Album Reviews

Trumpeter Kenny Dorham brought Joe Henderson to Blue Note and on the late tenor saxophonist's second lead album gives him strong support as the two chase each other through some zig-zag bop thickets. "Teeter Totter," the fast-paced Henderson-penned opener alone is worth the price of admission but the other tracks simmer with equal intensity.

The rhythm section of Andrew Hill on piano, Pete La Roca on drums and Eddie Khan on bass push the pacing to Charlie Parkeresque speeds with Hill sometimes assuming  an angular, Monk-like style.

You can read Leonard Feather's heavily analytical, deconstructive liner notes, or you can just sit back and let in the jazz take on the year 1964 while you look at some fantastic Francis Wolff pictures.

What kind of year was it? It was one in which Feather actually had to defend Charlie Parker's and Dizzy Gillespie's musical relevance. 

Very good Rudy Van Gelder sound. Even the piano is sized right and nicely focused. The better your front end, the more coherent the piano will sound. Henderson and Dorham are very well recorded as well. 

Henderson faded somewhat during the 1970s but after signing to Verve in the 1990s he released a series of thematically coherent, commercially successful albums that brought him great success without harming his credibility or reputation.