Light Mentat
- 3
- reviews
- 3
- helpful votes
- 108
- ratings
-
Sophisticated Giant
- The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon
- By: Maxine Gordon
- Narrated by: Joe Morton, Terria Joseph, Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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 and 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.
-
-
Beautifully Told
- By Light Mentat on 03-23-21
- Sophisticated Giant
- The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon
- By: Maxine Gordon
- Narrated by: Joe Morton, Terria Joseph, Prentice Onayemi
Beautifully Told
Reviewed: 03-23-21
Really enjoyable and touching read. The writer's prose makes you emotionally connect to the characters and time period. The narration is absolutely first class, I can't wait to hear more from Terria Joseph and Joe Morton. The narrators' voices and cadences are well mated to the prose and Terria Joseph has one of those voices that oozes kindness. One of the things I like about jazz biographies are the side stories about other jazz musicians, being steeped deeply in the jazz world, the author has an abundance of these stories from her own direct experience, from what was narrated to her by Dexter himself, and her own research (which I note was a remarkable amount).
Overall, this is a sympathetic treatment of Dexter's life while being open about his flaws and failures (of which there are many). I would have liked to have gotten more details around Dexter's relationship with his other children, but I understand the sensitivity/privacy issues around these details, especially as this work has been written by Dexter's widow.
This is certainly highly recommended reading for jazz fans; you get the previously mentioned side stories about other musicians and I really appreciated the intricate details on recording contracts and the paltry sums these musicians received for their work. As a Blue Note fanatic, I relished the details on Dexter's professional/personal relationship with Alfred Lion and Francis Wolf. I also enjoy finding out what jazz musicians thought of the musicianship and playing chops of their fellow musicians.
To conclude, you walk away from this book having a good feel of not just Dexter Gordon's personality but Maxine Gordon's (the author) as well; you have a front row seat to Dexter's growth as a human being; you gain a better understanding of the lifestyle (good and bad) of jazz musicians; you discover new artists whose music you should be exploring (in my case Ike Quebec), and you also discover new narrators to follow on audible.
This book is a beautiful addition to the jazz biography canon and I really hope many people take a chance to read/listen to it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Master of the Senate
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume III (Part 2 of a 3-Part Recording)
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master of the Senate, told with an abundance of rich detail that could only have come from Caro’s peerless research, is both a galvanizing portrait of the man himself—the titan of Capital Hill, volcanic, mesmerizing—and a definitive and revelatory study of the workings and personal and legislative power.
-
-
Glitchy recording great story.
- By Tom S. on 07-22-15
- Master of the Senate
- The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Volume III (Part 2 of a 3-Part Recording)
- By: Robert A. Caro
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Very redundant
Reviewed: 08-05-16
While the LBJ story is certainly fascinating, this volume and especially the one preceding it rethreads too many themes that were already exhaustively covered in Rise To Power. I would estimate that over 40% of what is covered in the first 2 volumes of Master Of The Senate was already covered in Rise To Power.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Dune
- By: Frank Herbert
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, and others
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
-
-
This classic deserves better
- By Matthew Salvo on 07-01-21
The best audio performance by a wide margin
Reviewed: 02-23-15
Would you consider the audio edition of Dune to be better than the print version?
Yes
Who was your favorite character and why?
Paul because of his extreme intelligence and sense of logic
Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?
Simon Vance
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Mind of the universe
Any additional comments?
I'm really just leaving this review to remark on the amazing audio performance. The narrators are all very good but the combination of the narration and the occasional background score really sends the listening experience into the stratosphere. The listening experience is completely immersive. I'm absolutely convinced the audiobook experience is superior to me reading the book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!