LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

History records that Dexter Gordon's "homecoming" took place in 1976, when his triumphant engagement at the Village Vanguard and subsequent live recording launched the most successful phase of his career. Yet the prodigal tenor saxophonist had been returning to the U.S. with regularity in the preceding decade, and used his annual trips to make several notable studio recordings for Prestige. Generation, from 1972, is the last in the series; and it reunites Gordon with trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who was present when an earlier Gordon revival was launched on Blue Note in 1961, and drummer Billy Higgins, the spark on Gordon's classic Go! album. With Cedar Walton and Buster Williams also on board, the quintet digs into two overlooked classics by Miles and Monk, an intriguing Gordon original and the excellent contemporary ballad "Scared to Be Alone," plus a superb shorter alternate take of "Milestones" released here for the first time.
Track listing:Milestones, Scared to Be Alone, We See, The Group, plus CD bonus track Milestones (alternate)