Search - Joe Henderson :: The Definitive Joe Henderson

As a member of the Blue Note roster during the 1960s, Joe Henderson was recognized as a solid hard-bop tenor saxophonist and composer--a team player appreciated as much for his contributions to his label mates' albums as for his own recordings. One of the big stories in jazz during the '90s was his transformation into a beloved, best-selling tenor master via the handsomely produced, brilliantly promoted album tributes to Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis, and Antonio Carlos Jobim that he recorded for Verve. Staging a kind of battle of the eras (with only one track from the '70s or '80s), The Definitive Joe Henderson samples both the Blue Note years (which teams Henderson with such luminaries as Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner, and Kenny Dorham) and Verve years (which features the likes of Herbie Hancock, John Scofield, and Dave Holland, and includes the tenorist's only big band outing). While Henderson's voice on the latter tracks is deeper, sparer, and more lyrical--his unaccompanied reading of "Lush Life" is luminous?the tuneful and deep-digging Blue Note classics such as "Mode for Joe" and "Inner Urge" still carry the day. --Lloyd Sachs