“Who is Dexter Gordon? 1) A great musician of the highest level. 2) A great human being of the highest level.”—Sonny Rollins, saxophonist

“An extraordinary gift… Maxine Gordon’s rigorously researched, jazz-inflected, genre-bending account of the many dimensions of this prodigious life is an occasion to appreciate Dexter’s resounding musical genius as well as his wish for major social transformation.”—Angela Y. Davis, Distinguished Professor Emerita, History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

"Sophisticated Giant tells a story from Buffalo Soldier to bebop from Madagascar to Cuba! Maxine Gordon sheds light on the remarkable career and family history of Dexter Gordon, one of America's most unique and misunderstood talents. When you talk about ‘cool,’ Dex lived it!!!”—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, author and legendary athlete

“At long last, the definitive biography of Dexter Gordon has arrived. Maxine Gordon’s thoroughly researched and engaging biography uses  Dexter’s own voice as well as a chorus of jazz legends who riff on the musical changes in Gordon’s extraordinary life. It’s all here, leaving no doubt about the truth of Dexter Gordon’s description of himself: ‘I’m not just your ordinary B-flat.’”—Wesley Brown, author of Darktown Strutters and Dance of the Infidels
"“Long tall Dexter was the tenor man Coltrane and I admired and wanted to be like when we changed from alto to tenor. We listened to everything he recorded. He and Sonny Stitt set the pace for the bebop tenor players.”—Jimmy Heath, saxophonist