billy Higgins on drums really add a lot to the enjoyment here.

Dexter Goes For It
Dexter Gordon recorded Go! in 1962, mere days before departing for an extended stay in Europe. He is joined on this classic session by Sonny Clark on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. The liner notes state that this was one of Dexter's favorite sessions, a "classic", as he puts it. It's easy to see why, as this album cooks from start to finish. The interplay between the four musicians is fantastic and Dexter sounds simply amazing. There's no other tenor who sounds like he does. His tone is simply astonishing in its depth. The album opens with the Gordon original "Cheesecake" , a rollicking number that lets both Gordon and Clarke show off their chops. "Second Balcony Jump" is bop in the same vein, fresh and fun. The ballads all stand out here, with Gordon's version of "Love for Sale" a real treat. The album closes with a delightful version of "Three O'Clock in the Morning" where Dexter even throws in a bit of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". The Van Gelder remaster sounds incredible, very clear. A few days later, Blue Note would usher these same musicians back into the studio, the session producing A Swingin' Affair. If you enjoy Go!, I highly encourage you to check out that album as well, which to my mind is a subtle improvement over this session. That's no knock on Go!, which is an essential addition to any jazz collection.

Go is the album to get.
I thought the whole band played quite excellent and Dextor played with aggression, and beauty that is unheard of in some of todays players.