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.

Middle period: the Milestone, Verve and experimentation years

From 1967-1979 he recorded primarily for the Milestone label with occasional sessions as a leader for the Verve label and one, sorely underappreciated, record for the Enja label called Barcelona. Over this “middle period” of his career his style gradually evolved from the powerful acoustic style of post bop to fusion, electric music, avant garde and back to post-bop. Through all the changes, however, his virtuosity remained intact even when the some of the later records from this period were overall not as creative as his other works. During these years he also composed prolifically and co-led groups with Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock. His forays outside of the realm of jazz led him to play with Blood Sweat and Tears and other rock and R and B groups. In the early seventies Joe Henderson became involved in teaching as well and moved to San Francisco.

Joe Henderson: Power to the People

Read "Power to the People" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan

by C. Andrew Hovan
April 25, 2024

Beginning with 1963's Page One, Joe Henderson led a series of five albums for the Blue Note label that firmly established his reputation as a unique and budding artist with something vital to say. He was one of many artists at that time who utilized his Blue Note contract to document his every move while establishing his creative muse during this process. Trumpeter Kenny Dorham would be a major factor in the success of his first few sessions, with drummer ...

Album Review

Horace Silver: Live New York Revisited

Read "Live New York Revisited" reviewed by Stefano Merighi

by Stefano Merighi
March 9, 2023

Benchè il profilo artistico di Horace Silver sia preso a modello in modo paradigmatico per definire lo stile hard bop nel jazz moderno, è altresì interessante notare come Silver, sin dalle sue prime uscite, abbia sempre cercato di evitare gli schemi predeterminati che soprattutto le etichette discografiche cercavano di replicare dopo aver trovato la formula del successo. Ad esempio, Silver non amava le scalette miste, quelle cioè che infilavano d'abitudine uno standard proveniente da Tin Pan Alley all'interno di un ...

The Big Question

What Jazz Is Best For Running?

by Steve Cook
October 20, 2022

New York City isn't just an epicenter for the music that All About Jazz readers love. It is also home to the largest marathon in the world. With tens of thousands training for the upcoming race, this edition of The Big Question considers: What jazz is best for running? The following reflects on the question through four different lenses: at the gym, long runs, night running and with audiobook fans in mind. What jazz gets you pumped, fuels you for ...

Album Review

Horace Silver Quintet: Live New York Revisited

Read "Live New York Revisited" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
August 15, 2022

This fabulous album, recorded during three New York club engagements in 1964, 1965 and 1966, ranks among the finest in the pianist/composer's illustrious catalogue. There are several things going for it: the quality and shared intentionality of the two, slightly different, lineups; the choice of material and its careful sequencing; the vibrancy of the performances, which is enough to practically raise the dead; and the quality of the CD mastering by the ezz-thetics label's sonic jedi Michael Brändli, whose work ...

Album Review

Joe Henderson: The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions

Read "The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions" reviewed by Scott Gudell

by Scott Gudell
November 22, 2021

If an artist stamps his jazz passport with any one of these labels--Blue Note, Verve, Milestone--it's pretty much a guarantee that you've arrived in style. Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson has traveled with all three and more. The 2021 reissue from the prestigious Mosaic Records focuses on Henderson's 1960s tenure with Blue Note offers a new opportunity to experience an abundance of rich and creative jazz from the decade. Big band and bop were duking it out in the ...

Radio & Podcasts

Remembering Joe Henderson

by Russell Perry
July 6, 2021

Joe Henderson was likely the most important tenor saxophonist to come out of the '60s. Possessing a big distinctive tone, he brought gravitas to every setting in which he played. He also left a catalog of compelling compositions including several that have become standards, such as “Inner Urge" or “Recorda-Me" whose mastery is required for today's improvising musicians. To illustrate the continuing power of these fine tunes, this hour of Jazz at 100 Today! will feature recent versions of Henderson's ...

Reassessing

For Those Who Chant

by Peter J. Hoetjes
April 24, 2020

Luis Gasca was one of the hottest trumpet players in California during the 1970s, recording a handful of albums fueled by the drugs, the culture, and the excitement of that time and place. Though they all featured large ensembles, only one of them allowed some of the era's most legendary musicians to blur the lines separating jazz, latin, and rock and roll. “Everyone should have two favorite cities; their own and San Francisco," claimed Gasca. It was there, ...

Recording

Lori Bell Quartet Pays Homage To Joe Henderson On Spirited Collection, 'recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson'

Source: 1888 Media
April 21, 2024

Accomplished arranger, virtuoso musician and esteemed educator, Lori Bell has released her 12th album as a leader, the spirited, Recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson, an extraordinary new collection paying homage to one of the all-time greats, hard bop, jazz icon, Joe Henderson. Portuguese for “Remember Me,” the 9-song, Recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson showcases Bell at her enchanting best, one that the LA Times has dubbed “briskly inventive…gorgeous playing” while Downbeat describes her as “an improvisational shapeshifter.” “Joe was an ...
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Recording

Joe Henderson: Power to the People

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 20, 2024

A new jazz style emerged in the late 1960s that wasn't an extension of hard bop or free jazz. For a brief period—following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968 and the onset of fusion in the mid-1970s—a new Black power expression wrapped in pan-Africanism appeared in the works of Black journalists, books on the Black condition by Black intellectuals, folk paintings by Black artists and music by Black jazz artists. During these years you could hear ...
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Recording

Virtuoso Lori Bell Pays Homage To Music Titan Joe Henderson On 'Recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson'

Source: 1888 Media
March 12, 2024

Accomplished arranger, virtuoso musician and esteemed educator, Lori Bell returns April 19th with Recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson, an extraordinary new collection paying homage to one of the all-time greats, hard bop, jazz icon, Joe Henderson. Portuguese for “Remember Me,” the 9-song, Recorda Me: Remembering Joe Henderson showcases Bell at her enchanting best, one that the LA Times has dubbed “briskly inventive…gorgeous playing” while Downbeat describes her as “an improvisational shapeshifter.” “Joe was an exceptional jazz saxophonist and to my ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Joe Henderson

Source: Michael Ricci
April 24, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Joe Henderson's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Joe Henderson

Source: Michael Ricci
April 24, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Joe Henderson's birthday today!

Recording

Joe Henderson: Mosaic Box

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 16, 2021

In the 1960s, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson recorded on close to 30 Blue Note albums, only five of which were under his name. But most of those sideman sessions were just as significant, since Henderson was a powerful ingredient on anyone's recording date. For example, he is a dominant soloist on Kenny Dorham's Una Mas, Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder, Horace Silver's Song for My Father, Herbie Hancock's The Prisoner and others. What made Henderson special was his dry tone and ...
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Recording

The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions Now Available on Mosaic Records

Source: All About Jazz
June 10, 2021

When you get your copy of Mosaic’s new five-CD collector’s set, The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Studio Sessions, you’ll be holding a master key to unlocking 1960s jazz. That’s a big statement. But when you consider how much was happening from 1963 to 1966, the years covered by this collection, and contemplate how many different looks he provided through that time period, you can’t ignore his significance as a saxophonist and as someone central to the music’s development. In ...
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