ARKADIA JAZZ ALL STARS
Thank You, Joe! - A Tribute to Joe Henderson
Arkadia Jazz
70004

Having recently bought Joe Henderson's 8 CD Milestone box set (The Milestone Years, MCD-4413-2), I can't say I'm surprised by the sheer volume of great music that this supremely subtle and stylish tenorman has produced over the past 45 years or so. Thank You Joe is a pleasant, though resolutely conservative, tribute. The tunes are well-chosen, and include some oft-recorded gems ("Recorda Me," "The Kicker," "Inner Urge"), some more obscure pieces ("Gazelle", "Granted"), and a Monk tune ("Ask Me Now") that appeared on Henderson's mid-80s breakthrough recording, The State of the Tenor. It has always fascinated me that Henderson himself recorded many of these pieces (and many others) each time he got a new band together, yet never did the result seem predictable or tired. Henderson's use of electronics, though in the wake of the pioneering work of Miles Davis, Peter Robinson's Contraband, The Fourth Way and a few others, was never trite or hackneyed, and it seems a shame that his work in this area was overlooked here.

"Mamacita," a Latin tinged soul-jazz groover, was first recorded by Blue Mitchell for a session that wasn't released until the 1980s. It debuted on Kenny Dorham's slightly later 1964 recording Trompeta Toccata, and subsequently appeared on Henderson's first Milestone LP, The Kicker. Here, Eric Reed's soulful piano recalls that of one of Henderson's first employers, Horace Silver. Joanne Brackeen's quartet turns in a strong version of the odd-metered "Gazelle" (which first appeared on Henderson's heavily electrified In Pursuit of Blackness). Javon Jackson's warm tone and unhurried approach to improvisation echoes Henderson's without sounding slavishly devoted. Brackeen, as usual, is wonderfully inventive and skittish. "The Kicker", one of Henderson's most popular compositions, and the title track of his 1967 Milestone debut, first appeared on Horace Silver's Song for My Father LP back in 1964. Grant Green and Bobby Hutcherson both recorded the tune shortly thereafter, though both sessions (Green's Solid, and Hutcherson's The Kicker) weren't released until much later. Here, "The Kicker" is given an energetic reading by a quintet featuring the stratospheric duelling trumpets of Terrell Stafford and ex-Henderson sideman Randy Brecker. I especially enjoyed the rather loose, yet soulfully exuberant, quartet version of "Isotope." Jackson, bassist Rodney Whittaker, and Reed shine especially brightly on this one. Also worthy of note are Steve Nelson's vibraphone work on "Inner Urge," and the sextet version of "Granted," a little-known gem from Henderson's 1965 Blue Note LP, Mode for Joe. Henderson's esteem among younger jazzmen is evident by the fact that "Inner Urge" has appeared on over thirty recordings since 1992, but less than 5 times between 1992 and 1964, when Henderson first recorded it. "Granted" is an uncharacteristically laconic (for Henderson, anyway), bebop-styled theme that provides fertile ground for soloing by drummer Carl Allen. The only track on Thank You Joe that doesn't ring true is "Isfahan," which, here, sounds like it belongs on a George Shearing tribute.

Thank You Joe is a warm-hearted and well-conceived tribute to an artist whose true impact on the music is only beginning to be understood. Frankly, though, I'd sooner grab several of Henderson's own recordings before I got this one.

Dave Wayne

Track Listing: 1. Mamacita; 2. Isfahan; 3. Gazelle; 4. The Kicker; 5. Ask Me Now; 6. Recorda Me; 7. Isotope; 8. Inner Urge; 9. Granted

Personnel: Eric Reed, piano (tracks 1, 2, 4-9); Rodney Whitaker, bass (tracks 1, 2, 4-9); Carl Allen, drums (tracks 1, 2, 4-9); Terrell Stafford, trumpet (tracks 1, 2, 4, 9); Randy Brecker, trumpet (tracks 1, 4, 6); Javon Jackson, tenor saxophone (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7, 9); Steve Nelson, vibes (tracks 2, 8, 9); Renato Thoms, percussion (track 6); Joanne Brackeen, piano (track 3); Ira Coleman, bass (track 3); Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez, drums (track 3)