JAZZ SPOTLIGHT

JOE HENDERSON

“The Blue Note Years”

Blue Note

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This four-CD box (4 1/2 hours of music) includes 36 cuts, all but the final 25 minutes being classics from the 1960s. Though Henderson is the leader on only 10 tracks, his tenor is prominent throughout on selections led by Bobby Hutcherson, Duke Pearson, Andrew Hill et al.

The set could as well have been issued as “Best of Blue Note.” Sad to say, many giants of that era heard here have left us: trumpeters Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw and the memorable Blue Mitchell, whose solo on “Sweet and Lovely” is a gem. Most of the pianists, though, are still among us: Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Tommy Flanagan.

Henderson’s sound and maturity differed little 30 years ago from his much-lauded work today. For proof, compare the first cut, “Sao Paolo” in 1963, with the final item, from a 1990 date with Renee Rosnes. Why it took so long for fame to overtake him is anybody’s guess.

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