New series, Jazz albums YOU should own. Up First! Go! (1962) is Dexter Gordon at full stride—confident, conversational, and impossibly cool. Backed by a dream team rhythm section with Sonny Clark, Butch Warren, and Billy Higgins, Gordon delivers long, swinging lines that feel both relaxed and razor-sharp. Tracks like “Cheese Cake” and “I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry” show his gift for storytelling: every phrase breathes, jokes, and lingers just long enough. It’s hard bop without the hard