Late era Joe Henderson as a sideman

[White Lightning]

I can't get enough of Joe Henderson (a small wonder, I know).

After exploring all his late (90s or so) era recordings, what great performances by him are there out there?

I can recommend 2 that I spin a lot:

Walter Norris - Sunburst

Louis Scherr trio - Warm Valley

Any more out there worth searching for?

[John Tapscott]

McCoy Tyner's New York Reunion on Chesky.

[White Lightning]

OOPS! I meant JOE Henderson, of course...

[JSngry]

He plays a solo on "You go To My Head" on Shirley Horn's THE MAIN INGREDIENT that merits attention.

"Computer G" from Kenny Garrett's BLACK HOPE - now THAT'S some Joe Henderson for your ass!

Gimme time, I'll think of some more.

[JohnJ]

One 90's recording featuring Joe Henderson that I really like is 'For The Moment' by Renee Rosnes. For me, this CD has a real mid-sixties Blue Note vibe.

[pryan]

He appears on Roy Hargrove's TENORS OF OUR TIME album but only on two tracks: "Serenity" and "Shade of Jade".

[Dmitry]

Valery Ponomarev - PROFILE [pretty good contempo hard bop date]

Donald Byrd - GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS [byrd is mediocre, while Joe is very good]

[Rooster_Ties]

Neil Swainson: 49th Parallel

I've seen this title (on CD) three times in the past week at Barns & Noble, as part of their "Concord - $3.99" sale.

An excellent date, especially since it's got Joe and Woody Shaw!!!

[brownie]

Joe Henderson is the featured soloist on two tracks ('Black Narcissus'

and 'Pygmalion') in the 1984 Ida album 'Mais Ou est Donc Ornicar' by the

French big band Ornicar.

[bertrand]

The Swainson is a steal at $3.99. Woody is killing on the track without Joe (forget the title). I love late Woody Shaw because his sound is so relaxed - a great contrast from his harder-edged work in the 60's and 70's. It's a shame he died so tragically - he seemed to be at peace in those years.

Bertrand.

[Vincent, Paris]

Joe Henderson is featured on four tracks of pianist Kevin Hays' very first album, "El Matador", recorded for the now defunct Japanese 'Jazz City' label (later reissued by Evidence). Along with Steve Wilson, Scott Collet and Bill Stewart.

Edited March 29, 2003 by Vincent, Paris

[Eric]

There is a Wynton CD - one of the Soul Gestures in Southern Blue with Joe and Elvin Jones. Great music.

Eric

[Rooster_Ties]

Joe Henderson is the featured soloist on two tracks ('Black Narcissus'

and 'Pygmalion') in the 1984 Ida album 'Mais Ou est Donc Ornicar' by the

French big band Ornicar.

Now THAT's a pretty damn obscure recording. Never heard of it before, and can't seem to find much about it on-line, although I am getting a few hits from some French websites, all in French (of course).

This is a clear example of why we need a comprehensive Joe Henderson discography/sessionography. I have a hunch he's on a dozen or more dates that I've never even heard of.

I find decent on-line sessionographies for all kinds of classic BN artists, all the time - sometimes multiple sites for the same artist. And yet, there's nothing even halfway decent covering Joe Henderson.

=====

And while I'm on my soap box, I sure wish there was a complete sessionography for Charles Tolliver too. The one on Tolliver's own site is decent, but only lists album titles, not tunes or recording dates - let alone sidemen.

Someday....

Edited March 30, 2003 by Rooster_Ties

[shawn·m]

James Williams Meets the Saxophone Masters is a fun recording. I don’t think it was intended to be anything but fun with George Coleman on the right channel and Billy Pierce on the left. Joe is center stage. I’d heard the DIW disk was out-of-print, but Amazon still lists it as being available.

[Tom in RI]

I came to the Joe Henderson party really late. The first disc I had with him featured, still one of my favorites, is Bruce Forman's Forman on the Job. Henderson is featured on a little over half the tunes. Outstanding. Hey Barak, I recognize your avatar!

[ADR]

Joe Henderson had two great sideman appearances on Mulgrew Miller albums which (unfortunately) are both now out of print:

"The Countdown" is a Landmark album from the late 80's with Henderson, Miller, Ron Carter and Tony Williams. How's that for a lineup?!

"Hand In Hand" is a Novus album from circa 1992 that features Joe on 5 (out of 9) tracks. The album also features Kenny Garrett, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Steve Nelson on vibes, Christian McBride on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums.

I highly recommend both these albums not just as good examples of Joe's late era work as a sideman but as great all around albums. It's a shame both of these are OOP - but they are definitely worth tracking down.

ADR