Joe Henderson
Joe Henderson | |
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 Henderson with Neil Swainson and Jon Ballantyne | |
| Background information | |
| Born | April 24, 1937 Lima, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 2001 (aged 64) San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Saxophone |
| Years active | 1955–1998 |
| Labels | |
Joe Henderson (April 24, 1937 – June 30, 2001) was an American
Biography
Early life
Born in Lima, Ohio,[1] Henderson was one of 14 children. He was encouraged by his parents, Dennis and Irene (née Farley)[2] and older brother James T. to study music. He dedicated his first album to them "for being so understanding and tolerant" during his formative years. Early musical interests included drums, piano, saxophone and composition. According to trumpeter Kenny Dorham, two local piano teachers who went to school with Henderson's brothers and sisters, Richard Patterson and Don Hurless, gave him a knowledge of the piano.[3] He was particularly enamored of his brother's record collection.
A hometown drummer, John Jarette, advised Henderson to listen to musicians like Lester Young, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker.[3] He also liked Flip Phillips, Lee Konitz and the Jazz at the Philharmonic recordings. However, Parker became his greatest inspiration. Henderson's first approach to the saxophone was under the tutelage of Herbert Murphy in high school. During this time, he wrote several scores for the school band.
By age 18, Henderson was active on the
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.[3]
Early career
Henderson spent two years (1960–62) in the
Although Henderson's earliest recordings were marked by a strong hard-bop influence, his playing encompassed not only the
Blue Note recordings
From 1963 to 1968, Henderson appeared on nearly 30 albums for
, 1965).In 1967, there was a brief association with Miles Davis's quintet featuring Herbie 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.[1] He co-led the Jazz Communicators with Freddie Hubbard from 1967 to 1968.[1] 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.[1] 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, according to musicologist Joel Geoffrey Harris. A performance space at the San Francisco Jazz Center is named for him.
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.[1] 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. Following his brief return to Blue Note Records, Henderson was signed by the Italian label Red Records, for which he recorded two more albums in the piano-less trio format.
In 1991, Verve records signed Henderson to the label. That January, Henderson made a guest appearance on
A chain smoker,[5] Henderson died in San Francisco, California on June 30, 2001, after a long battle with emphysema. He was 64.[6]
Discography
References
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ Jazz great Henderson gets musical start in Lima the419 | Our Founders Archived February 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e Original liner notes to Page One by Kenny Dorham
- ^ Mel Martin, Interview with Joe Henderson Archived July 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, in The Saxophone Journal, March/April 1991. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
- ^ "Joe Henderson". Organissimo.org. August 31, 2010.
- ^ Scott Yanow, AllMusic Biography Retrieved June 25, 2009.
External links
- The Joe Henderson Discography
- Joe Henderson Discography & Chronology. Retrieved November 25, 2012
- Joe Henderson: A Biographical Study of His Life and Career
- Twelve Essential Joe Henderson Tracks by S. Victor Aaron
- Javier Arau (April 2014). "Joe Henderson "Lush Life" solo: Transcription and analysis". Retrieved September 17, 2015.
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