Joe Henderson - Page One (1963)

BLUE NOTE ST-84140

The title Page One is fitting for this disc, as it marks the beginning of the first chapter in the
long career of tenor man Joe Henderson. And what a beginning it is; no less than Kenny
Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Butch Warren, and Pete La Roca join the saxophonist for a stunning set
that includes "Blue Bossa" and "Recorda Me," two works that would be forever associated
with Henderson. Both are bossa novas that offer a hip alternative to the easy listening Brazilian
trend that would become popular with the masses. Henderson and Dorham make an ideal pair
on these and other choice cuts like the blistering "Homestretch" and the engaging swinger
"Jinrikisha." These both show the already mature compositional prowess that would become
Henderson's trademark throughout his legendary career. The final blues number, "Out of the
Night," features powerful work by the leader that only hints of things to come in subsequent
chapters (Review by Rovi Staff).

***

Page One is the debut release by American jazz tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. It features
some of Henderson's most appreciated pieces such as "La Mesha", named after Dorham's
daughter, and "Out of the Night", originally written in 1957. The front cover lists "Joe
Henderson/Kenny Dorham/Butch Warren/Pete La Roca, etc.". Only McCoy Tyner's name is
absent. Bob Blumenthal explains, in his 1999 liner notes, that Tyner had just signed with
Impulse!, so this first Blue Note appearance was not very adherent to the contract.

All Music describes the album as a "particularly strong and historic effort". According to All
About Jazz, Page One, which introduced the Jazz standard "Blue Bossa", is still one of
Henderson's "most critically acclaimed albums". PopMatters, by contrast, prefers later works,
indicating in one review that Page One "has the careful feel of a leaders first session".[4] The
album was identified by Scott Yanow in his Allmusic essay "Hard Bop" as one of the 17
Essential Hard Bop Recordings.

The album was first re-released on CD in 1988 by Blue Note and has been in print
consistently since.

***

Este es el primer disco como lder de Joe Henderson, al que seguiran otros cuatro lbumes
para el sello Blue Note, todos muy recomendables. En el mismo presenta las cualidades que lo
establecieron como uno de los grandes tenores de mitad de los sesenta junto a nombres de la
estatura de John Coltrane y Sonny Rollins: un sonido distintivo y su aptitud como compositor.
El comienzo es con dos temas del trompetista Kenny Dorham: el popular standard Blue Bossa,
con un muy lindo solo de Henderson, y la balada La Mesha. Luego cuatro originales del
saxofonista: Homestretch, una tpica composicin hard-bop; Recorda Me, otra bossa muy
reconocida; Jinrikisha, con reminiscencias orientales; y Out Of The Night, un blues con
destacados solos de Henderson y de McCoy Tyner. *****

Track listing
All compositions by Joe Henderson except as indicated.
 "Blue Bossa" (Kenny Dorham) 8:03

"La Mesha" (Dorham) 9:10

"Homestretch" 4:15

"Recorda Me" 6:03

"Jinrikisha" 7:24

"Out of the Night" 7:23

Personnel

Kenny Dorham trumpet

Joe Henderson tenor saxophone

Pete La Roca drums

McCoy Tyner piano

Butch Warren double bass

Bob Blumenthal liner notes

Michael Cuscuna reissue

Kenny Dorham liner notes

Alfred Lion producer

Reid Miles design, cover design

Rudy Van Gelder engineer, remastering, digital remastering

Francis Wolff photography, cover photo

Recorded June 3, 1963 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Blue Note RVG Edition 98795 2 2 [1963]

 Joe Henderson - Our Thing (1963)
Blue Note Records | 7243 5 25647 2 9 | Jazz | RVG Edition, 2000

Joe Henderson's second recording as a leader features a very strong supporting cast:
trumpeter Kenny Dorham (one of Henderson's earliest supporters), pianist Andrew Hill, bassist
Eddie Khan, and drummer Pete La Roca. Together they perform three Dorham and two
Henderson originals, advanced music that was open to the influence of the avant-garde while
remaining in the hard bop idiom. The up-tempo blues "Teeter Totter" contrasts with the four
minor-toned pieces and, even if none of these songs became standards, the playing is
consistently brilliant and unpredictable. Even at this relatively early stage, Joe Henderson
showed his potential as a great tenorman. Review by Scott Yanow.

***

When Joe Henderson emerged out of nowhere in 1963 and was presented by trumpeter Kenny
Dorham, it must have confused many in the jazz world. Henderson sounded nothing like John
Coltrane or Sonny Rollins, he could play both hard bop and very free with ease, and he had his
own musical vocabulary. While most jazz musicians spend their early years emulating their
heroes, Henderson had his own distinctive sound and did not belong to any one style. It is no
wonder that Alfred Lion immediately signed him to Blue Note, for Henderson's originality was
just what the hard bop world needed. On Our Thing, the great tenor performs his own brand
of inside/outside music in a quintet with Dorham and Andrew Hill. His solos are stunning
displays of virtuosity and ideas that still sound fresh today. Even over 45 years later, no one
sounds like Joe Henderson. BLUE NOTE.

***

The partnership of Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham yielded a handful of fine sessions for
Blue Note in the early 60s. Among them, Our Thing stands as a particularly excellent
testament to their combined brilliance. Hendersons second date as a leader, Our Thing is part
of a triumvirate that includes his first Blue Note date, Page One, and Dorhams Una Mas,
representing the best of the pairs recorded output of the period. Also sitting in on the session
is the eclectic pianist Andrew Hill, who would use Henderson and Dorham on his own
landmark date Point Of Departure.

Henderson and Dorham split the writing duties on this disc, with Hendersons bopping
Teeter Tottter included in two takes. Dorhams reflective Pedros Time is reminiscent of
the pastel-colored Latin pieces included on the aforementioned Una Mas. In contrast,
Hendersons blazing title track includes some of the discs most virtuoso performances.
However, the most substantial track is Dorhams beautifully crafted Escapade, a darkly lit,
introspective melody with a melancholy groove that shows how hard bop could still retain its
tender side while reflecting the turmoil of the times.

***

Our Thing is the second release by American jazz tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson on Blue
Note. It features performances by Henderson, Kenny Dorham, Andrew Hill, Pete La Roca and
Eddie Khan of originals by Henderson and Dorham. The CD reissue added a bonus take of
"Teeter Totter".

The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4.5 stars stating "Even at this
relatively early stage, Joe Henderson showed his potential as a great tenorman."

***

Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham formed a remarkable partnership on several early 1960s
Blue Note records, the younger tenor saxophonist's ruggedly bristling, twisting lines finding an
effective foil in the veteran trumpeter's keening sound and pointed economy. Our Thing, from
1963, followed Henderson's Page One and Dorham's Una Mas in the series, and the closeness
shows in the aplomb with which they navigate each other's challenging tunes. Henderson was
already developing an "inside-outside" approach, moving in and out of chord changes with
broad freedom, adding split-tones to his phrases with telling effect on his own "Teeter Totter"
and on Dorham's beautiful "Escapade." He gets added stimulus from Andrew Hill, a highly
original pianist who's making his recording debut here. Whether he's soloing or comping, Hill
has a knack for abstracting the contours of a piece, adding close-voiced chords and sudden
flashes of melody to point in other directions. Dorham's "Pedro's Time" is a long blues with a
Latin feel that recalls his "Una Mas" or "Blue Bossa," and it highlights the fine playing of bassist
Eddie Kahn and drummer Pete La Roca. --Stuart Broomer

***

Hendersons Our Thing was the tenor masters second Blue Note outing, and it documents his
renowned association with Dorham, who joins him in the frontline. But perhaps even more
attractive is the relatively rare sideman appearance by pianist Andrew Hill. Bassist Eddie Khan
and drummer Pete La Roca were two of the more obscure, but no less brilliant, members of
the Blue Note stable of this period. Rhythm section-wise, then, Our Thing is a jewel an
inspired missive from players we dont get to hear on a great many records. The famed
Henderson/Dorham chemistry puts it over the top. Three of the five tracks are by Dorham:
"Pedros Time," "Back Road," and "Escapade" all share a medium-to-slow tempo and a
somewhat eclectic thrust. "Back Road" sounds a bit like "Blues March" with a western feel.
Henderson, still young at this point, is at his very best, having developed all the hallmarks of
his highly individual tenor style. His up-tempo opening blues, "Teeter Totter," borrows its
turnaround from "Freddie Freeloader" (and reappears at the end of the program as an
alternate take), and his title track embeds meter changes in the solo form, making the tune an
obstacle course that is negotiated with particular aplomb by Andrew Hill. (In his new liner
notes, Bob Blumenthal usefully corrects an error in Leonard Feathers original essay, noting
that Hill was born not in Haiti, but rather in Chicago.) By DAVID ADLER, ALLABOUTJAZZ.

***

[OUR THING TRACK] With its variable beats and hot bop lines, "Our Thing" could be considered
something of a precursor to the better-known "The Kicker," which Joe Henderson would
record the following year with the Horace Silver Quintet. But even more than with the song he
lent to Silver, Henderson tests the limits of hard bop with "Our Thing."

The time signature changes from double-time to a leisurely gallop and back again. The main
theme that rides on this rocky rhythm might be a gauntlet for most horn players to negotiate
alone, much less in perfect unison with another musician as Henderson and Dorham do here.
Henderson swings superbly on his solo, and Dorham lays down some Clifford Brown-type
phrasing before turning matters over to Hill and his rhythmic precision.

"Our Thing" shows Henderson the composer constructing complex harmonics and tempos,
even near the beginning of his career. JAZZ.COM.

***

Make "Our Thing" Your Thing. Originally released on CD in 1989, Joe Henderson's "Our Thing"
was one of the scandalous casualties of Capitol/EMI's deletion axe in the early 90s. While it
briefly resurfaced a few years back in the Blue Note Collector's Choice reprint program, the
majority of the jazz buying public has had a limited chance, if any, to purchase this great
album. Luckily that all changes with "Our Thing's" permanent return to the catalog as part of
the RVG series. This remarkable session from September 1963 features Kenny Dorham on
trumpet, Andrew Hill on piano, Eddie Kahn on bass, Pete La Roca on drums, and of course
Henderson on tenor sax. Kenny and Joe had teamed up before on "Page One," and would
again on Dorham's "Una Mas." While this collaboration might seem like an odd one, the results
are nothing short of magical. Of equal importance to this recording is the very modern, free-
flowing rhythm trio of Hill, Kahn and La Roca, who support and join the frontline in an
exploratory foray, more akin to Hill's "Black Fire" (on which Henderson played tenor) than on
Henderson's previous album as a leader, "Page One." The disc's compositions are all originals,
split between Henderson ("Teeter Totter" and "Our Thing") and Dorham ("Pedro's Time,"
"Back Road" and "Escapade"). The CD also features an alternate take of "Teeter Totter" that
was not on the original vinyl. Without question "Our Thing" is a classic -- you should make it
your thing too.

***

A minor classic. This isn't one of the most celebrated Blue Notes--not even one of Joe
Henderson's most celebrated albums--but it's nonetheless a great date. It's got one of the
most interesting batches of compositions of any Henderson disc--two cookers by Joe (the title
track & "Teeter Totter") & three gentler pieces by Kenny Dorham, the other horn on the date.
All the tunes have strange, awkward structures & chord changes that don't lead where you
expect. -- However good the front line is, what makes this disc is the exceptional rhythm-
section work. Pete La Roca's endlessly springy, tuneful drumming is a highlight; Andrew Hill, as
usual, sounds very different from the dourer pianist of his recordings as a leader: he sounds
looser, funkier, though still as intelligent & slippery a soloist as ever, with those weird sliding
runs across the keyboard. The combo of La Roca & Hill gives this disc a sunnier, more upbeat
feel than those contemporary Henderson discs that draw on the fury of the Coltrane quartet
via the inclusion of Tyner &/or Jones in the rhythm section.

This is a really welcome reissue in the RVG series, especially with the addition of an alternate
take of "Teeter Totter", worth having for (among other things) Kenny Dorham's cheeky
mimicry of Dizzy Gillespie at one point.

***

Superb album. Though not nearly as well-known or popular as Page One, Our Thing is in my
opinion a stronger album. In fact, I'd say it's the second-best album he made for Blue Note,
after the classic Inner Urge. As with Page One and In'N'Out, the front line is the wonderful
partnership of Joe with the older trumpeter, Kenny Dorham (who also contributes some
excellent compositions). But unlike Page One, which falls very comfortably into the hard bop
category, Joe's affinity with the jazz avant-garde starts popping up here. He takes a lot more
chances with his playing than he did on the debut, and the presence of Eddie Khan and
Andrew Hill in the rhythm section gives the whole album a looser, more adventurous feel. Hill
in particular is fantastic on piano. If I had to pick my favorite tunes, I'd select "Teeter Totter"
(which reminds me a little of the Coleman-Cherry quartet) and "Escapade" (one of those
beautiful melancholy Dorham melodies). Don't miss this one!

***

Essential! I copped this LP when it was first released in the '60's because I already owned Page
One. I had never heard of Andrew Hill at the time but pretty much bought every thing by him I
could find after listening to "Our Thing". I rate this recording as the best that either KD or Joe
Henderson ever made and they are two of my favorite musicians. The rhythm section is all that
(please check out Eddie Khan's bass lines) and the horn solos are extraordinarily sensitive to
the groove and beautiful. Andrew Hill was dropping little musical bombs throughout all the
tunes that never got in the way but twisted the experience perfectly. If you like hard bop with
some avant garde flavor, this is your recording.

If your hip to "Coltrane Time" with Trane, KD and Cecil Taylor, "Our Thing" is the logical
progression from that unique record date. Caveat: I love "Coltrane Time"-- regardless of
supposed issues between Cecil Taylor and KD. Butch Walker

***

As straight ahead as it gets. This is some very pure bebop. I like it as well as any jazz I have. This
includes CDs by Miles and Trane. This music was done in a time when labels and producers
didn't ask their artists to water down their product. Rudy Van Gelder was noted for recording
the purest and the best of his day. People who own this CD will hear one of the best jazz
efforts of the 60s.

***

Make "Our Thing" Your Thing. Originally released on CD in 1989, Joe Henderson's "Our Thing"
was one of the scandalous casualties of Capitol/EMI's deletion axe in the early 90s. While it
briefly resurfaced a few years back in the Blue Note Collector's Choice reprint program, the
majority of the jazz buying public has had a limited chance, if any, to purchase this great
album. Luckily that all changes with "Our Thing's" permanent return to the catalog as part of
the RVG series. This remarkable session from September 1963 features Kenny Dorham on
trumpet, Andrew Hill on piano, Eddie Kahn on bass, Pete La Roca on drums, and of course
Henderson on tenor sax. Kenny and Joe had teamed up before on "Page One," and would
again on Dorham's "Una Mas." While this collaboration might seem like an odd one, the results
are nothing short of magical. Of equal importance to this recording is the very modern, free-
flowing rhythm trio of Hill, Kahn and La Roca, who support and join the frontline in an
exploratory foray, more akin to Hill's "Black Fire" (on which Henderson played tenor) than on
Henderson's previous album as a leader, "Page One." The disc's compositions are all originals,
split between Henderson ("Teeter Totter" and "Our Thing") and Dorham ("Pedro's Time,"
"Back Road" and "Escapade"). The CD also features an alternate take of "Teeter Totter" that
was not on the original vinyl. Without question "Our Thing" is a classic -- you should make it
your thing too.
***

The partnership of Joe Henderson and Kenny Dorham yielded a handful of fine sessions for
Blue Note in the early '60s. Among them, OUR THING stands as a particularly excellent
testament to their combined brilliance. Henderson's second date as a leader, OUR THING is
part of a triumvirate that includes his first Blue Note date, PAGE ONE, and Dorham's UNA MAS,
representing the best of the pair's recorded output of the period. Also sitting in on the session
is the eclectic pianist Andrew Hill, who would use Henderson and Dorham on his own
landmark date POINT OF DEPARTURE.

Henderson and Dorham split the writing duties on this disc, with Henderson's bopping
"Teeter Tottter" included in two takes. Dorham's reflective "Pedro's Time" is reminiscent of
the pastel-colored Latin pieces included on the aforementioned UNA MAS. In contrast,
Henderson's blazing title track includes some of the disc's most virtuoso performances.
However, the most substantial track is Dorham's beautifully crafted "Escapade," a darkly lit,
introspective melody with a melancholy groove that shows how hard bop could still retain its
tender side while reflecting the turmoil of the times. Cduniverse.com.

Track listing

"Teeter Totter" (Henderson) - 8:33

"Pedro's Time"(Dorham) - 10:04

"Our Thing" (Henderson) - 5:36

"Back Road" (Dorham) - 6:19

"Escapade" (Dorham) - 8:05

"Teeter Totter" [alternate take] - 7:10 Bonus track on CD

Personnel

Kenny Dorham - trumpet

Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone

Pete La Roca - drums

Andrew Hill - piano

Eddie Khan - double bass

Bob Blumenthal - liner notes

Michael Cuscuna - reissue

 Kenny Dorham - liner notes

Alfred Lion - producer

Reid Miles - design, cover design

Rudy Van Gelder - engineer, remastering, digital remastering

Francis Wolff - photography, cover photo

Recorded September 9, 1963, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BIO BY BOB BERNOTAS

HE'S NO ORDINARY JOE: JOE HENDERSON

Like his more celebrated contemporary, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson is a key element in the
tenor saxophone chain, a link that connects hard boppers like Hank Mobley and Junior Cook
with post-Coltrane avant-gardists like Pharaoh Sanders and Dewey Redman. He also was a
pioneer in funk, electronic jazz, and fusion, yet never strayed far from his musical home, the
hippest, cutting-edge jazz. Still for nearly three decades, awareness of Henderson's artistry
barely advanced beyond fellow musicians and a narrow circle of discerning civilians. But after a
string of Grammy-winning CDs and a slew of first-place poll finishes, Henderson, in his late
fifties, began receiving, at long last, the wider acclaim he always deserved. In the wake of that
sudden interest came the welcome release of two valuable boxed sets that document his
prolific early years.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Blue Note produced more interesting, groundbreaking, and -
thanks to master engineer Rudy Van Gelder - great sounding jazz than any other label in the
business. Chronicling this artist's contribution to that output, Joe Henderson: The Blue Note
Years (Blue Note CDP 89287, four CDs, total playing time: 4:38:17) is drawn primarily from the
period 1963-69, during which the saxophonist appeared, either as a sideman or leader, on
some thirty Blue Note albums. There also are a couple of tracks from his brief return to the
label in 1985, and one off a 1990 date with pianist Renee Rosnes.

Henderson's seven Blue Note recordings (Page One, Our Thing, In 'N Out, Inner Urge, Mode for
Joe, and The State of the Tenor, Volumes 1 & 2) are represented by ten of the thirty-six
selections in this neatly packaged compilation. Included among these are the original recorded
versions of two signature Henderson compositions, his bossa nova, "Recorda Me," and his
Monk-inspired blues, "Isotope," as well as Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa," three tunes that, over
the years, have become required playing for all aspiring jazz improvisors. The remainder of the
collection features Henderson as a sideman, usually in all-star company.
Shortly before his twenty-sixth birthday Henderson made his recording debut on trumpeter
Kenny Dorham's 1963 date, Una Mas. "So Paolo," a bossa nova from that session,
demonstrates their common affinity for Latin genres. Dorham was one of the saxophonist's
first boosters and they became close collaborators. Henderson also played on Dorham's 1965
album, Trompeta Toccata - for which he wrote the Latin-based "Mamacita," included in this set
- Dorham appeared on Henderson's first three recordings, and for a time in the 1960s, they co-
led a now legendary rehearsal band.

After premiering with Dorham, Henderson went on to record with the elite of Blue Note's huge
stable of jazz talent. He adapted himself to a wide variety of forms, from the relentless hard
bop of Lee Morgan (for example, "Gary's Notebook," culled from Morgan's The Sidewinder
album) to the thoughtful modal jazz of pianist Andrew Hill, from Freddie Roach's traditional
organ combo to Larry Young's Coltrane-influenced, cutting edge version. But no matter what
he is playing or with whom, Henderson's unmistakable identity is ever-present.

In 1964, Henderson joined Horace Silver's quintet and appeared on the classic Song for My
Father album, to which he contributed an up-tempo blues, "The Kicker," heard in this
collection. The following year, he played on another Silver landmark, The Cape Verdean Blues,
which was augmented on a handful of tracks (notably "Nutville," included here) by trombonist
J.J. Johnson. That gig also began a long, fruitful partnership between Henderson and another
Silver sideman, the personally erratic, although musically brilliant, trumpeter, Woody Shaw.

Besides Silver and the aforementioned Andrew Hill, Henderson can be heard here performing
under the leadership of three other piano giants from the Blue Note roster, Duke Pearson,
McCoy Tyner (who also appears on three of Henderson's dates), and Herbie Hancock. In 1969,
while he was a member of Hancock's group, Henderson appeared on one of the seminal
albums of the period, The Prisoner, whose title track is included here. Also worth noting are a
pair of pretty ballads, "Sweet and Lovely," from a 1963 recording by trumpeter Blue Mitchell,
and, off a date by drummer Pete LaRoca, a meditative, almost solemn, exploration of "Lazy
Afternoon," a little-heard showtune that seems tailor-made for Henderson. Ernesto Lecuona's
"Malaguea," from the same session, affords Henderson an extended opportunity to
improvise over an undulating Afro-Cuban rhythm in 6/8 time.

The two LaRoca cuts also illustrate a central aspect of Henderson's art - the way he
manipulates the sound of his saxophone to fit the character of a particular piece, while
somehow always sounding like himself. For example, on "Lazy Afternoon" his tone is haunting,
almost oboe-ish, and his vibrato is tightly controlled, while on "Malaguea" Henderson plays
with a rich, deep sound and an expansive vibrato. This mastery of timbre becomes even more
apparent in his later Milestone recordings, where, at various points, Henderson utilizes a
whisper-soft subtone, a rough-edged, woody sound, various growls, rasps, and brays, and even
a dark, bassoon-like nasality.
"Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise," from organist Larry Young's influential Unity album,
demonstrates Henderson's command of chord changes and samples Woody Shaw's developing
style. "Don't Get Sassy," recorded at a 1969 concert with the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz
Orchestra, when Henderson was a regular member of the saxophone section, offers a rare
taste of his work with the preeminent New York big band of the day. And two tracks from his
live 1985 trio sessions, with Ron Carter on bass and Al Foster on drums, display the
saxophonist's ease within a pianoless setting.

In 1967 Henderson moved from Blue Note to Milestone, where over the next eight years he
released a total of twelve albums. All of these are included in full, along with a few unissued
tracks and assorted loose items - a striking duet with alto saxophonist Lee Konitz on "You Don't
Know Where Love Is," three fine tunes with cornetist Nat Adderley, and seven forgettable ones
with singer Flora Purim - in Joe Henderson: The Milestone Years (Milestone MCD 4413, eight
CDs, 9:46:09). This eye-opening collection documents where jazz was at from the late 1960s to
the mid 1970s, and how the ever evolving and wide-ranging music of Joe Henderson helped it
to get there.

Henderson's first Milestone recording, a sextet date titled The Kicker, is in a decidedly hard
bop bag. Four of the tunes had been recorded previously by Henderson for Blue Note, but
"Chelsea Bridge" gives him a chance to stretch out on a ballad, something he seldom did with
that label. His sensitive rendering of the tune shows that Henderson had been an exceptional
interpreter of Billy Strayhorn's music for at least twenty-five years before his Grammy-winning
Lush Life disc. The sidemen are all first-rate, particularly trumpeter Mike Lawrence, a talented
Henderson protg who died of cancer in 1983, and the always reliable Kenny Barron on
piano.

Tetragon is a quartet session (actually, two sessions), straight-ahead and late 1960s hip.
Henderson's up-tempo jaunt through a reharmonized "I've Got You Under My Skin" is a
delight, rivaling, perhaps surpassing, his similar treatment of another Cole Porter standard,
"Night and Day," from the Blue Note Inner Urge. And as adept as he is at handling changes,
Henderson is also not shy about playing "out." On "The Bead Game," he improvises freely and
spontaneously over Don Friedman's piano punctuations, while Ron Carter and drummer Jack
DeJohnette lay down a restless pulse. It may be free, but it swings like mad.

Herbie Hancock, with whom Henderson was working at the time, plays piano and electric
piano on 1969's Power to the People. The music, like the album's title, is aggressive and
forthright, but Henderson also reveals an introspective side on his delicate composition in 3/4
time, "Black Narcissus." "Lazy Afternoon" gets a medium-swing treatment here, entirely
different from the LaRoca-Blue Note version, and "Foresight and Afterthought" offers
spontaneous trio interplay among Henderson, Carter, and DeJohnette.
Recorded at the Lighthouse in 1970, If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the
Problem, introduces Henderson's working quintet of time, with trumpeter Woody Shaw in
peak form. Both the album's title and George Cables' electric piano were signs of the times.
Henderson and company perform their typical nightclub set: updated, on-the-edge versions of
his Blue Note repertoire along with a stunning "'Round Midnight," played first in a rubato duet
with Cables - who is plagued by some momentary distortion from his keyboard - then in
breathtaking double time, and back to rubato for the coda. But there is a new wrinkle here.
The title track represents Henderson's first foray into what Bill Kirchner, whose insightful liner
notes have been illuminating quite a few major reissue projects lately, calls "his personal brand
of thinking man's funk." This would remain an important element of the saxophonist's musical
output for the rest of his Milestone years.

In Pursuit of Blackness is a mixed bag, with two leftover numbers from the Lighthouse sessions
and three by Henderson's new sextet. On "Mind Over Matter," Henderson's tenor saxophone
wails and moans convincingly while Pete Yellin's bass clarinet and flute add texture and color.
However, trombonist Curtis Fuller is unusually subdued here, seemingly at sea in this Bitches
Brew-inspired current. Fuller is much more at home on "No Me Esqueca" (a retitled "Recorda
Me") and "A Shade of Jade," the kind of material that he really can sink his hard bop teeth into.

Black is the Color, from 1972, recalls that brief moment when fusion was still a viable and
creative musical form, instead of the empty and excessive commercial formula into which it
soon would degenerate. The session features extensive guitar, keyboard, synthesizer, and
percussion overdubs, and Henderson himself plays multiple horn tracks on one tune. Still, "Vis-
a-Vis," performed by an unencumbered quartet of Henderson, Cables, DeJohnette, and bassist
Dave Holland, testifies that the saxophonist had not abandoned the more familiar aspects of
his music, but was using his taste, intelligence, and deep mainstream roots to nourish his work
in this new realm.

A word should be said about the titles of many of Henderson's Milestone recordings. These
days, snide, small-minded, would-be pundits are quick to dismiss such unabashed expressions
of social consciousness as Power to the People or Black Is the Color with that now-current
epithet: "PC." That sort of smug cynicism slanders the seriousness and sincerity with which
concerned artists like Henderson used their work to address burning, and still unresolved,
social questions. Having named his recordings and compositions in this way, Henderson stood
up, spoke up, and challenged people to think beyond mere musical notes to essential extra-
musical questions. And so, for seeking to lift jazz beyond the realm of mere entertainment,
Henderson and his contemporaries merit praise and gratitude, not derision.

Henderson is accompanied by a surprisingly solid Japanese rhythm section on one his finest
dates ever, the live Joe Henderson in Japan. His treatment of "'Round Midnight" differs
markedly from the Lighthouse version, boldly opening with a dramatic, unaccompanied
chorus, followed by straight ballad tempo that moves seamlessly into a comfortable, but never
complacent, double-time groove, and closing with an unaccompanied coda. Dorham's "Blue
Bossa" is always welcome, "Out 'n' In" is a fast, free-flowing blues in the "Chasin' the Trane"
mold, and "Junk Blues" is more than an exercise in modal improvisation. It's a virtual textbook.

Henderson's next release, Multiple, resumes and refines his experiments with fusion and
overdubbing. The technical devices are employed in a more concise, less obtrusive way than
on Black Is the Color. The compositions are not only compelling and evocative (Henderson's
"Song for Sinners"), but even pretty (DeJohnette's "Bwaata").

A concept album from 1973, The Elements consists of four tracks depicting the basic elements
of ancient mythology: "Air," "Water," "Fire," and "Earth." Luckily, Henderson, whose
compositions reveal deep African roots, was able to undertake this fascinating project before
the New Age zombies claimed and blighted the territory. Michael White's violin is romantic
and melancholy, and bassist Charlie Haden, with his full sound and rich tone, is integral to the
mix. The biggest surprise is Alice Coltrane, the Yoko Ono of jazz, whose contributions on piano,
harp, tamboura, and harmonium surpass anything she did on her late husband's recordings.

Latin music always had been a favorite idiom for Henderson, but Canyon Lady, also from 1973,
was his first completely Latin-flavored recording. The ensembles, arranged by trumpeter Luis
Gasca, provide dense settings for Henderson's tenor, particularly on "Tres Palabras," on which
Gasca employed two trumpets, two trombones, three flutes, piano, electric piano, bass,
drums, congas, and timbales. For contrast, there is a previously unreleased gem from these
sessions, "In the Beginning, There Was Africa ...," a free improvisation by Henderson,
accompanied by only conga drums and timbales.

Black Miracle, recorded in 1975, was an attempt to produce a funk-driven hit album. It didn't
sell, most likely because Henderson didn't sell out. Purists may turn up their noses at Ron
Carter's Fender bass and George Duke's electronic keyboards and synthesizer, but there's no
compromise in Henderson's searing tone, moaning vibrato, and multiphonic cries. And his
straightforward rendering of Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie Amour" reflects the sound belief that
good pop tunes deserve to be taken seriously.

German pianist Joachim Khn, a McCoy Tyner disciple and Henderson discovery, is featured on
Black Narcissus, the saxophonist's final Milestone release. Most of the tracks are fattened with
a synthesized "string section." The non-synthesized blues, "The Other Side of Right," indicates
that they might have been better off without it. Still, even this least distinguished segment of
Henderson's vast output has much to recommend it, notably his poignant reading of "Good
Morning, Heartache" and "Amoeba," on which he overdubs two improvised saxophone parts
(and synthesized bass) backed by drums and percussion.

It was a common, and all too true, complaint about the "young lions"-dominated jazz scene of
the 1980 and '90s: to get noticed it seemed as if you either had to be eighteen years old or
eighty. Musicianship was at best an afterthought and at worst irrelevant. Joe Henderson
proved to be an exception. Success and acclaim found him at a time in his life when he was
mature enough to handle them and still vigorous enough to enjoy them. But sadly, his time in
the sun was much too brief. In 1998 a debilitating stroke forced him to give up playing publicly,
and on June 30, 2001, Joe Henderson died at the age of sixty-four.

Bob Bernotas, 1995; revised 2008. All rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted
without the author's permission.

Joe Henderson - In 'n Out (1964)

Blue Note Records

Joe Henderson's third Blue Note release matches the very distinctive tenor with the veteran
trumpeter Kenny Dorham and an unbeatable rhythm section: pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist
Richard Davis, and drummer Elvin Jones. Henderson always had the ability to make a routine
bop piece sound complex and the most complicated free improvisation seem logical. AllMusic
Review by Scott Yanow.

***

This album is part of two great series of recordings on the Blue Note label those with Joe
Henderson as leader, and those on which Henderson performs in the company of Kenny
Dorham. The trumpeter, whose own career with the label dates back to the 1947 Art Blakey
(pre-Jazz Messengers) session, and who released his first Blue Note album as a leader (Afro-
Cuban) in the closing days of the ten-inch LP era, had been Hendersons mentor/sponsor when
the saxophonist first arrived in New York. It was Dorham who brought the saxophonist to
Alfred Lions attention, gave Henderson his first recording opportunity (on Dorhams Una
Mas), and not only played on but also wrote the notes for Hendersons debut as a leader, Page
One. ln a period of 18 months, Henderson and Dorham cut five quintet albums under one or
the others name, of which this is the fourth, and also appeared together on Andrew Hills
Point of Departure, recorded three weeks before this album ; yet they continued to work
together in a cooperative quintet, and to colead a rehearsal big band, for at least two years
more...

The albums true compositional gems, and its most covered titles, are Hendersons
remaining two contributions. Punjab is a kaleidoscope of moods over an unusual 18-bar
structure that can be broken down as 6-4-8, and that is retained throughout the solos.
Serenity, which has become a true standard on the order of the saxophonists Recorda Me
and lnner Urge in recent years, sounds like something that Benny Golson might have
created. It begins like a blues, and then meanders into a different direction, ending up as a 14-
bar chorus that again is preserved for the improvising. While covers of both tunes are too
numerous to mention, it is worth noting that Jones recorded both again on the same 1968
Pepper Adams date, Encounter! (available on a Fantasy/OJC reissue), where Adams is paired
with Zoot Sims. By Bob Blumenthal, from the booklet (2003).
***

Joe Henderson's third Blue Note release (which is here reissued on CD along with the addition
of a previously unissued version of the title cut) matches the very distinctive tenor with the
veteran trumpeter Kenny Dorham and an unbeatable rhythm section: pianist McCoy Tyner,
bassist Richard Davis and drummer Elvin Jones. Henderson, who has always had the ability to
make a routine bop piece sound complex and the most complicated free improvisation seem
logical, and Dorham provided all of the material and the music still sounds fresh over three
decades later.

***

This progressive session from Joe Henderson is a quintessential mid-60s Blue Note disc.
Although a great deal of attention has been placed on the significance of the work of Miles
Davis and John Coltrane at that time, Henderson was one of the leaders in the 60s scene that
forged new ground into adventurous areas of jazz. The saxophonist plays sharply with a highly
rhythmic style that swings and strides through the modally oriented material of stellar tracks
like the blazing title cut, Punjab, and the funky mambo Short Story. Joining Henderson on
the session are Kenny Dorham, McCoy Tyner, Richard Davis, and Elvin Jones, the last of whom
drives the proceedings like a madman in one of his best non-Coltrane performances. Also
included is Serenity, one of Hendersons best-crafted melodies and an additional take of the
dynamic title track.

Tracklist

01. In 'N Out (10:26)

02. Punjab (9:11)

03. Serenity (6:18)

04. Short Story (Dorham) (7:12)

05. Brown's Town (Dorham) (6:24)

06. In 'N Out [alt. take] 9:50

All compositions by Joe Henderson except as indicated.

Personnel

Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone)

Joe Henderson; Richard Davis (double bass)

Kenny Dorham (trumpet)

McCoy Tyner (piano)

Elvin Jones (drums)

Design [Cover] Reid Miles

Liner Notes Don Heckman

Photography By [Cover Photo] Francis Wolff

Producer Alfred Lion

Recorded By [Recording By] Rudy Van Gelder

Recorded April 10, 1964 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALLABOUTJAZZ (GREG SIMMONS)

Joe Henderson: In 'N Out Music Matters is extending its reissue run of classic Blue Note
records, which has led them to tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson's 1964 session In 'N Out. His
third album as a leader for the label, In 'N Out mixes aggressive hard bop with more searching
ballads on its way to turning into a musically diverse, first-rate performance.

The rhythm section of the opening title track has John Coltrane written all over it, and with
drummer Elvin Jones and pianist McCoy Tyner in the rhythm section, it's no wonder. The
double melody of Henderson and trumpeter Kenny Dorham flies over Tyner's signature
foundation block chords before Henderson quickly moves into an aggressive and lengthy solo.
Notably, although the rhythm section framework is very Coltrane-esque, Henderson's solo is
not. It's hot and powerful, but it stays in the horn's middle range and feels more rooted in
deliberate construction than emotional outburst. Jones is propulsive under the leader's
statement, pounding harder and more complex figures as Henderson's solo builds, chasing him
into a peak moment where it's hard to tell whose solo it really is.

The tone changes immediately as they move into "Punjab," a mid-tempo complex but pretty
melody. Henderson's solo is more restrained here but he still captures the more dissonant
elements of the melody. Tyner's comping is structured more around chord changes and less
around reinforcing the rhythmic throb, creating a completely different backdrop. Dorham's
trumpet has an uplifting delivery-emotive, positive and rich with brass texture.

"Short Story," one of Dorham's compositions, is a good place to discuss the sonic value of
the Music Matters vinyl reissues. All of the records in this series are remastered from original
master tapes with the singular goal of reproducing every bit of sound captured in the original
session fifty years ago. They're pressed onto two 45RPM LPs to deliver the best possible analog
playback. The track opens with Richard Davis' bass line layered over a Latin beat before Tyner
adds a purely modal chord structure behind it all. It's that bass line where the remastering
really pays off. The CD has bass notes on it, but the Music Matters vinyl has a double bass
fiddle-woody, plump and palpable. Jones' kit sounds dynamic, with varied timbres on the toms
as he fills in the pauses. The piano gains appreciably in weight and dynamics, particularly with
big left- handed bass chords, and is nicely placed in the back of the soundstage. It's almost
possible to hear the spit in Dorham's trumpet. It's those details that make the difference here,
and they're revelatory.

These old Blue Note records are classics, comprising music that every serious jazz fan should
hear, and the Music Matters vinyl pressings help jazz fans to hear more of that music. In 'N Out
is another great title in a terrific reissue series that's focused on bringing the best of jazz's most
creative period back into full aural view.

------------------------------------------------------------------

100 GREATEST JAZZ RECORDS

Joe Henderson was perhaps the least well acknowledged of the great saxophone players to
emerge in the sixties. His influence, however, has been substantial. From 1963 - 67 he is the
featured tenor sax player on some twenty albums for Blue Note that set a new standard in
jazz, defined the future direction of the label and could all be argued for inclusion in any Top
Jazz 100. Yet the catalogue released under his name as leader had been small and its
availability has been patchy until very recently. As jazz suffered its crisis in popularity in the
seventies, many players including Joe Henderson had to find work elsewhere. If you had ever
wondered why the brass section of Blood Sweat and Tears sounded so good it was because
Joe Henderson played with them at this time.

Everything changed in the mid eighties when the long awaited recognition that Joe
Henderson deserved finally came when three Grammy winning albums with Verve (Lush Life,
So Near So Far and Double Rainbow) reinvigorated his career. Since then it has been a case
of looking back on all that he has achieved and wondering at how so much wonderful music
making could have been neglected for so long. By the time of his death in 2001, the record had
more or less been put straight with most of his classic recordings available for those who cared
to look. However, to hear Joe Henderson, you have to look beyond albums titled under his
name and also look at the albums on which he was a sideman. That list in itself could easily fill
a quarter of any Top 100 jazz albums. Lee Morgans The Sidewinder and The Rumproller,
Kenny Dorhams Una Mass, Larry Youngs Unity, Grant Greens Idle Moments and Am I
Blue?, McCoy Tyner's "The Real McCoy" and Bobby Hutchersons Stick Up and The Kicker
are just a few examples.

He was born in 1937 in Lima, Ohio, which is fifty miles south of Toledo. He listened to Stan
Getz and Charlie Parker while still at school before going to Wayne University, Detroit where
he met Yusef Lateef, Cedar Walton and Donald Byrd. In Detroit, he studied saxophone at the
Teal School of Music as well as flute and bass at Wayne. By the summer of 1962 he arrived in
New York having completed a two year spell in the US Army during which he had toured
worldwide entertaining the troops. As Kenny Dorham describes in his liner notes to
Hendersons Page One, "I was introduced to this bearded, goateed astronaut of the tenor
sax...I suggested that we go down to see Dexter Gordon who was headlining at the Birdland
Monday Night Jazz Jamboree....Dexter Gordon .....asked the young man if he'd like to play
some.....minutes afterward, the musical astronaut was in the launching pad." Kenny Dorham
(15 years Henderson's senior) was to become mentor and partner in a series of wonderful
albums for Blue Note in which their outstanding partnership was developed.
 Of the many Joe Henderson contenders for inclusion here (not just the mid eighties Verve
releases or the classic Blue Notes Page One, Inner Urge, Our Thing, Mode For Joe or
the two great early eighties albums with Chick Corea - Relaxin at Carmarillo and Mirror
Mirror) the best is In N Out. This has the beauty and the subtlety of the relationship with
Kenny Dorhams trumpet playing at its most developed and also has the expansion of musical
horizons introduced by the inclusion of half of John Coltranes classic quartet McCoy Tyner
on piano and Elvin Jones on drums. It is a potent mix. It is not just that Joe Henderson
responds so differently to John Coltrane but that he defines his own improvisional space so
completely and with such originality. The quintet is completed by Richard Davis excellent bass
playing. (Yes, he is the bass player on Van Morrison's seminal 'sixties album "Astral Weeks").

The three Henderson originals (the title track, Punjab and Serenity) are backed by two
equally brilliant originals by Kenny Dorham (Short Story and Browns Town). This is great,
inventive jazz.

Kenny Dorham is a key link here. He had played with and recorded with Charlie Parker in the
later forties (see the 1948 and 1949 NYC "Royal Roost" sessions of the "Charlie Parker
Quintet"). By the early sixties, his own career was beginning to run out of steam somewhat but
he was keen to take the young Joe Henderson under his wing and help launch his career.
Perhaps Kenny Dorham heard that echo in Joe Henderson's playing of Charlie Parker; perhaps
this was a way of passing on the spark of that earlier generation's inspiration to a new
generation? (Star Rating *****).

Joe Henderson - Inner Urge (1964)

RVG 2004 Blue Note Records

This early recording by Joe Henderson is not only one of the finest of all of his fine recordings,
but is also a high point for 1960s jazz. At this point in his career, Henderson was a full-time
member of Horace Silver's combo and did not yet have a steady band in his hire. He is joined
on Inner Urge by veterans of other combos: McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones from John Coltrane's
unit and Sonny Rollins sideman Bob Cranshaw. The presence of these luminaries aside, Inner
Urge is home to two of Henderson's best (and best-loved) compositions: "Inner Urge" and
"Isotope." The leader's solo on the title track is a marvelous thing, full of melody as well as
anarchic bursts of sound, which is in perfect keeping with the spirit of the song's probing,
searching theme. The other musicians support Henderson nicely as well as turning in some
strong solos of their own. Tyner especially sounds fantastic on this record. Although not the
equal of the leader in terms of the quality of his lines or the overall sense of composition of his
solos, his performance is at least the rival of Henderson's in terms of raw kinetic power. The
other great song on "Inner Urge," the Monk-ish "Isotope," is another ideal showcase for
Henderson's total command of his instrument. The remaining tracks on Inner Urge are also
fantastic, especially the wailing cry of "El Barrio" and the Henderson-altered head to "Night
and Day," but the first side, even if taken alone, is by itself enough to guarantee this album as
perhaps the best Henderson recorded in his long and illustrious career, and stands easily
alongside the best records of the era. By Daniel Gioffre, AMG.

***

Inner Urge is an album by jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson released in 1965, the fourth
recorded as a leader for Blue Note Records. It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on November 30, 1964. It features performances by pianist
McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones on drums, both associated with John Coltrane, bassist Bob Cranshaw
and Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone.

The Penguin Guide to Jazz gave the album a four-star rating (of a possible four stars),
describing the music as "dark and intense".

The title track, "Inner Urge", was written at a time when Henderson was "consumed by an
inner urgency which could only be satisfied through this tune. During that period I was coping
with the anger and frustration that can come of trying to find your way in the maze of New
York, and of trying to adjust the pace you have to set in hacking your way in that city in order
to just exist." "Isotope" is a tribute to Thelonious Monk's humour in his tunes, whilst "El
Barrio" represents Henderson's attachment to the "Spanish musical ethos". The piece
especially brings back to mind Henderson's childhood in Lima, Ohio. The saxophonist recalls
giving the other musicians two simple chords, B major and C major 7, and asking them "to play
something with a Spanish feeling" on top of that. The melody was totally played off-the-cuff.

***

Joe Henderson: Inner Urge This brilliant remastering of saxophonist Joe Henderson's most
emotionally urgent album also raises the possibity that it is the ultimate showcase of his
distinguished career. The deference to Coltrane is obvious: pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer
Elvin Jones are on board on every selection, although shifting their styles to mesh with
Henderson. The deference to Getz is more subtle, coming clear on Henderson's stingingly lyric
ballad feature, "You Know I Care," and his melodic recasting of Cole Porter's "Night and Day."

Weaving a path between Coltrane's fiery sermonizing and Getz's singable romanticism,
Henderson displays a wholly individual sense of phrasing that alternates molten passionate
engagement with cool reflection. The title track is an eleven minute tour de force of musical
storytelling, comprising an evocation of Henderson's scuffling for work and recognition in the
Big Apple, the tenor man's frustrating rite of passage. You hear plenty of hoarse cries, moans,
and barbaric yelps, but you can hear episodes of great restraint within a loose blues structure.

"El Barrio" digs as deeply into the Latin mode as Henderson ever went, again emphasizing a
nearly stragulated, gruff sax sound interrupted by beautifully full tones. The empathy with
Tyner and Jones is palable throughout the album. They're egging him on, but oh so gently,
giving Henderson tons of space to sink or swim in. Henderson thrives in their presence, their
hyper-kinetic backing, and bassist Bob Cranshaw, while not as flashy as Jones, definitely keeps
the rhythm lines lively.

The album seems like an apotheosis of hard bop, a ruthlessly probing amplication of a
typical, hard-blowing, Blue Note bop session, pushing bop formulas as far as they could be
pushed. As such, I consider it not only one of the best dozen Blue Note sessions ever released,
I hear it as one of the major statements of jazz in the '60s, actually recreating the political,
economic, and social realities of the turbulent times more precisely than most recorded music
of the '60s in any style. An absolutely essential listen and a major masterpiece (NORMAN
WEINSTEIN, ALLABOUTJAZZ).

***

Of the five albums Joe Henderson made for Blue Note in the 60s, only this one features him as
the sole horn. Its also the most forceful and aggressive of the bunch; backed by Coltrane
sidemen (pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones) and bassist Bob Cranshaw, he goes
much farther out on the title track than he ever could have on his other gig at the time, as a
sideman to pianist Horace Silver. El Barrio is another barn-burner the deep, biting tones
Henderson emits during the pieces unaccompanied opening phrases, and his incantatory,
trancelike solo, predict much free jazz to come.

***

The Legacy of the Jazz Messengers (3): Joe Henderson Inner Urge: Not properly speaking a
Jazz Messenger Alumni

Putting Joe Henderson into my little Jazz Messengers mini series is probably slightly
incorrect, I dont think Henderson ever played directly at the Jazz Messengers, but he started
playing quite a bit with Kenny Dorham, another Messengers alumni, and he also contributes to
my previously mentioned Horace Silver album Song for my Father, and the hardbop classic
Sidewinder by Lee Morgan (more about this later).

I nevertheless wanted to mention him here, as I believe he was heavily influenced by his first
real gigs, including those above (although Henderson himself cited mainly Charlie Parker as a
lead influence). He went on rather quickly to lead several albums on Blue Note. Funnily
enough, apparently he was discovered by another great saxophone player Dexter Gordon
(who I personally never particularly liked, as a side note).

The other reason for bringing him up here is that I had the pleasure of hearing 3 out of four
of the musicians on the album this post will eventually get to live (albeit all individually)
including Henderson himself at a gig in the late 80s in Hamburg, and Elvin Jones and
McCoyTyner in the early 2000s in Paris. So theres a (if tiny) personal connection here.

Like Hank Mobley, Henderson is maybe not one of the real A-league saxophonists, but still
better known compared to the former, probably also due to the fact that he continued
recording albums up to the 1990s.

Joe Hendersons greatest albums in my humble (is it really humble? hopefully) opinion, are
all on Blue Note, from a short period between 1963 and 1966 (notice a pattern here, how
glorious these days were for Jazz). Namely, Page One, In n Out, Mode For Joe, and,
obviously:

Why this album? Well, being a pianist (well thats stretching it, but lets rather say having
played the piano), my answer is called McCoy Tyner. He really does an outstanding job on this
album, in the beautiful combination with Elvin Jones on drums. These two obviously knew
each other well from playing with Coltrane, including on the legendary A Love Supreme.

The title track Amazing

 There is a very simple reason to buy the album: the eponymous title track. Nearly 12
minutes of tension and harmonic complexity that reminds me in some places of the above
mentioned A Love Supreme. 5 stars plus for this track only.

The other tracks, with the exception of the great El Barrio, where Elvin Jones builds a
mesmerizing latin groove, are more fillers. Isotope is swinging nicely, but not very memorable,
Night and Day is a bit light for an album ending (but Jones drums manage to keep it
interesting), but overall never mind, this album is worth purchasing for two tracks only. Or if
you have a download site that allows purchasing by track, stick to 1 and 3 and youre all set.

Overall rating: 5 stars (Im a bit hesitant here and probably should rather give 4.5 stars, but I
dont want to dilute my rating system even further and just decide that the title tracks on its
own is worth the 5 stars).

Tracklist

01. Inner Urge (11:59)

02. Isotope (9:16)

03. El Barrio (7:15)

04. You Know I Care (Duke Pearson) (7:22)

05. Night And Day (Cole Porter) (7:25)

PERSONNEL

Joe Henderson - tenor saxophone

McCoy Tyner - piano

Bob Cranshaw - bass

Elvin Jones - drums

Credits

Art Direction, Design Michael Boland (2)

Creative Director Gordon H Jee

Liner Notes [2003] Bob Blumenthal

Liner Notes [Original] Nat Hentoff

 Photography By [Cover Photograph, Liner Photographs] Francis Wolff

Producer Alfred Lion

Recorded By, Remastered By [2003] Rudy Van Gelder

Reissue Producer Michael Cuscuna

All pieces by Joe Henderson, except as indicated.

Recorded November 30, 1964 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This week's selection, cut onto four sides of 45 RPM vinyl by Music Matters, is tenor
saxophonist Joe Henderson's 1965 masterpiece, Inner Urge. Recorded just ten days before
John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, and featuring two out of three of its supporting players--
McCoy Tyner on piano and Elvin Jones on drums, plus Bob Cranshaw on bass, Inner Urge
captures Henderson and this excellent supporting cast at what many feel was his creative
peak.

The first three cuts on Inner Urge--penned by Henderson, have a distinctly modern feel to
them, with the final two traditional hard bop numbers--the Duke Pearson composed, You
Know I Care, and the Cole Porter standard, Night and Day, while adeptly performed, sounding
more like an extension of the status quo. And while all of the Henderson compositions are
outstanding, El Barrio is a forward-thinking masterpiece, taking full advantage of the skills and
intuition of Tyner and Jones, who propel the piece forward, and set the mood with a sound
that isn't too far from A Love Supreme. El Barrio forshadows works from the likes of Miles
Davis, Herbie Hancock, and others that wouldn't come along for several years.

This 45 RPM pressing from Music Matters richly presents all of the emotion of Henderson's
horn, from the fiercely distorted opening squawks of El Barrio, to his buttery-smooth tenor
tones--and does so with a dynamic range, extended tonal palatte, and clarity that has come to
be expected from the Music Matters jazz series.

Highly Recommended

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JAZZ.COM

Joe Henderson: Inner Urge

Track

Inner Urge

Artist
Joe Henderson (tenor sax)

CD

Inner Urge (Blue Note 84189)

Buy Track

Musicians:

Joe Henderson (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), Elvin Jones (drums).

Recorded: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, November 30, 1964

Albumcoverjoehenderson-innerurge

Rating: 95/100 (learn more)

"Inner Urge" is a hard-swinging vehicle for a torrid blowing session. Joe Henderson lined up
Coltrane's pianist and drummer (as well as Rollins's bass player) to back him, just nine days
before Trane's two sidemen joined their boss (and bassist Jimmy Garrison) to record A Love
Supreme. Clearly Henderson was seriously intent on showing he could measure up to two of
his primary tenor influences, and doesn't disappoint.

Henderson's two solos here are extended, but he keeps things flowing by liberally mixing
pleasantly tuneful passages with exciting, turbulent ones. Cranshaw and Tyner also sparkle
during their turns. Elvin Jones, however, nearly steals the show with peerless, thunderous
polyrhythms that rank among his better drum solos on record.

As a supremely confident saxophonist already running out of things to prove at this stage,
Henderson again upped the ante with "Inner Urge."

Reviewer: S. Victor Aaron

 Joe Henderson - Mode for Joe (1966)
BLUE NOTE, BLP 4227

Mode For Joe is the influential saxophonists 1966 gem. It was his final Blue Note studio
recording as a bandleader. Henderson is joined by trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis
Fuller, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Cedar Walton, double bassist Ron Carter and
drummer Joe Chambers. The challenging repertoire showcases the unmatched talents of the
ensemble. It features the standouts Mode For Joe and Caribbean Fire Dance.

Tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson's fifth and final early Blue Note album is his only one with
a group larger than a quintet. Henderson welcomes quite an all-star band (trumpeter Lee
Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Cedar Walton,
bassist Ron Carter and drummer Joe Chambers) and together they perform originals by
Henderson (including "A Shade of Jade"), Walton and Morgan ("Free Wheelin'"). The advanced
music has plenty of exciting moments and all of the young talents play up to the level one
could hope for.

***

Durante el tiempo en el que toqu en clubes de striptease aprend ms de cmo componer

canciones de jazz. Me involucr ms y comenzamos a tocar mis composiciones en directo para
las bailarinas (Joe Henderson, 1966).

Era el ao 1966, una poca de cambios. En el que sera su ltimo disco como lder con Blue
Note, Joe Henderson muestra una emocionante visin de lo que traera el futuro, a la vez que
tiene un pie en el pasado del hard bop. Este es un grupo fabuloso que lleva todas las
composiciones a otro nivel.

Tmese como ejemplo la pieza que da ttulo al disco, que no est compuesta por Henderson,
sino por Cedar Walton, pianista y exmiembro de The Jazz Messengers. Es el momento ms
sobresaliente de un disco repleto de momentos descartables, y cuenta con una maravillosa
interpretacin tanto solista como conjunta. El grupo logra hallar una fusin perfectamente
construida en la que se integran la forma de tocar funky con influencias blues del hard bop con
el jazz moderno. A pesar de que l no es un compositor, Henderson hace suya esta pieza. A
travs de una muy emocionante llamada y la respuesta que da el resto de la seccin de
vientos, de alguna manera se las arregla para combinar un sonido de saxofn que se parece a
un graznido con otro de una suma elegancia: magistral.

Las tres composiciones del disco firmadas por Henderson son A Shade Of Jade, Caribbean
Fire Dance y Granted. Los vientos con los que se abre la ltima son un ejemplo
representativo del estilo del lbum; se trata de un tiempo rpido en el que todos los msicos
tienen una oportunidad de ejecutar un solo, que se conduce a ritmo de tamborileo y es tan
emocionante al escucharlo como debi haber sido tocarlo.

Henderson sigui tocando como msico de acompaamiento en los discos de Blue Note
durante una temporada, pero llev sus propios discos a Milestone durante la dcada siguiente
antes de volver a grabar para Blue Note, as como para Verve y otras discogrficas, en la
dcada de 1980. Del mismo modo que Sonny Rollins y John Coltrane influyeron en Henderson,
este lo hizo en la siguiente generacin, sobre todo en Joe Lovano.

***

Como elegantsmimo e imprescindible podramos etiquetar el quinto trabajo de Henderson,

"Mode for Joe". Una mezcla perfecta entre hard bop evolucionado y el toque justo de freejazz.

Tras sus tres primeros discos, Henderson decide dar descanso a la trompeta de Kenny
Dorham y fichar al todoterreno y prolfico Lee Morgan. Sumando el trombn de Curtis Fuller,
cuando quieren pueden sonar (casi) como toda una big band. Es pulsar el play y as abre "A
shade of Jade", exultante, con esa lnea tan bonita, reforzada por el vibrfono de Hutcherson.

"Mode for Joe" es un medio tiempo que va de menos a ms. Y hay solos para todos. "Black"
es la ms peliculera de todas, hasta tal punto que podra encajar como encargo para una
banda sonora de cine negro. Aqu el Henderson solista se luce especialmente, que para eso es
su disco. Tan buena que encontraremos una toma alternativa al final del disco. "Caribbean fire
dance" recurre a armonas tribales tipo calypso para poner el punto excntrico al disco (a
Dorham le hubiera encantado)

Fraseos de una banda en estado de gracia para arrancar "Granted", con algunos de los
mejores momentos del CD en dura competencia con "Black". Henderson aporta algunas notas
freejazz mientras que Cedar Walton y Bobby Hutcherson echan mano de armonas ms
clsicas.

"Free Wheelin" suena irremediablemente a Lee Morgan, ms que nada porque la ha

compuesto l. Jazz de alto nivel con pretensiones pop donde el optimismo se impone al
sentimiento blues. Es como si existiera un "acorde mayor de Lee" o algo por el estilo.

Me conozco, y s que compr este disco por la portada, sin tener referencia alguna. No
hagis nunca esto, porque puede salir mal, especialmente si se trata de un CD que NO es de
Blue Note. Aparte de la tipografa sans serif y la desfachatez de colocar en rojo el logo de Blue
Note, las fotografas son muy buenas. Henderson parece retratado como a traicin por un
paparazzi oculto en la oscuridad. La composicin de la secuencia en vertical presenta al msico
relajado y entregado al vicio nicotnico, lo que invita a pensar que acababa de terminar la
grabacin. Una portada que ha envejecido muy bien.

A mediados de los 60 ya se grababa muy bien, y este disco lo prueba. La sensacin de

espacio, por ejemplo, est muy conseguida, y el sonido es muy limpio, a ratos impresionante.
Sin embargo hay algunos matices que impiden la perfeccin: En alguna ocasin el saxo del jefe
aparece rozando el umbral de saturacin, y cuando esa excitacin coincide con la trompeta de
Morgan la cosa se descontrola ms, llegando incluso a distorsionar (notas sueltas, nada
importante)

Aunque son cosas que aportan cierto mojo a un trabajo que de otra forma no parecera de
Van Gelder, convendra no abusar de estas licencias. El contrabajo de Ron Carter lo he
encontrado un poco ausente en la mezcla, lo que resta algo de cuerpo al resultado final. Los
agudos estn en su sitio. El nivel de compresin aplicado en la remasterizacin es notable pero
no exagerado. VIVAVANGELDER.

***
One of the most original tenor-saxophonists to emerge during the early 1960s, Joe Henderson
always had an immediately recognizable sound and the ability to shift easily between hard bop
and free jazz, sometimes within the same phrase. The greatness of Henderson can be heard in
every note. Of his Blue Note albums, Mode For Joe is unique in that it is the only one to
feature Henderson with a group larger than a quintet. When one considers that its septet also
includes Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller and Bobby Hutcherson, that the repertoire includes the
original versions of Shade Of Jade," "Mode For Joe" and "Free Wheelin'" and that this set has
never had such brilliant sound, it is obvious that this is an album that is a must for all serious
music collections. BLUE NOTE.

***

Mode For Joe is the last of Joe Henderson's five Blue Note albums; all are uniformly excellent.
Originally recorded in 1966, when Henderson was a member of the Horace Silver Quintet,
Mode For Joe has just been rereleased as part of Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder Edition series
featuring remastered 24-bit resolution.

For this recording, Henderson was joined by a group of young musicians, all with talent to
burn. Featuring Henderson on tenor saxophone, the rest of the group included Lee Morgan on
trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Cedar Walton on piano, Ron
Carter on bass, and Joe Chambers on drums. These superb musicians complimented each
other's playing, inspiring passionate, furious, and remarkably inventive solos.

The songs on Mode For Joe are all original compositions by Henderson, Walton, and
Morgan. For me, the summation of Henderson's Blue Note years is Walton's title song, "Mode
For Joe." From the opening note, Henderson demanded the listener's attention, obviously
profoundly inspired by Walton's lyrical number. His solo was a model of 60s modal, semi-free
playing. Next up was Hutcherson for a scorching vibes solo followed by a trombone statement
so flawlessly articulated it demonstrates why Fuller was considered the heir apparent to the
great J.J. Johnson. Carter, Walton, and Morgan all played perfectly, concise and taut.

Good music is for all time, never going out of fashion. Mode For Joe is vintage Henderson,
recorded during one of his most creative periods in his long, wonderful career. All his Blue
Note music is essential, but with remastered sound, Mode For Joe is a must buy, guaranteed to
bring you endless listening pleasure. 2003 - Ron Saranich

***

Given the date of this release and the band lineup, one might assume that this is a straight-up
hard-bop album. However, this 1966 Joe Henderson recordfeaturing trumpeter Lee Morgan,
trombonist Curtis Fuller, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron
Carter, and drummer Joe Chambersis a great example of modern jazz at its best. Mode For
Joe was recorded during a time of sweeping musical changes due to developments in free jazz,
soul jazz, and even early experiments with fusion. It was a time when the bluesy and funky
leanings of hard-boppers were giving way to more individualized contemporary approaches.
One of the best examples of this shift, MODE FOR JOE sounds more like the experimental work
of Branford Marsalis than the groovy musings of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

The last track on Mode For Joe, Free Wheelin, is the only dyed-in-the-wool hard-bop tune
heard here. Other than that, this outings mostly up-tempo songs serve as vehicles for solos.
Henderson himself proves that the template for players such as Marsalis, Joe Lovano, and
Joshua Redman was invented a generation earlier, as evidenced on A Shade of Jade, Black,
and others, making this one of the sax legends most intriguing albums. Review by Eric Starr.

***

Recorded and released in 1966, Mode for Joe was Joe Henderson's last session as a leader for
Blue Note Records until 1985's State of the Tenor.

True to form for the period, the recording features a cast of legendary players in peak form.
In this case Henderson shares front line duties with a fiery Lee Morgan on trumpet and a
young Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. Curtis Fuller's trombone adds low-end heft to the melodic
statements.

Forget that cup of coffee in the morning, just throw on "A Shade of Jade" and crank it up;
the track is power and swing brilliance with the kind of authority that flames out the
loudspeakers of the unwary. It puts the "hard" into "hard bop." No one is holding back here,
playing full tilt with the utmost confidence and verve. It's also solidly structured, with
ensemble playing carrying as much weight as the solo statements. The arrangements are tight
and slightly, though not jarringly, discordant.

Of course, solo statements are important and this record has plenty. "Caribbean Fire Dance"
captures Henderson and Morgan at their most creatively aggressive. Henderson, who by now
had found his own truly personal sound outside the influence of John Coltrane, who was so
pervasive in the 1960s, manages the trick of maneuvering in and out of the harmonic structure
of his own tune in practically alternating measures. But he keeps it all in context, and when
he's gone way out on the limb he reels himself back in with a simple bebop line before moving
on. It's the kind of playing that requires real mastery of the music's history and styles.
Morgan's solo is white-hot brilliant with his signature brilliant brass tone, and Fuller and
Hutcherson follow in line. It helps that the tune has a solid thundering jungle beat to hold
everyone together.

The record closes out with Morgan's "Free Wheelin,'" perhaps the most tightly structured
melody on the record. They slow it down a little with this one, and Henderson's solo statement
is maybe a little more constrained, but Morgan is having none of it: He announces his turn at
the mic with a startlingly loud blast and he keeps the volume up even as he measures his pace.
Morgan's sound is as clear and immediate as Louis Armstrong, a direct connection to his own
exuberance.

Mode For Joe has been reissued by Music Matters on 45RPM vinyl records. They've
painstakingly re-mastered the session from the original master tapes, making sure to keep a
purely analog signal chain. The results speak for themselves; tremendous dynamics and
extraordinary detail allow everything to come through loud and clear.

Musically, Mode for Joe is as solid a record as is likely to be found, and the first-rate reissue
package really does it justice. There's a lot going on here and the exceptional sound quality just
makes it easier to appreciate. Add to that a fine, heavyweight gate-fold cover and extra session
photos and this is a truly compelling package. By GREG SIMMONS, ALLABOUTJAZZ.

***

Hard Bop #42#43 - Joe Henderson

 Considerado por la crtica especializada como el saxo tenor ms importante surgido en el jazz
tras la estela dejada por John Coltrane y Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson comenz a trabajar
profesionalmente a finales de 1950 junto a Sonny Stitt, Donald Byrd y Pepper Adams,
mantenindose activo hasta su muerte, ocurrida el 30 de Junio de 2001.

Con una tcnica intachable y un estilo elegante y discreto modelado por sus estudios en el
Kentucky State College y en la Wayne State University, Henderson era tambin un
improvisador audaz dotado de una maestra indiscutible.

Para detenerse brevemente en la importancia que signific su presencia en el mundo del hard
bop, Rosenthal elije sus dos grabaciones finales para el sello Blue Note.

Inner Urge, fue el primero que se dispuso a realizar sin su amigo de confianza, el trompetista
Kenny Dorham, con quien mantuvo un estrecho vnculo musical entre 1962 y 1963.

Grabado en los estudios de Rudy Van Gelder el 30 de Noviembre de 1964, esta grabacin
tiene muchos puntos en contacto con la obra de John Coltrane y eso no fue casual. Adems
del contrabajista Bob Cranshaw, Henderson fue acompaado por McCoy Tyner al piano y Elvin
Jones en la batera, dos piezas fundamentales del A Love Supreme de "Trane", grabada apenas
nueve das ms tarde.

La Penguin Guide le adjudic entonces su mximo puntaje y la describi como una obra
"oscura e intensa".

Mode For Joe, del 27 de Enero de 1966, difiere sustancialmente de sus anteriores registros
para la Blue Note. Si bien hasta aqu utilizaba formatos ms tradicionales como los cuartetos y
quintetos, en esta grabacin ampli el equipo y lo convirti en un septeto que incluy al
trompetista Lee Morgan, al trombonista Curtis Fuller, al vibrafonista Bobby Hutcherson ms la
seccin rtmica de Cedar Walton al piano, Ron Carter en contrabajo y Joe Chambers en batera.
Tambin se destaca por no tener baladas sino estar completo de "up-tempos".

Aparecido en un momento de grandes cambios musicales debido a la evolucin de free jazz,

del soul jazz y de los primeros experimentos con la fusin, este fue uno de los mejores
ejemplos de aquel cambio, convirtindose en uno de sus discos ms intrigantes.

***

Joe Henderson es uno de esos msicos cuyos tempranos discos para el sello Blue Note son
imprescindibles. Este es el quinto y ltimo, el cual difiere de los anteriores en los que utilizaba
formatos ms tradicionales (cuartetos o quintetos), mientras que aqu se sirve de un septeto
que incluye al trompetista Lee Morgan, al trombonista Curtis Fuller y al vibrafonista Bobby
Hutcherson, sin abandonar un sonido hardbop. Tambin puede destacarse que los temas son
todos up-tempo, no hay baladas. Este lbum y los anteriores ubicaron a Henderson como uno
de los grandes tenores que ha dado el jazz.

***

Muscular Septet Session. "Mode For Joe" is the third Henderson-led session released as part of
the outstanding RVG remaster series, and the last session he recorded for Blue Note Records.

For this date, Henderson assembled a seven-piece band -- a fairly large band by his standards.
The players include big names like Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Bobby Hutcherson, Ron Carter
and Joe Chambers. But it is pianist Cedar Walton who is the standout player on this session.
Every one of his solo makes you stop and take notice.

Three of the 6 master takes are bona-fide classics: "A Shade of Jade", "Mode For Joe", and
"Carribean Fire Dance". This makes Mode For Joe an excellent record, but I don't feel it quite
reaches the mark of Henderon's earlier records for Blue Note. I prefer Henderson in more
intimate settings, and I think things get a little cluttered with five players vying for solo space
on a 40 minute record.

A word on the sound quality: Although this is a Rudy Van Gelder remaster, he was not the
original engineer for this session. This was recorded pretty hot, and there are a few points
where the players overload (saturate) the tape. Overall, though, the sound quality is
acceptable.

***

Not the greatest Joe Henderson, but all Henderson is great. First off, I don't know what
"popular history" the reviewer two down from me is referring to, but jazz in the mid 60's is not
"stagnant and uninspired." It's one of the most vibrant times in jazz history, and in my opinion,
the period of 1962-66 is simply THE greatest ever. Bitches Brew doesn't even come CLOSE.

Anyways, one of the greatest players in the greatest period is Joe Henderson, widely
acknowledged to be one of the last great tenor-men to emerge out of the hard bop/post bop
period. All his great 60's albums were made for the Blue Note Label, and all are spectacular:
Page One, Our Thing, Inner Urge (my personal favorite) and In n' Out. Mode For Joe is the last,
and continues a glorious vein.

That said, it's deffinitely not Inner Urge or Our Thing, and probably not on the level of Page
One either. In my opinion, of his 5 albums from this period, Mode for Joe would probably have
to be rated 4th. Now, let's get a few things straight. 4th in THIS batch is extremely damn good.
Second of all, Joe himself plays amazing here as always, just about as good as the other
albums, and his tone in particular is at its dry, biting, overtoned finest. And the way he starts
solos! If nothing else, saxophone students should study Henderson just to hear the first few
lines of his solos, quite amazing. His solos on "Black" and "Caribbean Fire Dance" are the
standouts. The compositions themselves, shared dutes by Henderson and Cedar Walton (with
one by Morgan) are excellent too.

The problem that makes this not QUITE as good as the others is the supporting cast. Again,
let's get something straight: it's a great supporting cast. But this was a time where Henderson
could really stretch out, really expand and dig in...and the best way for him to do that was to
have plenty of time, which unfortunately, with a cast of seven, he does not have. And because
this is the vinyl era, players do not get to solo on every track (I lament this fact most for Bobby
Hutcherson, excellent here in a very understated role.) So really, the solos, while usually very
good, are also a bit unsatisfying. Lee Morgan sounds rather rough here...still one of the best
trumpeters in the business, because he IS Lee Morgan, but I wonder if he was going through
some creative and/or physical problems during this date (as he was wont to do.) He is just not
as thrilling as usual. And Curtis Fuller doesn't really have much to say, which is unfortunate as
in this kind of setting he usually shines. Bobby Hutcherson says some cool stuff, but he really
doesn't have much time to say it. And Ron Carter is fine, but we've all heard better.
 That said, Cedar Walton is JUST as good as Henderson here, deffinitely one of Walton's best
outings that I've heard. He contributes a few tunes, one of them, "Black," the best one on the
record. He really digs in and matches Henderson note for note. Only a step behind these two
masters is Joe Chambers, long one of the most underrated of drummers, so is both boiling and
burning by turns here. A great rhythm section for sure.

To sum it up, "Mode for Joe" is a great album, deffinitely worth 5 stars...but get Inner Urge,
Page One and Our Thing first.

***

Joe in his "Mode". Nearly fourteen months after he entered the studio to record the incredible
"Inner Urge" (an eternity between sessions in those days), Joe Henderson returned to Rudy
Van Gelder's on January 27, 1966 to make "Mode For Joe." Well it was certainly worth the
wait! Henderson's last album for Blue Note featured his largest band to date at that time (Lee
Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Bobby Hutcherson, Cedar Walton, Ron Carter and Joe Chambers), and
compositions that combined the Coltranesque stylings of "Inner Urge" with the tight
arrangements of "Page One." All of the album's tracks are thoroughly modern and enjoyable,
but it is the multi-layered "A Shade of Jade," featuring lovely cascading vibes play from Hutch
in the theme, that will always be my favorite. Out of print for a few years now, it is great to
have "Mode for Joe" back via the RVG series.

***

Jazz at it's best. Mode for Joe is simply put, one of the best jazz albums I've ever heard. This is
a superp recording of one of the finest tenor saxophonist the "real" music world has to offer.
The rhythem section is completely in sync with each other, it turely is like listening to a
conversation between people. Lee Morgans playing is a little rough from what I've heard
before, but no less powerful. Joe is at the top of his game in this album , spewing ideas through
his horn almost effortlessly. And his sparse use of his Overtone throat slids gives a razor edge
to this album. Bobby Hutcherson on the vibes gives this album such a great mood. It gives it
such a cool feeling, but doesn't hesitate to bite when it's needed. Over all, some amazing
playing from everyone. A great starter album for those who want to get into Jazz.

***

A bit of a letdown. Compared to Inner Urge, Mode for Joe was a bit of a letdown (though it
was a lot better than the next album Joe recorded, The Kicker). Around this period, Blue Note
got into recording some of its star saxophonists in medium sized groups - Stanley Turrentine,
Hank Mobley, and Wayne Shorter all did it. Stylistically, this sits about halfway between the
hard-boppish Mobleys and the more avant-garde Shorter (The All Seeing Eye).

The lineup has a bit of a "fish nor fowl?" character to it: I'm not sure I would have picked
Curtis Fuller for this date, and can't help wonder what it would have sounded like with Woody
Shaw and Andrew Hill (or Freddie Hubbard and Herbie Hancock) replacing Lee Morgan and
Cedar Walton. Still, the music is generally on a high level and if you let go of expectations a
little, you'll find plenty to enjoy here.

***

Too much of a good thing? I'm a latecomer to the world of jazz, but I love most of everything
I've heard on Blue Note from the 1960s. This 1966 recording is only my second Joe Henderson
album, but I'm hooked. Mesmermizing and lively music. To me, this sound really defines what
is so enjoyable about jazz. But is this album too much of a good thing? I would agree with
some of the points that Christopher Farley made in his review: Cedar Walton's piano playing is
indeed one of the highlights on this album, and also things DO get a bit "cluttered" with so
many standout players on here. In addition to Henderson and Walton you have the mighty Lee
Morgan on trumpet, plus Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, and Ron Carter on bass. Whew! That
room must have been steamin' hot! So maybe they can't all stretch out and solo to everyone's
satisfacttion, but this remains a very enjoyable session, full of adept playing and toe-tappin'
rhythms. If you like other Joe Henderson recordings on Blue Note, don't miss this one either.

***

Joe'a mode is his last Blue Note studio release. If you're not counting the Village Vanguard
sessions, this all star date (Hutcherson, Walton, Fuller, Lee Morgan, Ron Carter, Joe Chambers)
would qualify as Joe's last studio date for the Blue Note label---and what a session to bow out
of. Tunes like the title track by Walton, plus "Carribean Fire Dance" and "A Shade of Jade"
would be staples in Henderson's repetoire--he would include these in his big band session for
Verve. Also this was the first time that we would hear Joe's arranging skills and they're quite
remarkable. I'm so glad that RVG has decided to re-issue this date because for once the sound
is pristine versus their earlier releases like "Speak No Evil", "Point Of Departure" or "Midnight
Blue" which were disasters as far as recording quality (buy the original issues instead).

***

One of my favorites. Recorded just before he left Blue Note. Great band, great tunes. Read
about it at [...] Get him on Horace Silver's Song for My Father, too. He has a smokin' solo on
the title tune.

***

First-Rate Joe Henderson. The jazz of the mid-Sixties is considered, in the popular history, to be
stagnant and uninspired, the boredom phase in the dialectic leading to the excitement of
'Bitches Brew'. Not so. If you enjoy good jazz with a blues influence, you will find an abundance
of talented players producing excellent records in this period. While the critics tend to reward
those who break new ground in jazz, the rest of us are free to appreciate excellent musicians
who merely improve, beautifully, on what has gone before.

And musicians who can swing like the all-star cast in 'Mode for Joe'. The title tune, written
by Cedar Walton, is one of my favorite Joe Henderson pieces, up there with his unforgettable
work on Horace Silver's 'Song for My Father'. Like many other mid-Sixties productions, the
recording features more than the standard quartet. In fact it's a septet which features very
talented, young but mature-enough, performers who will be known for years thereafter.
Besides Henderson on sax, Cedar Walton contributes greatly on piano, as does the young (and
to this day under-valued) Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, and a solid Lee Morgan on trumpet. Add
Curtis Fuller (trombone), Ron Carter (bass), and Joe Chambers (drums), and you've got quite a
group, playing in a format that still allows you to hear distinctly the individual contributions
while enjoying a bigger, fuller group sound than most quartets can produce. This disk is highly
recommended for fans of Joe Henderson (and Cedar Walton).

***
[MODE FOR JOE TRACK]: At a time when far too many Coltrane clones roamed the Earth, Joe
Henderson shined as a personal, distinctive stylist with a brawny, instantly recognizable tone.
Walton?s delicate and gently swinging ?Mode for Joe? brings out the softer, lyrical side of
these Blue Note heavyweights. Henderson contributes one of his more subdued solos on
record. Though less aggressive than normal, his solo is still harmonically adventurous and
surprising. His melodicism is juxtaposed by sudden bursts of frantic clusters of notes.
Hutcherson is in top form?once again proving he is the most expressive of all vibraphonists. A
great addition to any collection. JAZZ.COM.

Tracklist

01. A Shade Of Jade

02. Mode For Joe

03. Black

04. Caribbean Fire Dance

05. Granted

06. Free Wheelin

07. Black (Alternate Take)

A Shade of Jade 7:08

Mode for Joe (C. Walton) 8:00

Black (C. Walton) 6:51

Caribbean Fire Dance 6:41

Granted 7:20

Free Wheelin (L. Morgan) 6:39

Bonus track nella versione in CD:

Black [Alternate Take] 6:48

Personnel

Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone)

Lee Morgan (trumpet)

Curtis Fuller (trombone)

Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone)

Cedar Walton (piano)

Ron Carter (bass)

Joe Chambers (drums)

Design [Cover Design] Reid Miles

Photography By [Cover Photos] Francis Wolff

Recorded By [Recording By], Remastered By Rudy Van Gelder

Written-By Cedar Walton (tracks: 2, 3), Joe Henderson (tracks: 1, 4, 5), Lee Morgan (tracks: 6)

Recorded on January 27, 1966 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

Blue Note RVG Edition 91894 2 0 [1966]

Recorded on January 27, 1966 at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

All transfers from analog to digital were made at 24-bit resolution.

Tracks 1 to 6 originally issued as BLP 4227 and BST 84227.

#7 is a bonus track, not part of original LP.

Joe Henderson - Power to the People

(1969)
{2007 Milestone} [Keepnews Collection Complete Series] (Item #3)

2007 Concord / Milestone | 0888072301306

Jazz / Post Bop / Hard Bop / Saxophone

Remastered in 24-bit from the original master tapes. Part of our Keepnews Collection, which
spotlights classic albums originally produced by the legendary Orrin Keepnews. The only
Milestone release in the Keepnews Collection is Hendersons brilliant electric and acoustic
outing with an incredible band of pianist Herbie Hancock (also on keys), bassist Ron Carter
(also on electric bass) and drummer Jack DeJohnette.

This marks the first time Power to the People has been issued on CD in its own right, other
than having its tunes be included in a boxed set. While the tenor saxophonist never got his
true recognition until his latter-day career, he recorded extensively for Milestone, including
this third outing that Keepnews says offers some of the most wonderfully, effectively
professional music I have ever been involved with. The disc features the debut recording of
the tenor saxophonists classic composition, Black Narcissus.

***

This album (which has been included in Joe Henderson's complete, eight-CD Milestone Years
box set) has quite a few classic moments. At that point in time, tenor saxophonist Henderson
was a sideman with Herbie Hancock's Sextet, so Hancock was happy to perform as a sideman,
doubling on piano and electric piano, with the all-star group, which also includes trumpeter
Mike Lawrence, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Highlights are many and
include the original version of "Black Narcissus," "Isotope," a lyrical rendition of "Lazy
Afternoon," and the free-form "Foresight and Afterthought." Review by Scott Yanow.

***

The late sixties were an exciting time for jazz, although not a lucrative one. Faced with a
declining market share due to the popularity of rock music, jazz musicians were forced to find
an audience by pursuing new avenues in composition and instrumentation.

Joe Henderson, a much beloved player for the Blue Note label was dropped in the late
sixties. Orrin Keepnews, who certainly could recognize great talent when he saw it, signed him
to his newly formed Milestone label. This 1969 release finds Henderson with a near perfect
rhythm section. It features imaginative compositions that easily make it a highlight of the
accomplished musician's career.

Power to the People is an appropriate title for a session filled with the sense of urgency and
charisma found here. Henderson took a page from the compositional methods of the Miles
Davis quintet from a few years back in that many of the compositions feature the same dark
corners and ambiguous chord structures of that famous group. Only "Incognito" harkens back
to an earlier time in Henderson's career.

Henderson has, for the most part, abandoned the harsh tone of his earlier releases for a
more smoothed over sound, giving up nothing in confidence. Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter
are session musicians here, featured both on acoustic and electric instruments.

Jack DeJohnette, another master who would contribute heavily to Miles' electric period,
provides skilled drumming in the background. As an added bonus, two selections feature Mike
Lawrence, a promising trumpeter who died in 1983.

As part of the Keepnews Collection, the sound on this release is superb. Carter is served
especially wellevery note is clearly heard. Hancock's electric piano, at times both burbling in
the background and providing an acid sting, is also crisp.

While signed to the Blue Note label, Henderson provided seminal releases in the accepted
format. On many levels, Power to the People is more satisfying, a neglected gem that
showcases an artist reaching for all that he can accomplish. By DAVID RICKERT, ALLABOUTJAZZ.

***

Joe Henderson was one of the most consistent jazz musicians of the post-bop era, a tenor
saxophone player whose every solo was intelligent, architecturally sound, and bristling with
invention. He passed through several phases of a rewarding career: an early purple patch as a
sideman and leader for Blue Note in the 1960s; a period of intriguing fusion-esque
experiments with Milestone between 1967 and 1975; a stunning return to Blue Note in the
mid-80s; then a triumphantand Grammy-winningseries of concept albums for Verve
between 1991 and his death in 2001. Throughout, his tenor sound and his unflinchingly
original and fresh solo style changed little. As another writer once noticed, he was always in
the middle of a great solo.

Joe was not a Miles Davis-like chameleon. His early Blue Note work was driving and smart,
an alternative to Coltrane and Wayne Shorter that scratched a similar but not identical itch in
listeners ears. His later discs for Blue Note and Verve were more mature and commanding,
perhaps, but they delivered the same goods without ever repeating themselves. It was that
middle patch of discsthe ones recorded during the classic rock era that left so many jazz
musicians flummoxed by how to deal with electricity and rock rhythmsthat are in many ways
the most telling about the kind of musician Henderson was.

Power to the People was Hendersons third disc for producer Orrin Keepnews and
Milestone, and it was the first to deal head-on with rock and soul music. The year was 1969,
simultaneous with Miles Daviss two seminal discs In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. And
Keepnews recruited folks who had been part of Miless transition toward funk and electricity:
Herbie Hancock (in whose semi-electric sextet Henderson was then playing) on keyboards, Ron
Carter on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums. For a Miles-ian touch, a young trumpet player
named Mike Lawrence was also brought in on two tracks.

Those two cuts (Afro-Centric and Power to the People) plus Black Narcissus feature
Hancocks distinctive Fender Rhodes electric piano, interlocking with a polyrhythmically free
DeJohnette and Carter at his most funky and tight. The two quintet tracks allow the trio of
accompanists to bubble and brew with soul pleasure, though it never really abandons its
identity as a jazz trio that is playing the harmonic changes when necessary to drive the soloists
forward. These tracks do not swing in the usual sense, but they also are not the kind of
overt funk that Miles was beginning to play with. Never are they the kind of fusion cotton
candy that many of Hendersons contemporaries (such as Freddie Hubbard) would record for
the CTI label. Rather, it is arguable that Henderson was fooling around with a jazz-rock
fusion that was simply weighted more toward the boogaloo funk of the earlier 60s than
easy listening or the acid-tinged edge that would eventually lead Miles to Pangea and
beyond. Regardless of philosophy, these are compelling tracks, giving the soloists long
stretches of ostinato to play over with amazing freedom. Hancocks workout on Power is as
fine as he gets, and the horns gobble up great gobs of harmony, both the leader and Lawrence
staying inside for long, tangled stretches before venturing significantly beyond.

These electric experiments, however, are not one-dimensional, and they are only a part of
the album. Black Narcissus features Hancocks Rhodes, but it is a more traditional ballad
that just happens to use the Rhodes sound to emphasize both the delicate sections and the
sudden build to forte at the end of each chorus. Carter and Hancock coax the most delicate
sounds from their instruments, creating a near-abstract impressionism on some go-rounds.
Henderson responds with an airy tone that captivates. Just as delicate is the bluer (and
acoustic) Ron Carter tune Opus One-Point-Five. With these tracks, Henderson demonstrates
that there is only a small distance between the acoustic and electric approaches, a truism that
too little music in that era could demonstrate.

Of course, when the band is simply playing straight-up post-bop jazz, all is right with the
world as well. Here is the first appearance of the Henderson-penned standard Isotope, as
well as a perfectly balanced mid-tempo take on Lazy Afternoon. The most adventurous
trackand the one that looks forward to the most commanding of Hendersons later workis
Foresight and Afterthought, a wholly improvised blues performance for the trio of just
Henderson, Carter, and DeJohnette. The drummer is playing directly in the line of Elvin Jones,
with Henderson naturally taking on the Coltrane role. But here, Hendersons great strengths
distinguish him: a sense of clear structure, a tone that moves from breathy to steely and
through ranges of personality in between, and an approach to free playing that remains
smartly tethered to tonality. On the middle section here, the leader plays with micro-tonality
and even ugliness, but it brings him back to consonance and swing before long.

Like so much jazz made around 1969, Power to the People is transitional and shifting. But
happily, it is steady and ready Joe Henderson at the helm. He makes the free playing sound
hard-driving, the rock experimentation sound within the tradition, and the more traditional
playing sound out ahead of the pack. Not an embarrassment from a by-gone era, not the
musical equivalent of embroidered bell-bottoms, this 1969 Joe Henderson record is a strong
reminder of a player who never faltered. By Will Layman, POPMATTERS.

***

"Power To The People", released for the first time on CD (now in re-mastered form) is yet
another example of how the finest achievements of Joe Henderson's early career went un-
noticed and he was undervalued. It is just as well from the 80's on that he finally received the
recognition he had so clearly merited or this groundbreaking album may only have seen the
light of day as part of an inaccessible box set.

This is yet another great album highlighting Joe Henderson as an important jazz composer
and great jazz saxophonist. Having said that, it represents a distinct break from "In 'N Out" or
"Inner Urge" by taking up the challenge laid down by Miles Davis to make a music that was
recognizably jazz but could stand alongside the breakthroughs signposted by Jimi Hendrix.
Fronting a superb line up recruited direct from Miles' groundbreaking experiments with "In A
Silent Way"- Herbie Hancock (piano and Fender Rhodes, Ron Carter (bass and electric bass),
Jack DeJohnette (drums)- and adding trumpeter Mike Lawrence on two of the tracks ("Power
To The People" and "Afro-Centric"), this is a fine journey from the easily accessible ("Black
Narcissus, "Afro-Centric", "Opus One-Point-Five") into the reaches of atonality ("Isotope",
"Power To The People") and back out again into a more reassuring tonality ("Lazy Afternoon").
"Foresight and Afterthought", becoming again free and touching atonality, acts as an
interesting final question mark on the future. Though it is a much overworked claim, the seven
pieces could easily be regarded as movements of a jazz concerto.

Before jazz fusion was to degrade into the clumsiness and lack of subtlety of "Headhunters"
and "The Mahavishnu Orchestra" advances like "Power To The People" as much as "In A Silent
Way" signposted vital new directions forward for jazz which only now in the hands of today's
innovators such as Dave Douglas are again coming to fruition.

One of the best jazz albums to re-emerge in recent years. 100 GREATEST ALBUMS.

Tracklist
 All pieces by Joe Henderson, unless otherwise noted.

"Black Narcissus" - 4:50

"Afro-Centric" - 7:00

"Opus One-Point-Five" (Ron Carter) - 4:56

"Isotope" - 4:53

"Power to the People" - 8:42

"Lazy Afternoon" (Moross, Latouche) - 4:33

"Foresight and Afterthought (An Impromptu Suite in Three Movements)" - 7:33

Personnel

Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone)

Mike Lawrence (trumpet) (02, 05)

Herbie Hancock (piano (3, 4, 6), electric piano (1, 2, 5)

Ron Carter (bass, electric bass)

Jack DeJohnette (drums)

Design [Album] John Murello

Engineer [Recording] George Sawtelle

Liner Notes Alan Heineman

Mastered By Ray Hagerty

Photography Charles Stewart

Producer Orrin Keepnews

Recorded on May 23 (02, 05) and May 29 (all others), 1969, Plaza Sound Studios, New York
City.