RaveAll About JazzThe author is not just a Dexter insider, but a thoroughly qualified researcher, particularly as it applies to music. She wasn\'t just Long Tall Dexter\'s wife, she was also married to trumpeter Wood Shaw and was a tour manager elbows deep in the music business. [When she writes of the questionable tactics of the shakers and movers in the industry, she know of which she speaks.] The sharp portrayal, with in-depth observations and stories, is also important because Dexter himself is a kind of co-author ... As his health waned, and finishing the memoir was not possible, he asked Maxine to continue; to see the project to fruition. This she did in laudable fashion. Admittedly, there were things the saxophonist did not want to talk about ... But Maxine Gordon, properly, opens the curtain on those blemishes. Not for prurient interests. There is no car wreck to see. Showing hard times makes the eventual triumph more resounding. Rising after one falls is heroic. It\'s also part of the complete story ... Maxine points out he always thought his story would have a happy endng, even if interrupted by transgressions or trouble laid at his feet by others.
