A Book Talk on Dexter Gordon by Guest Author Maxine Gordon

"Sophisticated Giant" presents the life and legacy of tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon (1923-1990), one of the major innovators of modern jazz. In a context of biography, history, and memoir, Maxine Gordon has completed the book that her late husband began, weaving his "solo" turns with her voice and a chorus of voices from past to present.

Reading like a jazz composition, the blend of research, anecdote, and a selection of Dexter's personal letters reflects his colorful life and legendary times. It is clear why the celebrated trumpet genius Dizzy Gillespie said to Dexter, "Man, you ought to leave your karma to science."

The author Maxine Gordon is an independent scholar with a lifetime career working with jazz musicians. As an oral historian and archivist in the fields of jazz and African American cultural history, "Sophisticated Giant" fulfills the promise she made to her late husband, jazz saxophonist, and Academy Award-nominated actor Dexter Gordon, to complete his biography.

Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.