1972’s Tangerine, recorded for the Prestige label while Gordon was still living in Europe, is one of the finest Bop albums from the period, and still a great record to hear. Gordon, who had relocated to Copenhagen a decade earlier, seeking commercial and artistic success, visited the United States often, to record with Rudy Van Gelder, probably Jazz’s most popular recording engineer. On this album he plays with Thad Jones, Hank Jones, Stanley Clarke, Louis Hayes, Cedar Walton, Buster Williams, Billy Higgins, and the trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.

The album is very much in his own Bop tradition, and it shows throughout all 5 songs on the album. The first, ‘Tangerine’, is definitely one of my favourite Jazz recordings of all time. It has a very catchy hook, great solos, and features Flugelhornist Thad Jones. Of the other tracks, ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ is probably my favourite, but they are all really good. Some of the songs have a very Sonny Rollins feel to me, which is definitely a good thing. If you have already heard Miles, and Coltrane, Monk, and Mingus, pick this one up to hear some, slightly less well known, but amazing Jazz.