Joe Henderson is one of my favorite tenor saxophone players and this 1968 release explains why. But really, the music he was a part of in his whole career as a musician was considered to be great. Either as a band leader or as a band member his contribution was always an innovative one. If I were a Jazz fan, I would purchase as much Joe Henderson as I could, you cannot go wrong. The sound he produced was and of course, is still absolutely inspiring. He was always a hip guy and this feeling transfers to the listener, as is, very hip and very cool. A great musician for the young inspired Jazz students to follow in their learning experience. I will be featuring the “Tetragon” album for a week or so and then release it into the Avant-Garde Playlist. For airing times go the Schedule Link. ENJOY!
About the Album:
Joe Henderson has been a driving force in the jazz community since the early 1960s. Indeed, his skill and conceptual approach to music helped to define contemporary jazz. Certainly, he greatly influenced the “young lions” of the 1980s, who in turn brought renewed integrity to straight-ahead jazz. This 1968 album sees the tenor saxophonist in fine form. His composition “The Bead Game” is decades ahead of its time; jazz simply doesn’t get any more advanced than the soloing heard here by pianist Don Friedman and Henderson himself. Meanwhile, Jack DeJohnette’s driving eighth notes on the ride cymbal also add great urgency and gusto to this tune……Learn More
About Joe Henderson:
The tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson was born on April 24, 1937 in a small city called Lima Ohio midway between Dayton and Toledo. He spent his childhood and adolescence in Lima in a family of 15 children where he was exposed to a variety of musical styles. By the time he was a high school student he was already arranging and writing music for the school band and other local outfits. It was in high school that a music teacher introduced him to the tenor saxophone. After graduation he enrolled first at the Kentucky State College to study music and then moved on to Wayne State University in Detroit. There he had as classmates several future jazz greats such as Yusef Lateef and Donald Byrd. From 1960-1962 he enlisted in the US army where he led several small jazz groups and won first place in a musical competition and was sent on a tour to entertain the troops all over Japan and Europe where he met a few of the expatriate musicians.
Early career: the Blue Note years
After being discharged from the army he traveled to New York and sat in at Birdland with Dexter Gordon and other local musicians. During one of these sessions he was introduced to the trumpeter Kenny Dorham who was so impressed by his musicianship that he arranged for Joe Henderson’s first recording session as a leader with Blue Note Records. This resulted in the record Page One (1963) which to this day remains one of his most critically acclaimed albums. This recording also spawned the standard Blue Bossa. During the following four years he led 4 other sessions for Blue Note and recorded as sideman on over to 2 dozen albums for the same label. Some of these records are today classics of not only the label but also of jazz music. Andrew Hill’s Point of Departure, Larry Young’s Unity, Horace Silver’s Song For My Father and Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder are just a few examples of those
fruitful years. In addition to creating timeless music Joe Henderson’s style also evolved during this period to incorporate all genres of jazz from hard bop to avant garde from latin to soul-jazz…..Learn More
