January 16–23, 1997

best bets|Spring Arts Focus

Verve!

Joe Henderson headlines a concert celebrating Verve artists.

By Nate Chinen

People would say 'Joe, when will we get to hear Joe Henderson play Joe Henderson?'

"So what's the weather like out there?"

Joe Henderson is in San Francisco gearing up for a 20-concert tour with the Verve JazzFest, and he has spent the last few days dividing his time between rehearsals and dozens of interviews like this one. So it's mildly surprising to hear him speak, in concerned and measured tones, about the recent snowstorms in Seattle and Portland.

"Man, people have been sleeping in the airports..." He talks this way for a while, as if we're sitting casually over coffee somewhere.

Henderson's affable nature permeates to the core of his music — the tenor saxophonist's distinctive sound is full-bodied, yet tender. He plays with a tremendous command of the instrument and an even sharper sense of melody, whether he's fluttering through a hard bop tune, wailing on a blues chorus or caressing a bossa nova. Henderson helped define the classic Blue Note sound of the '60s, along with players like Horace Silver and Lee Morgan. More recently, his trio of Verve songbook albums (devoted to Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis and Antonio Carlos Jobim) brought Henderson to a whole new level of critical and commercial acclaim.

"That was a big surprise for me," he says in reflection. "I didn't just do this — there weren't any major differences that I knew about since the time that I first arrived in New York." Henderson's most recent album, simply titled Joe Henderson Big Band, is the culmination of some 30 years' inspiration — Henderson and trumpeter Kenny Dorham started a rehearsal band in New York in 1966, as a laboratory for Henderson's large group arrangements; for a while, it was a place for players like Chick Corea and Curtis Fuller to drop by and play. The band lasted about five years, and nothing more happened until 1992, when he and trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard played several of the old arrangements with the Lincoln Center Big Band. Joe Henderson Big Band consists of tracks from 1992 and 1996.

"I received some wonderful comments throughout the last few years, after Lush Life and the Miles and Jobim projects. People would say 'Joe, I really think those songbooks were incredible... but when will we get to hear Joe Henderson play Joe Henderson?' Which gave me an impetus to complete the project."

All but two of the tracks on the big band album are Henderson compositions; classics like "Recorda Me,""Serenity" and "Isotope." The ensemble plays the arrangements with passion — you get the sense that this is a group of incredible soloists who are nevertheless sensitive to their place in Henderson's musical vision. "I've never worked in a big band situation that was easier," he remarks. "The band was my instrument, in a sense —in another sense, it felt like a quartet."

During the Verve JazzFest, Henderson hits the road with his working trio, featuring drummer Al Foster and bassist George Mraz. "The trio format is definitely one that I like," Henderson says. The small combo affords Henderson his most intimate and intuitive musical setting; one in which his subtleties become all the more poignant.

In addition to Henderson, the Verve JazzFest features Charlie Haden's Quartet West and the Kansas City All-Stars from Robert Altman's recent film Kansas City.

I ask Henderson about the co-starring groups.

"I can't imagine Charlie Haden doing anything without being superbly musical," he says enthusiastically. Most critics and listeners would agree; Charlie Haden has long been one of the acoustic bass' most outstanding and unique heroes, a subtle but powerful presence in any musical context. Quartet West is a smartly cohesive combo — their 1996 Verve release, Now Is The Hour, was a stirring and romantic tribute to the music of post-World War II America ( la Cary Grant).

"I really enjoyed the music, and the theatrical quality of putting themselves into that music and that time," Henderson says of Robert Altman's Kansas City band. The film featured an all-star cast of musicians onstage, recorded live in a fictitious Kaycee club.

"I mean, I loved that scene, the battle of the two tenor players," he says, referring to an on-screen cutting contest between Joshua Redman and Craig Handy. "I have always compared music to the theater, and I approach my instrument the way an actor approaches a scene."

The Kansas City All-Stars are comprised of most of the original musicians, including such notables as Don Byron, Christian McBride, Nicholas Payton, James Carter, Mark Whitfield, and Kevin Mahogany.

The Verve JazzFest promises to be a thrilling ride. Whether it's the nostalgic period swing of the Kansas City Band, the crispness of Haden's Quartet West, or the Joe Henderson Trio, audiences can anticipate one of the most exciting tours in recent jazz history.

Mon., Jan. 20, Keswick Theatre, Easton Rd. & Keswick Ave., Glenside, 572-7550.