Joe Henderson

[Guy Berger]

What do people think of the two 1968 live discs of Joe with the Wynton Kelly trio that Verve issued in the 90s?

I’ve spent a lot of time with Straight No Chaser recently and it’s enjoyable but also underwhelming given the names on it.  Basically great musicians on a ho hum night - very different from Joe Henderson in Japan.

[Mark Stryker]

I think the first volume, "Four," is out-of-this world fantastic. Joe on "On the Trail" or "Green Dolphin Street" is as great as Joe gets. On the whole, Straight No Chaser isn't quite as strong a record. As it happens, I had a conversation last week with Pat Metheny, who LOVES these records. 

[JSngry]

I like both of those records very much. They swing like swing swings with all of those people.

[clifford_thornton]

I agree, they're both excellent. I usually don't get too excited about the Wynton Kelly Trio with Cobb, but Joe seems to bring things up a notch. 

[Rooster_Ties]

I “like” them both quite a bit, though the absence of any of Joe’s originals is always an obvious detraction — which is what keeps me from really loving either of them.

The live document with Nat Adderly from Oct 1966 has some fiery-er playing from Joe than either of the two Left Banks with Wynton Kelly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Memory_Lane
 

But it’s  a damn shame there’s nearly NO examples of Joe playing any of his own stuff in the 60’s — save for this one and ONLY example, at least that I’m aware of…

“Isotope” Monterey, 1966

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Rooster_Ties

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, clifford_thornton said:

I agree, they're both excellent. I usually don't get too excited about the Wynton Kelly Trio with Cobb, but Joe seems to bring things up a notch. 

The first one, it came on the radio one day in the car, and I reroted directly to a record store. SO much swing, enough swing to reroute a car for crissakes!

[Pim]

On 28-11-2021 at 1:53 AM, Guy Berger said:

What do people think of the two 1968 live discs of Joe with the Wynton Kelly trio that Verve issued in the 90s?

I’ve spent a lot of time with Straight No Chaser recently and it’s enjoyable but also underwhelming given the names on it.  Basically great musicians on a ho hum night - very different from Joe Henderson in Japan.

I feel the same way. I was very excited initially when I bought them second hand on a cd/lp fair. Started listening with high expectations but was a little disappointed. Joe was doing more exciting things those years.

It’s not bad. I mean hey: it’s Joe and Wynton! But I could live without them.

[Gheorghe]

10 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

I agree, they're both excellent. I usually don't get too excited about the Wynton Kelly Trio with Cobb, but Joe seems to bring things up a notch. 

Same here. Wynton Kelly Trio sounds nice, but doesn´t really exite me. 

[Rooster_Ties]

We’ll goodness, gracious — lookee, lookee!  And “Isotope” starts at 11:28 (that isn’t the song length).

Joe Henderson & Kenny Drew trio, Molde Jazz Festival, Norway, August 1968 (colorized)

Titles 1. Chelsea bridge 00:00 2. Isotope 11:28

Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Kenny Drew (piano), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums).

 

 

[clifford_thornton]

Wow, this is great!

[Peter Friedman]

Listened yesterday to the Verve date "Four" with the Wynton Kelly trio.  It was a decent session (in my opinion), but not anything special. The tune "On The Trail" was my favorite. The sound quality was below average. The bass & drums were not at all clear. There was a muddy quality to the sound. 

This is not unusual for a number of recordings from that Baltimore venue. I strongly suspect it was not recorded with the intent to release it on a commercial label.

[david weiss]

4 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

Listened yesterday to the Verve date "Four" with the Wynton Kelly trio.  It was a decent session (in my opinion), but not anything special. The tune "On The Trail" was my favorite. The sound quality was below average. The bass & drums were not at all clear. There was a muddy quality to the sound. 

This is not unusual for a number of recordings from that Baltimore venue. I strongly suspect it was not recorded with the intent to release it on a commercial label.

The Left Bank was essentially recording for "archival" purposes. Almost all of the recordings were never meant for commercial release but over the years many have seen the light of day. Some are pretty well recorded many certainly are not and have a lot of issues. Some are salvageable, some are not.... But as the years pass by, a lot of them are the only documentation of many great artists performing live with their own bands during a particular period of time (or for some, ever) and for that, are quite valuable, to me at least. 

On 11/28/2021 at 0:46 PM, Mark Stryker said:

I think the first volume, "Four," is out-of-this world fantastic. Joe on "On the Trail" or "Green Dolphin Street" is as great as Joe gets. On the whole, Straight No Chaser isn't quite as strong a record. As it happens, I had a conversation last week with Pat Metheny, who LOVES these records. 

I have to agree with this and like the 2nd one as well but perhaps not as much. Joe is amazing on these and as great as I think he is, these recordings were still a bit of a surprise for me. The Village Vanguard stuff never really floated my boat. It's good but it never had repeated plays in my house....

[Larry Kart]

1 hour ago, david weiss said:

The Left Bank was essentially recording for "archival" purposes. Almost all of the recordings were never meant for commercial release but over the years many have seen the light of day. Some are pretty well recorded many certainly are not and have a lot of issues. Some are salvageable, some are not.... But as the years pass by, a lot of them are the only documentation of many great artists performing live with their own bands during a particular period of time (or for some, ever) and for that, are quite valuable, to me at least. 

I have to agree with this and like the 2nd one as well but perhaps not as much. Joe is amazing on these and as great as I think he is, these recordings were still a bit of a surprise for me. The Village Vanguard stuff never really floated my boat. It's good but it never had repeated plays in my house....

Didn't many of those Left Bank JS recordings feature a very out of tune piano?

[david weiss]

39 minutes ago, Larry Kart said:

Didn't many of those Left Bank JS recordings feature a very out of tune piano?

Yes, the piano is out of tune to varying degrees depending on the recording. Sometimes it's not so bad, sometimes the music is so powerful, you overlook it a bit....

Sometimes it completely ruins the recording or someone with a conscious deems the recording unusable and the world at large never hears it....

[felser]

The Gary Bartz album from the Left Bank, 'Home' is fantastic and desperately needs CD release.  'The Free Slave' by Roy Brooks from there is also great, and those both sound OK, much better than other recordings from there.  I guess those two were meant for release when recorded?

[clifford_thornton]

Good question. Home is awesome; I feel like it could use a remaster (rhythm section seems a little 'distant' on the LP) if possible, but the music is super. And the Roy Brooks is essential.

[Shrdlu]

Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Kenny Drew (piano), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), Albert "Tootie" Heath (drums) is a good lineup. I'd like to hear that.

A favorite Henderson track is "Lazy Afternoon" on the "Power To The People" album. Great mood, and Herbie Hancock plays a superb riff on it.

Joe's playing on Miroslav Vitous's "Infinite Search" is excellent.

[Peter Friedman]

Joe Henderson plays well on this date.

[mikeweil]

2 hours ago, Shrdlu said:

Joe's playing on Miroslav Vitous's "Infinite Search" is excellent.

Thats some of my favourite Joe.

2 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

Joe Henderson plays well on this date.

I saw his quartet with Rosnes many years ago. Fine all female rhythm section.

[jazzbo]

Universal Japan is reissuing Joe Henderson "Mode for Joe" with 2 alternate takes. This could be the one that many have been waiting for with that elusive second alternate. 

UCCU-5940, October 19

Edited August 22, 2022 by jazzbo

[Rooster_Ties]

1 hour ago, jazzbo said:

Universal Japan is reissuing Joe Henderson "Mode for Joe" with 2 alternate takes. This could be the one that many have been waiting for with that elusive second alternate. 

UCCU-5940, October 19

That’s almost gotta be the same as this one (from 2015) with two alternates — the first time that alternate of the title track had ever appeared.

https://www.discogs.com/release/11227057-Joe-Henderson-Mode-For-Joe

That alternate is also on the recent Joe Henderson Mosaic (which I don’t have, I just have the 2015 reissue)…

…but I do think that alternate of the title track is fascinating, and wonderful. Such a delicate piece, and it’s quite an experience hearing it for the very first time. It’s not radically different or anything, but there are lots of differences in the details if you know the master-take even just halfway-well.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

2 hours ago, jazzbo said:

Universal Japan is reissuing Joe Henderson "Mode for Joe" with 2 alternate takes. This could be the one that many have been waiting for with that elusive second alternate. 

UCCU-5940, October 19

Still no signs of reissued SHM-CDs of Lou Donaldson's "Here 'Tis" with the extra track "Blues #4" or John Patton's "Blue John" with the extra 5 tracks though. I've been hoping to see them reissued.

[jazzbo]

Maybe next year. You never know. I'd welcome the Donaldson, I have the Patton. But I'd be glad to see many of these reissued for general enjoyment by many.

 

The other Blue Note SHM-CDs reissued in this batch are:

UCCU-5911 Sonny Rollins / Sonny Rollins Vol.1 [SHM-CD]

 

UCCU-5921 Horace Silver / Six Pieces Of Silver [SHM-CD]

 

UCCU-5931 Hank Mobley / Workout [SHM-CD]

  CD 1500yen  Released: October 19, 2022

Edited August 22, 2022 by jazzbo

[danasgoodstuff]

On 8/22/2022 at 5:50 AM, bresna said:

Still no signs of reissued SHM-CDs of Lou Donaldson's "Here 'Tis" with the extra track "Blues #4" or John Patton's "Blue John" with the extra 5 tracks though. I've been hoping to see them reissued.

I have the Blue John with bonuses, it's good but unfortunately nowhere near as greasy as the originally issued tracks.  IIRC, there's still 2 unissued from those 2 sessions.  Maybe if it was a 2 LP Tone Poet they could squeeze 'em in and I could buy this for the 3rd time.

[Rabshakeh]

On 22/08/2022 at 1:50 PM, bresna said:

Still no signs of reissued SHM-CDs of Lou Donaldson's "Here 'Tis" with the extra track "Blues #4"

That’s a great record. Possibly the greasiest out there.