Our Man in Paris

Our Man in Paris
Studio album by Dexter Gordon
Released	December 1963 (1963-12) [1]
Recorded	May 23, 1963
Studio	CBS Studios, Paris
Genre	Jazz
Length	38:05 50:03 (reissue)
Label	Blue Note BLP 4146
Producer	Francis Wolff
Dexter Gordon chronology
Go! (1962) Our Man in Paris (1963) A Swingin' Affair (1964)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	[2]
Allmusic	[3]
The Guardian	[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz	[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[6]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[7]

Our Man in Paris is a 1963 jazz album by saxophonist Dexter Gordon. The album's title refers to where the recording was made, Gordon (who had moved to Copenhagen a year earlier) teaming up with fellow expatriates Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke, both Parisian residents, and native Parisian Pierre Michelot. Powell, Clarke and Michelot, under the name The Three Bosses, had played together often in Paris since Powell moved there in 1959.

The album was remastered by Rudy Van Gelder in 2003 and released as part of Blue Note's RVG Edition series.

Music

The original intention was for the pianist on the recording to be Kenny Drew and for the music to be new compositions by Gordon. However, the actual pianist used was Bud Powell, who would not play new music, so jazz standards were chosen during the rehearsal. The two tracks added to the CD release were originally issued by Blue Note on Bud Powell's Alternate Takes in 1985. ^[8]

Critical reception

The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave it a maximum four-star rating and added it to the core collection, commenting that Gordon's playing on "A Night in Tunisia" "is one of his finest performances on record" and concluding that the album is "a classic". ^[5] The review of the 2003 remastered version in The Guardian was similarly positive, stating that it is "one of the all-time classics". ^[4]

Marc Davis, writing for All About Jazz, described Gordon's playing on the opening track as "on fire" and Powell's as "sublime". He concluded, "If [Our Man in Paris] not in your collection, it should be. Gordon is one of the all-time best boppers, and Paris is arguably his best recording." ^[2]

Track listing

Original release

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Scrapple from the Apple"	Charlie Parker	7:22
2.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronell	8:47

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Broadway"	Billy Bird Teddy McRae Henri Woode	6:44
2.	"Stairway to the Stars"	Matty Malneck Mitchell Parish Frank Signorelli	6:57
3.	"A Night in Tunisia"	Dizzy Gillespie Frank Paparelli	8:15

CD reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Scrapple from the Apple"	Charlie Parker	7:22
2.	"Willow Weep for Me"	Ann Ronell	8:47
3.	"Broadway"	Billy Bird Teddy McRae Henri Woode	6:44
4.	"Stairway to the Stars"	Matty Malneck Mitchell Parish Frank Signorelli	6:57
5.	"A Night in Tunisia"	Dizzy Gillespie Frank Paparelli	8:15
6.	"Our Love is Here to Stay"	George Gershwin Ira Gershwin	5:39
7.	"Like Someone in Love"	Jimmy Van Heusen Johnny Burke	6:19

Personnel

Musicians

• Dexter Gordon – tenor saxophone (except track 7)
• Bud Powell – piano
• Pierre Michelot – bass
• Kenny Clarke – drums

Production

• Francis Wolff – production and cover photography
• Reid Miles – cover design
• Claude Ermelin – recording engineering
• Ron McMaster – digital transfer engineering

Charts

Chart performance for Our Man in Paris

Chart (2025)	Peak position
Greek Albums (IFPI) [9]	63

References

1. "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 28, 1963. p. 10. Retrieved November 21, 2025– via Google Books.
2. "Dexter Gordon: Dexter Gordon: Our Man in Paris – 1963 album review". Allaboutjazz.com. July 16, 2015. Retrieved September 8, 2024.
3. Jurek, Thom (2011). "Our Man in Paris - Dexter Gordon | AllMusic". AllMusic . Retrieved August 1, 2011.
4. Fordham, John (September 5, 2003) "Under the bonnet" The Guardian, p. B24.
5. Cook, Richard and Morton, Brian (2008) The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.), Penguin, p. 581.
6. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 87. ISBN   0-394-72643-X.
7. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
8. Cuscuna, Michael. In Our Man in Paris [1986 CD liner notes] Blue Note 0777 7 46394 2 2.
9. "Official IFPI Charts Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Εβδομάδα: 09/2025" (in Greek). IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on March 5, 2025. Retrieved March 5, 2025.

External links

• Our Man in Paris at Discogs (list of releases)