I wrote about Gleeson before in relation to his lesser-known solo endeavour "Rainbow Delta", which is a nice listen as well. His machines are all over "Crossings" and "Sextant". Early ARP 2600 adopter and one time producer of Devo. Last, but not least we have another Hancock associate - synth man Patrick Gleeson. Jenny-Clark who had a parallel career playing high modernist concoctions by the likes of Stockhausen, Berio and Boulez.Īlso participating are Daniel Humair (drums) and Herbie Hancock's percussionist Bill Summers. Recorded mostly in Paris with German pianist Joachim Kühn and his frequent associate French bassist J.F. I consider it Henderson's most refined 1970s moment. Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, both former members of Miles Davis’ second great quintet and veterans of Davis’ transition from straight jazz to electric rock/funk-oriented music provide a solid basis for Henderson and the largely unknown Lawrence (on two tracks), while drummer Jack DeJohnette (who also worked with Davis on the seminal Bitches Brew) is, as always, near-perfect.įor fans of modern jazz, Power to the People is something of an undiscovered classic, offering a fine performance that endures repeated listening from one of the music’s most creative and often under-recognized improvisers.Henderson's final 11th (or 12th if you count The Kicker) installment for Milestone. Even though the rhythm section is all-electric on this track, the interaction between the players is really no different from any post-bop jazz small group recording. Similarly, his take on soul and rock-influenced jazz here is different than most of what was being labeled ‘fusion’ at the time. That a man could participate in the moods of both ‘Power to the People’ and ‘Black Narcissus’ is not astonishing that he can be wholly convincing in both worlds and others besides, is.”Īmazingly, Henderson eschews neither Coltrane nor Rollins (what tenor player could?), but he occupies a territory somewhere between the two, which is wholly his own. In the album’s original liner notes Alan Heinman marvels: “Dig on ‘Black Narcissus,’ for instance, where Joe floats like a butterfly with a tone so airy he might in spots be blowing alto. Power to the People leads off with “Black Narcissus,” one of Henderson’s best-loved compositions. With the exception of Carter’s “Opus One-Point-Five” and the standard “Lazy Afternoon,” all the compositions here are Henderson’s. His Milestone recordings rank among Joe Henderson’s best and most interesting work, with the newly reissued Power to the People of particular interest due to its stellar supporting cast: Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, and trumpeter Mike Lawrence on two tracks. In 1970 Henderson signed with Orrin Keepnews’ fledgling Milestone label, where he became an equally prolific leader and sideman. While many of these were as a leader, he was a sideman on some heavy projects, including Horace Silver’s Song for My Father, Herbie Hancock’s Prisoner, and Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch. From 1963-68, Henderson appeared on somewhere around thirty albums for Blue Note. However, there is ample recorded evidence of Henderson’s vitality throughout his long career, with distinct phases. In Henderson’s case, it was the 1992 recording Lush Life. Similarly to Dexter Gordon (who he was greatly influenced by), Henderson was well-respected in jazz circles but didn’t have a mainstream breakthrough until much later in his career. True, he was known and discussed, but never seemed to be placed in the company of greats like Coltrane and Rollins. It’s a well-known truism that Joe Henderson was, for years, one of the most consistently underrated tenor saxophonists on the jazz scene. Power to the People is a typical high-quality Joe Henderson affair.
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