Eddie Henderson, show the love!!

[Rooster_Ties]

Just picked up this one-disc compilation of Eddie Henderson's first two albums as a leader, both on the Capricorn label originally. (Got it from Dusty Groove, the only place I've ever seen it.)

Both albums have the entire line-up for Herbie's Mwandishi group, including Herbie, Bennie Maupin, Buster Williams, and Billy Hart, plus a couple extra musicians on each session.

Man, I really love these recordings, especially the first one - "Realization" - recorded in early 1973. The second one - "Inside Out" - is a bit spacier, with less blowing from Eddie (or Bennie), but it's still a mighty interesting album never the less.

And actually, this compilation is called "Anthology: Volume 2 - The Capricorn Years". I passed on Volume 1 for the moment, because it appears to be a greatest-hits/overview kind of thing, for much of Eddie's output in the 70's. Anybody else have Volume 1?? Is it worth picking up?? Is that the only way to get most of that material on CD?? (I tend to avoid compilations that draw from multiple albums, don't we all?)

I've also got Eddie's "Sunburst", the recent Rare Groove title from BN, and really like it as well, particularly while driving in the car.

What other electric-era Eddie from the 70's is on CD??

I've got a smattering of his Steeplechase work (all acoustic, at least what I have), and I like most of it as well.

Has Eddie recorded in any electric contexts since the start of the 80's?? Everything I've heard has been acoustic, but perhaps I'm not aware of some things. With the variety of groups revisiting Miles' electric work from the 70's, you'd think Eddie would maybe have a new audience for his (former) electric side.

Edited August 26, 2004 by Rooster_Ties

[Noj]

Lots of love for Eddie here. I have this compilation and enjoy it quite a bit:

1 Kudu Rushen 6:10

2 Inside You Mtume 4:53

3 Involuntary Bliss Johnson 6:49

4 Explodition Duke 6:41

5 Acuphuncture Priester 3:44

6 Galaxy Earland 6:36

7 Hop Scotch Mason 3:54

8 Butterfly Hancock, Maupin 8:09

9 Say You Will Grant, King, Lucas, Mtume ... 4:30

10 Amoroso Maupin 5:41

11 Prance On Mtume 5:19

12 Open Eyes Rushen 3:53

13 Beyond Forever Cables 4:39

14 Movin' On Henderson 5:58

Love this one too:

[Eric]

Rooster/Tom, I am not aware of any electric stuff he has done recently.

Good thread - I actually prefer Henderson's stuff of this era to Herbie's - not by a wide margin, but I do think it is a little nastier B-)

[Rooster_Ties]

I'm the same way, Eric, in the comparisons with Herbie -- at least from what I've heard. These three electric albums by Eddie that I have are all BAAAD!!!! --- and have Herbie beat (slightly) at his own game, at least in my book.

Hey, I see on Dusty Groove's site that his 1977 album "Comin' Through" is due out on CD this month.

The Dusty review sounds good, of course (don't they all!!!) --- with all the Dusty buzzwords (which I've put in bold below)...

Sweet smooth and funky work from Eddie Henderson -- a nice move from his more righteous work of the mid 70s, into an R&B-tinged sound that would take him far in years to come! The sound is surprisingly great, and still pretty darn righteous -- thanks to some great production by Skip Drinkwater -- working with Eddie in the same funky fusion mode as on his records with Bobbi Humphrey from the same time. There's a warm compressed groove to the session that's really great -- and Eddie's working with a top-shelf batch of players that include Patrice Rushen, Paul Jackson, Julian Priester, and George Cables. Titles include "Movin On", "Say You Will", "Source", "Open Eyes", and "Beyond Forever".

Of course the AMG review paints a different picture...

In 1977, Eddie Henderson slipped into the clutches of Capitol Records, which didn't have much of a jazz division and predictably didn't know how to showcase its adventurous new trumpeter. First and foremost, they thought they could turn him into a pop/disco star — and so, that idiot beat turns up on most of the tracks here (the exceptions are pianist George Cables' thoughtful "Morning Song" and "Beyond Forever," which harken back a bit to the jazzier Henderson of only a few years before, and a quietly uneventful duet with Cables on "Connie"). The funk band on patrol is stoked with able pros, there are background vocals on a couple of tracks (the female singer is the very young Dianne Reeves), and Henderson overdubs his horn on the cliched period brass choruses. But the deadliest element here is the mostly mediocre material that Henderson has to work with, and thus, his occasionally lost-sounding horn is largely spent on lost causes. Hard to find, which is just as well.

As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

[Eric]

The contrast in the descriptions is a scream ... one could start a new thread on the topic (i.e. The Bastards vs AMG) ...

[mikeweil]

Comin' Through is indeed somewhat disco-drenched. I loved Eddie Henderson with the Mwandishi band, and got all of his albums as soon as they were released, but they got increasingly commercial one after another. The first two on the Capricorn twofer CD in the first post, Realization and Inside Out were the best, closely followed by Sunburst. Heritage is bland compared to the former, and he plays some nice lyrical trumpet on the subsequent Capitol LPs, but the trendy disco and funk beats, as much as I dig them, get tedious. I guess the cross selection on the other Capricorn CD is sufficient.

Eddie Henderson played some great solos ariound that time on Charles Earland's Fantasy album Leaving This Planet, cutting Freddie Hubbard!

Other fine sideman playing of this time is on two Norman Connors LPs, Dance of Magic (Cobblestone) and Love From The Sun (Buddah) - both feature Herbie Hancock, Carlos Garnett, Gary Bartz, Buster Williams, Billy Hart, Bill Summers etc. - but I'm afraid the latter never was on CD, which is a shame!

Eddie Henderson slightly morphed into a solid modernized hardbop player, which I find much less interesting than his earlier experimental approach.

[sidewinder]

I picked up the original LP of 'Realization' back in 1976 in a deletions rack and have just loved it ever since. Dig Patrick Gleeson's spacey & heavy moog sounds and Herbie's great playing as well as the fantastic trumpet and flugel from Eddie.

Having not heard 'Inside Out' and being a huge fan of Eddie's 'Mwandishi' era recordings (but not his disco-fied Capitols - hate them) I picked up the 2LP set of the Capricorn material. Not a bad price at £12 and a nice pressing to boot. The label is Soul Brother Records - they are an R&B/Soul/Jazz specialist on Streatham High Street in 'Sarf' London. They do a real nice line in multicolour DJ vinyl carry-bags too .. B-)

Edited August 28, 2004 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

I passed on Volume 1 so far but I'm passing a shop tomorrow which (I think) has it on vinyl and hopefully at the £12 price.

[sidewinder]

By the way the sound on the Capricorns reminds me a lot of Julian Priester's 'Love Love' (ECM). Not suprising I guess as they were all recorded at Different Fur Trading in San Fran at about the same vintage.

[mikeweil]

By the way the sound on the Capricorns reminds me a lot of Julian Priester's 'Love Love' (ECM). Not suprising I guess as they were all recorded at Different Fur Trading in San Fran at about the same vintage.

Your guess is correct - all recorded at Different Fur, including the three Hancock albums.

[sidewinder]

I managed to pick up that Vol 1 2LP set today and as the cover has a small tear it was marked down from £15 to £7 (just my sort of price !). Just listening to side B and Bennie Maupin wailing away on Charles Earland's 'Galaxy'. Not as adventurous as the stuff on Vol 2 but pretty nice nonetheless (very 'Headhunter-ish' with a hint or two of Starsky and Hutch and Kojak.. ). I've revised my opinion upwards on the Capitol albums - unfortunately listening to one track of 'Runnin' To Your Love' biased me somewhat in the past.

Edited August 28, 2004 by sidewinder

[sidewinder]

Eddie Henderson slightly morphed into a solid modernized hardbop player, which I find much less interesting than his earlier experimental approach.

Totally agree.

[Rooster_Ties]

Lots of love for Eddie here. I have this compilation and enjoy it quite a bit:

1 Kudu Rushen 6:10

2 Inside You Mtume 4:53

3 Involuntary Bliss Johnson 6:49

4 Explodition Duke 6:41

5 Acuphuncture Priester 3:44

6 Galaxy Earland 6:36

7 Hop Scotch Mason 3:54

8 Butterfly Hancock, Maupin 8:09

9 Say You Will Grant, King, Lucas, Mtume ... 4:30

10 Amoroso Maupin 5:41

11 Prance On Mtume 5:19

12 Open Eyes Rushen 3:53

13 Beyond Forever Cables 4:39

14 Movin' On Henderson 5:58

So, what's the general opinion about this release??

I normally don't buy compilations (well, not jazz ones, anyway) --- but I might make an exception in this case. That, and I've already got "Anthology, Vol. 2" (which is Eddie's first two albums, both complete, on one CD), so now I feel like I ought to consider buying the first volume too.

I've already got Sunburst, but I think that's the only thing I own that would have tracks that appear on this compilation.

(Also, at $19 for one CD (at Dusty Groove), that's pretty damn expensive for a compilation. Hence my inquiry here -- is it worth it??)

[Noj]

It leans toward the "spacey," at its worst a bit of Mizell disco flavor (Open Eyes). I think the track "Inside You" is worth the price of admission, but that's just me.

[Rooster_Ties]

Hell's bells, I just found audio-samples of Vol. 1 on the AMG (LINK).

(I hadn't even looked there for vol. 1, cuz I know from prior experience that vol. 2 is nowhere to be found on the AMG site.)

The thing is that BN should just release "Heritage" as a Rare Groove CD. (I'm assuming it's just as good as "Sunburst" -- correct??)

[Free For All]

I thought this was kind of strange. Why'd they copy the Cornbread cover?

[mikeweil]

I thought this was kind of strange. Why'd they copy the Cornbread cover?

Perhaps they wanted to show the connections: trumpet - Blue Note - and as you might have guessed Eddie Henderson did a Lee Morgan tribute some years back.

[mikeweil]

The thing is that BN should just release "Heritage" as a Rare Groove CD. (I'm assuming it's just as good as "Sunburst" -- correct??)

"Sunburst" is better, IMHO. It has a funky but very loose feeling, Harvey mason does a great job propelling the band, George Duke kicks ass, too, Alphonso Johnson is great on that one.

"Heritage" has a Paul Jackson beyond his best days with the Headhunters, Patrice Rushen cannot match Duke's mastery, Mike Clark did not have his best day, and the tunes and arrangements are not very exiting. Compared to the former disc it is second choice. I got it when it was newly released and was disappointed.

[Rooster_Ties]

Anybody here hear Eddie's newest release yet?? I was over at a buddy's house the other day, and he had it. Gave it an extended listen (about 15 minutes), and from what I heard -- it's the best damn thing I've heard from Eddie in years. (Not to dis his recent output, but this one really has legs.)

Among the late-60's Miles related tunes tunes he covers here: "Water Babies", "Masqualero", and "Angola" (all by Shorter), and "Directions" (by Zawinal). The rest were all Henderson originals.

Eddie Henderson - tp

Dave Kikoski - p (mostly), ep (a few tunes, Fender I think)

Ed Howard - b

Victor Lewis - d

Very high on my list of releases to pick up, soon!!!!

Edited November 12, 2004 by Rooster_Ties

[DrJ]

I like Eddie's stuff on Milestone and the one on SharpNine he did too, overall solid. DARK SHADOWS especially is a real gem pretty much from start to finish. But does anyone else feel that sometimes the other dates are marred here and there by tempos that drag? There are times where the music cries out for a kick in the ass on what should be at least medium up tempos. It's one thing to take your time, but...

[Rooster_Ties]

But does anyone else feel that sometimes the other dates are marred here and there by tempos that drag? There are times where the music cries out for a kick in the ass on what should be at least medium up tempos. It's one thing to take your time, but...

From what I heard (about 15 minutes worth), there's definitely some uptempo stuff on his new one ("Time and Spaces").

But I hear ya. Much as I like Eddie's more recent recordings, he does seem to need to kick things up a notch, and more often.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Sorry - I don't know if this is a stupid question - is this the Eddie Henderson who plays with the Mingus Big Band?

Thanks in advance!

[king ubu]

Sorry - I don't know if this is a stupid question - is this the Eddie Henderson who plays with the Mingus Big Band?

Thanks in advance!

Yes, that's the same Eddie Henderson. I came to know him (like most of us, I suppose) as a member of the Mwandishi sextet, and ever since liked his playing. Finally, I just got his "Sunburst" in some sale. No time to listen yet, though.

When I saw him last year with the MingusBB I found him rather disappointing and unfocused.

ubu

[Alexander Hawkins]

Thanks, Ubu - I suspected it might have been him from the picture on that album cover posted above, although had never quite made the connection...

[kinuta]

Dark Shadows Milestone

Inspiration Milestone

Reemergence Sharp Nine

Dreams Of Gershwin Imagica Media Japan

I have these titles and enjoy them all. I'd say ' Dark Shadows' is the one to try to get first but they are all excellent. The Gershwin one may be hard to find outside Japan.

Edited November 15, 2004 by kinuta