A damp, dank and overcast Sunday in London, feeling that atmospheric pressure, a bit of a low, trying too keep my head above the clouds all the same. I was wondering what kind of Cosmic Jam I'd be assembling for later on when I get a phone call from If Music's Jean Claude Thompson, informing me that the legendary Wayne Henderson had passed away…. now I didn't want to get ensnared in a debacle like the recent misreporting of Horace Silver's demise. However it soon transpired that the news had come via Bobbi Humphrey's Facebook page and a kindred Texas musician was unlikely to be dealing with rumours, so it was true, another phenomenal talent had passed away. It strikes me as I write this once again that every time such a figure departs this mortal coil, we are all the more impoverished, gradually we're losing a generation of musicians who came through the travails of a very different America, steeped in the traditions of the Deep
South, in the music of the church, and in the pioneering spirit of jazz in the post bop years, it was a unique pedigree that the likes of Wayne Henderson brought to bear on the world of music, both as a player and as a producer.
So there are no words that can express the sense of loss, when you consider Henderson's legacy, it's just too staggeringly immense, from the young Jazz Crusader playing righteous hard bop for Dick Bock's Pacific Jazz label (the flip side to the clichéd image of West Coast "cool jazz") to the producer of so many great albums for his At-Home Productions stable, Wayne Henderson is definitely up there in the pantheon of the greats, a gargantuan contribution to the history of Black music.
Perhaps his decision to leave the Crusaders at the height of their success was telling, though Henderson had definitely made his mark as a composer and player, being a part of a group with two other writers was maybe too limited and the challenges and rewards of the producer's role definitely lured Henderson down a different path. I think his phenomenal success in that respect during a golden period in the latter half of the seventies is testimony to the man's spirit, nobody makes such great music without the love, his obvious ability to nurture younger musicians and to harness the right energy in the studio is born out by the results, a peerless string of albums that sums up the period perhaps better than any other body of work. From the funky jams of Pleasure through fusion and jazz-funk to the soulful shades of Side Effect and others, the sound of At-Home productions, always brimming with fine arrangements and great playing pivoting on rhythm tracks that are second to none. So many of those rhythm tracks were laid down by the core of Pleasure, with Bruce Carter and Nathaniel Phillips' phenomenal bass and drums underpinning proceedings, it was just one of those things that was meant to be. However even the productions that don't feature that particular dream team still feature some serious depth in the foundations, Henderson knew how to build a tune, and the importance of groove.
So his career kind of nose dived in the eighties, which I think in time will prove providential for his reputation, the At-Home production sound was never polluted by the changes to the sonic aesthetic that came to the fore in that decade. When one picks up an album that bears the legend of the At-Home moniker there's a guarantee of a warm analogue sound and a rich soulfulness, I can't think of a better epithet to sum up his legacy.
Of course Henderson was a brilliant player, and a composer of some great "down home" tunes, and even that aspect of his work would rank as a phenomenal achievement, however his productions spin the legacy skyward and beyond, the man was stellar.
1. Wayne Henderson & Freedom Sounds - Behold The Day
2, The Jazz Crusaders - The Young Rabbits
3. The Crusaders - Alekesam
4. The Jazz Crusaders - Sunset in Mountains
5. Wayne Henderson - Lady Bug
6. Monk Montgomery - Fuselage pt 2
7. Pleasure - Straight Ahead
8. Bobby Lyle - The Genie
9. Gabor Szabo - Misty Malarky Yin Yang
10.The Jazz Crusaders - Time Has No Ending
11. Gabor Szabo - Gloomy Day
12. Chico Hamilton - Mysterious Maiden
13. Father's Children - Hollywood Dreaming
14. The Crusaders - Keep That Same Old Feeling
15. Allspice - Hungry Fore Your Love
16. Wayne Henderson - Dancin' Love Affair
17. Smoke - What Goes Around Comes Around
18. Side Effect - Always There
19. Esther Phillips - S.O.S.
20. Roy Ayers & Wayne Henderson - For Real
