Our Man in Paris is a 1963 jazz album by saxophonistDexter 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.
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]
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release. Because Powell's discography features albums with the same title, record labels are identified to avoid any confusion.
