Joe Henderson

Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American
jazz tenor saxophonist. In a career spanning more than four decades,
Joe Henderson
Henderson played with many of the leading American players of his
day and recorded for several prominent labels, including Blue Note.

Contents
Biography
Early life
Henderson with Neil Swainson and
Early career
Jon Ballantyne
Blue Note recordings
Milestone Records recordings Background information
Later career and death Born April 24, 1937
Lima, Ohio, U.S.
Discography
Died June 30, 2001
References
(aged 64)
External links San Francisco,
California, U.S.

Biography Genres Jazz · jazz fusion

· soul jazz
Occupation(s) Musician
Early life Instruments Saxophone

Born in Lima, Ohio, Henderson was one of five sisters and nine Years active 1955–1998
brothers. He was encouraged by his parents Dennis and Irene (née Labels Blue Note · Verve
Farley)[1] and older brother James T. to study music. He dedicated · Milestone
his first album to them "for being so understanding and tolerant"
Associated acts Wayne Shorter ·
during his formative years. Early musical interests included drums,
piano, saxophone and composition. According to Kenny Dorham, Kenny Dorham ·
two local piano teachers who went to school with Henderson's Andrew Hill ·
brothers and sisters, Richard Patterson and Don Hurless, gave him a Grant Green ·
knowledge of the piano.[2] He was particularly enamored of his Freddie Hubbard
brother's record collection. It seems that a hometown drummer, John · Woody Shaw ·
Jarette, advised Henderson to listen to musicians like Lester Young, Herbie Hancock ·
Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker.[2] He also liked Flip McCoy Tyner ·
Phillips, Lee Konitz and the Jazz at the Philharmonic recordings. Horace Silver ·
However, Parker became his greatest inspiration. His first approach
Charlie Haden ·
to the saxophone was under the tutelage of Herbert Murphy in high
Ron Carter · Elvin
school. In this period of time, he wrote several scores for the school
band. Jones · Bobby
Hutcherson · Lee
By age 18, Henderson was active on the Detroit jazz scene of the Morgan · Richard
mid-1950s, playing in jam sessions with visiting New York City Davis · Chick
stars. While attending classes of flute and bass at Wayne State
University, he further developed his saxophone and compositional Corea · John
skills under the guidance of renowned teacher Larry Teal at the Teal Scofield · Flora
School of Music. In late 1959, he formed his first group.[2] By the Purim · Bob
time he arrived at Wayne State University, he had transcribed and Cranshaw ·
memorized so many Lester Young solos that his professors believed Wynton Marsalis
he had perfect pitch. Henderson's college classmates included Yusef
Lateef, Barry Harris and Donald Byrd.[3] He also studied music at
Kentucky State College.

Shortly prior to his army induction in 1960, Henderson was commissioned by UNAC to write some
arrangements for the suite "Swings and Strings", which was later performed by a ten-member orchestra and
the local dance band of Jimmy Wilkins.[2]

Early career

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 very evening, they went to see Dexter Gordon playing at Birdland. Henderson was asked by Gordon
himself to play something with his rhythm section; needless to say, he happily accepted.[2]

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". After leaving Silver's
band in 1966, Henderson resumed freelancing and also co-led a big band with Dorham. His arrangements
for the band went unrecorded until the release of Joe Henderson Big Band (Verve) in 1996.

Blue Note recordings

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 dark and densely orchestrated The Prisoner, Lee Morgan's hit album The Sidewinder and "out"
albums with pianist Andrew Hill (Black Fire 1963 and Point of Departure, 1964) and drummer Pete La
Roca (Basra, 1965).

In 1967, there was a brief association with Miles Davis's quintet featuring Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron
Carter and Tony Williams, although the band was never recorded. Henderson's adaptability and eclecticism
would become even more apparent in the years to follow.

Milestone Records recordings

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 the last album was named after the Powell and Pressburger
film of 1947.

After a brief association with Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1971, Henderson moved to San Francisco and added
teaching to his résumé.

Later career and death

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. Blue Note attempted to position
the artist at the forefront of a resurgent jazz scene in 1986 with the release of the two-volume State of the
Tenor recorded at the Village Vanguard in New York City. The albums (with Ron Carter on bass and Al
Foster on drums) revisited the tenor trio form used by Sonny Rollins in 1957 on his own live Vanguard
albums for the same label. Henderson established his basic repertoire for the next seven or eight years, with
Thelonious Monk's "Ask Me Now" becoming a signature ballad feature.

It was only after the release of An Evening with Joe Henderson, a live trio set (featuring Charlie Haden and
Foster) for the Italian independent label Red Records that Henderson underwent a major career change:
Verve took notice of him and in the early 1990s signed him. That label adopted a 'songbook' approach to
recording him, coupling it with a considerable marketing and publicity campaign, which more successfully
positioned Henderson at the forefront of the contemporary jazz scene. His 1992 'comeback' album Lush
Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn was a commercial and critical success and followed by tribute albums to
Miles Davis, Antonio Carlos Jobim and a rendition of the George Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess.

On June 30, 2001, after a long battle with emphysema, Henderson died, in San Francisco, California, as a
result of heart failure. He was 64 years of age.[4]

Discography

References
1. Jazz great Henderson gets musical start in Lima the419 | Our Founders (http://the419.com/jaz
z-great-henderson-gets-musical-start-lima/) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201502060
01644/http://the419.com/jazz-great-henderson-gets-musical-start-lima/) 2015-02-06 at the
Wayback Machine
2. Original liner notes to Page One by Kenny Dorham
3. Mel Martin, Interview with Joe Henderson (http://www.melmartin.com/html_pages/Interviews/h
enderson.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070705082133/http://www.melmartin.
com/html_pages/Interviews/henderson.html) 2007-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, in The
Saxophone Journal, March/April 1991. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
4. Scott Yanow, Allmusic Biography (https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p6716/biography) Retrieved
June 25, 2009.

External links
The Joe Henderson Discography (http://www.jazzdisco.org/joe-henderson/discography/)
Joe Henderson Discography & Chronology (http://www.jazzdiscography.com/Artists/Henderso
n/JoeHenderson.php). Retrieved November 25, 2012
 Twelve Essential Joe Henderson Tracks (https://web.archive.org/web/20090123222931/http://j
azz.com/dozens/the-dozens-essential-joe-henderson) by S. Victor Aaron
Javier Arau. "Joe Henderson "Lush Life" solo: Transcription and analysis" (http://www.javierara
u.com/lessons-blog/joe-henderson-lush-life-solo-transcription-and-analysis). Retrieved
2015-09-17.

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This page was last edited on 27 March 2020, at 00:05 (UTC).

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