Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 26, 1990 TAG: 9004260327
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA LENGTH: Medium
Gordon, the last in that line of saxophone geniuses that included Lester Young, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, died at 12:50 a.m. of kidney failure, said Don Lucoff, spokesman for Blue Note Records in New York.
Gordon had been in poor health and was admitted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia on March 18 for treatment of cancer of the larynx, he said.
Hospital spokeswoman Kellyann McDonnell confirmed the death but provided no details.
Gordon's career took him from the big bands of the '40s to the jazz clubs of Europe and finally to Hollywood - with bouts of drug and alcohol abuse and a stint in prison in between.
"It's very, very difficult to even contemplate that we've lost such a great master of his instrument and incredible human being," said guitarist George Benson.
"He was one of the true giants of the tenor saxophone," said fluegelhorn player Art Farmer from his home in Vienna. "He was an inspiration to me, although I didn't play saxophone, going back over 40 years."
Drummer Art Blakey, performing with the Jazz Messengers in Seattle, said he and Gordon played together in one of the early Billy Eckstine bands, and he played on one of Gordon's last albums.
"He called me last week, wanted me to see him. I thought he was coming back to New York," Blakey said. "Gonna miss him. Make it harder for me to stay here and mind the store."
Despite his illness, Gordon recently had finished filming "Awakenings," a movie with Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams.
Among his more highly regarded albums are "Long Tall Dexter, The Savoy Sessions," "Doin' Alright," "Dexter Calling," "Our Man in Paris" and "A Swingin' Affair."
A memorial was planned for May 6 in New York, Lucoff said.
by CNB