JAM, XVI: Joe Henderson on "Passport"

Every weekday this month I'll be posting new content in observance of Jazz Appreciation Month (J.A.M.), so-designated by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History beginning in 2001. International Jazz Day, so-designated by UNESCO in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, is on the last day of April, the 30th; it was first celebrated in 2012. Debating the relative merits of designating specific days or months for celebrating heritages, traditions, and the like aside, Jazz Appreciation Month is at the very least an excuse to dig into some material that I've been interested in for a while on the blog. 

Yesterday's installment featured what I submit is the greatest solo Joe Henderson ever recorded. Tomorrow's will feature Bird playing on his other "Passport."

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As far as I know, there aren't too many recordings of Joe Henderson playing over rhythm changes: "Straight Ahead" from his very first professional appearance on Una Mas, this performance, and "Swing, Spring" from So Near, So Far are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. Stan Getz's discography is similarly lacking in rhythm changes, curiously: as the first guy I really checked out, I remember searching specifically for examples of Getz blowing bebop lines over rhythm changes, of which there was very little—"Wee" from For Musicians Only, "Dizzy Atmosphere" from Sittin' In, and what else?

One day I'd like to get around to taking down Charlie Haden's lines and Al Foster's comping on this; it's all so good. There are plenty of curiosities during this solo (I'm sure many more will reveal themselves with repeated listening): the "woo"-eliciting voice leading line in mm. 9-11 (reminds me of "Split Kick"), the few beats around the bridge in mm. 48-9 where Charlie Haden mysteriously drops out for a few beats after Al Foster and Joe Henderson nearly line up while punctuating a phrase, the exact alignment of Joe and Charlie Haden at mm. mm. 125-7, the Klosé book-like classical saxophone articulations at mm. 247-9 (a nod to Bird quoting those exercises?), and so on. Here it is:

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