Artist: Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades,
By age 18, Henderson was active on the Detroit jazz scene of the mid-1950s, playing in jam sessions with visiting New York City stars.
Henderson spent two years (1960–62) in the U.S. Army: first in Fort Benning, where he competed in an Army talent show and won first place, then in Fort Belvoir, where he was chosen for a world tour, with a show to entertain soldiers. While in Paris, he met Kenny Drew and Kenny Clarke. Then he was sent to Maryland to conclude his enlistment. In 1962, he was finally discharged and promptly moved to New York. He first met trumpeter Kenny Dorham, an invaluable guidance for him, at saxophonist Junior Cook's place. That evening, they went to see Dexter Gordon playing at Birdland.
Although Henderson's earliest recordings were marked by a strong hard-bop influence, his playing encompassed not only the bebop tradition, but R&B, Latin and avant-garde as well. He soon joined Horace Silver's band, and provided a seminal solo on the jukebox hit "Song for My Father".
From 1963 to 1968, Henderson appeared on nearly 30 albums for Blue Note, including five released under his name. The recordings ranged from relatively conservative hard-bop sessions (Page One, 1963) to more explorative sessions (Inner Urge and Mode for Joe, 1966). He played a prominent role in many landmark albums under other leaders for the label, including most of Horace Silver's Song for My Father, Herbie Hancock's The Prisoner, Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder and "out" albums with pianist Andrew Hill (Black Fire, 1963 and Point of Departure, 1964) and drummer Pete La Roca (Basra, 1965).
Signing with Orrin Keepnews's fledgling Milestone label in 1967 marked a new phase in Henderson's career. He co-led the Jazz Communicators with Freddie Hubbard from 1967 to 1968. Henderson was also featured on Hancock's Fat Albert Rotunda for Warner Bros. It was during this time that Henderson began to experiment with jazz-funk fusion, studio overdubbing, and other electronic effects. Song and album titles such as Power to the People, In Pursuit of Blackness, and Black Narcissus reflected his growing political awareness and social consciousness, although Black Narcissus was named after the 1947 Powell and Pressburger film of the same title.
After a brief association with Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1971, Henderson moved to San Francisco. He was still signed to Milestone Records, which had recently moved to San Francisco after being acquired by Fantasy Records. Henderson wanted to be near his label, and get out of New York City. Henderson lived in San Francisco for the rest of his life, and taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music from 1978 to 1982.
Though he occasionally worked with Echoes of an Era, the Griffith Park Band and Chick Corea, Henderson remained primarily a leader throughout the 1980s. An accomplished and prolific composer, he began to focus more on reinterpreting standards and his own earlier compositions.
Further information about Joe Henderson is found here and here.
This content was excerpted from the Wikipedia article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Henderson, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).
Joe Henderson & Kenny Drew trio, Molde Jazz Festival, Norway, August 1968 (colorized)
Joe Henderson: Videos
Joe Henderson Quartet Part (1 of 8) 1977
The Superstar Quintet at the North Sea Jazz Festival • 17-07-1982 • World of Jazz