EDDIE HENDERSON - ANTHOLOGY VOL 1
Eddie Henderson Anthology Eddie Henderson has become one of the foremost jazz trumpeters in recent years, but he reached his creative peak in the mid 70's with a string of great jazz fusion albums for Blue Note and Capitol, which form the basis of this anthology. His aggressive 'spacey' style of playing is instantly recognizable and his influence can be heard in many young trumpet players, most notably Eric Truffaz. Eddie was born in New York on 26th October 1940, and having moved to California studied classical trumpet at San Francisco Conservatory from 1954-57. In the late '50's Miles Davis stayed in his parents house as a guest whilst touring, and became his first major influence. After hearing Miles play he decided he wanted to be a jazz musician. Eddie then graduated with a B.Sc in zoology from the University of California in 1964, and then graduated in medicine from Howard University Washington DC in 1968. Whilst in Washington, he visited New York at weekends and learnet licks and exercise techniques by practising with Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan. In 1970 Eddie joined Herbie Hancock's sextet, and adopted the Swahili name Mganga, touring and playing on the 'Mwandishi', 'Crossings' and 'Sextant' albums. The collective sound of these albums and the interaction between the players creates a unique uplifting listening experience, that touches the inner consciousness. The trumpet solos hover above the band showing off his use of space to create a total sound. Eddie recorded two albums for Capricorn 'Inside Out' and 'Realization' using the same players from the sextant : Herbie Hancock, Bennie Maupin, Billy Hart, Buster Williams and Patrick Gleeson. These albums are put together on The Anthology volume 2. These albums followed a similar direction, very dark, sparse and intense long tracks with a spiritual feel. They were produced by Skip Drinkwater, who went on to produce his Blue Note and Capitol albums. After leaving the sextet, Eddie toured with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers for six months, and appeared on Charles Earland's classic album 'Leaving This Planet', alongside his long time friend Freddie Hubbard. He also performed on many other albums including Norman Connors 'Love From The Sun' and 'Slewfoot' and Buddy Terry 'Pure Dynamite'. In 1975 Eddie Henderson signed for Blue note and recorded the 'Sunburst' album, again mainly using musicians from Herbie Hancock's bands ; Bennie Maupin, Julian Priester, Billy Hart, Buster Williams and Harvey Mason. This album had a more accessible and rhythmic feel than the Capricorn albums. We include here the funky 'Explodition' with Eddie's stabbing horn over a complex rhythm, Harvey Mason's much sampled 'Hopscotch', and the Alphonso Johnson bass led 'Involuntary Bliss'. On 'Galaxy' Bennie Maupin's incessant bass clarinet dominates, with one of his most controlled performed. For his second Blue Note album 'Heritage', the rhythm section changed to the Headhunters' Paul Jackson and Mike Clarke, joined by Patrice Rushen and Mtume. 'Kudu' and 'Acupunture' are two very funky fusion tracks and along with the more mid tempo 'Inside You' have been club and sampler's favourites for many years. The next year he signed to Capitol and produced his 'Coming Through' album. This featured the jazz funk classic 'Say You Will', highlighted by Richard Searling as one of the top jazz funk tracks of all time in a recent edition of Togetherness magazine. Also included with a track called 'Funk Surgeon', a reference to Eddie's work as a practising medic and psychiatrist. Background vocals were included for the first time courtesy of Patrice Rushen, Phillip Bailey, Mtume and a very young Dianne Reeves. 'Mahal' from '78 included the fantastic up tempo version of Herbie Hancock's 'Butterfly' featuring the man himself on keyboards, along with most of the Headhunters. This alsum also included another jazz funk favourite 'Prance On' and 'Amoroso' a beautiful mid tempo track which illustrates Eddie's trumpet playing. Another track from this album 'Cyclops' became a club hit at the time with some DJ's playing it at 45RPM instead of 33 !! A third and final album 'Runnnin' To Your Love' did not live up to the standard which the previous albums had set, being a more disco oriented affair. Since then Eddie has appeared on many diffrerent albums, most notably on Pharoah Sanders classic 'You've Got To Have Freedom' and made several more straight ahead jazz albums. He still performs regualarly with his Quintet throughout USA. The recordings on this anthology are true jazz fusion classics, and Eddie deserves greater recognition alongside Herbie Hancock, Headhunters, Grover Washington etc as a fusion master. Eddie Henderson- The Funk Surgeon.

Track list (click to hear tracks - one minute clips)