Editing Dexter Gordon (section)

===Early life===
Dexter Keith Gordon was born on February 27, 1923, in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]].<ref name="LarkinGE">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-939-0|page=1002}}</ref> His father, Frank Gordon, one of the first African-American medical doctors in Los Angeles, arrived in 1918 after graduating from [[Howard University]] Medical School in [[Washington, D.C.]] Among his patients were [[Duke Ellington]] and [[Lionel Hampton]]. Dexter's mother, Gwendolyn Baker, was the daughter of Captain [[Edward Lee Baker, Jr.]] one of the five African-American [[Medal of Honor]] recipients in the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name=DexGor1>{{Cite web|title = Biography|url = http://www.dextergordon.com/bio/|website = DEXTERGORDON.COM|access-date = August 28, 2015|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150414070039/http://www.dextergordon.com/bio/|archive-date = April 14, 2015}}</ref>

Gordon began his study of music with the [[clarinet]] at the age of 13, then switched to the [[alto saxophone]] at 15, and finally to the [[tenor saxophone]] at 17.<ref name=DexGor1 /><ref name="LarkinGE"/> He studied with [[multi-instrumentalist]] Lloyd Reese while attending [[Jefferson High School (Los Angeles)|Thomas Jefferson High School]], and studied with the school’s band director, Sam Browne.<ref name="DGRD list">{{Cite book |last=Britt |first=Stan | year=1989 |title=Dexter Gordon: a music biography | location = London | publisher=[[Da Capo Press]] |isbn=0-306-80361-5}} pp. 4, 26.</ref> While still at school, he played in bands with such contemporaries as [[Chico Hamilton]] and [[Buddy Collette]].<ref>Joop Visser, essay booklet with ''Settin' the Pace'', Proper box set.</ref>

Between December 1940 and 1943, Gordon was a member of [[Lionel Hampton]]'s band,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> playing in a saxophone section alongside [[Illinois Jacquet]] and [[Marshal Royal]]. During 1944, Gordon was featured in the [[Fletcher Henderson]] band, followed by the [[Louis Armstrong]] band, before joining [[Billy Eckstine]].<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The [[1942–44 musicians' strike]] curtailed the recording of the Hampton, Henderson, and Armstrong bands; however, they were recorded on [[V-Discs]] produced by the Army for broadcast and distribution among overseas troops. In 1943, he was featured, alongside [[Harry Edison|Harry "Sweets" Edison]], in recordings under [[Nat Cole]] for a small label not affected by the strike.