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Today’s pick is from Joe Henderson; a track named Black Narcissus from the 1969 album Power To The People. It was recorded with a stunning line-up; Henderson on tenor sax, Ron Carter on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, Mike Lawrence on trumpet, and none other than Herbie Hancock on the keys.
Henderson was a well known and respected performer throughout his career, spanning over 4 decades of live performance and recording; much of it under the seminal Blue Note label with over 30 recordings to his name. His style drew primarily on bebop and hard bop styles, but he also experimented extensively with latin and avant garde jazz. Henderson worked with many of the great musicians of the genre, including Horace Silver, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, and Tony Williams.
Joe Henderson is known for his complex ornamental style of playing, but also shows signs of a musical intensity in the way associated with John Coltrane. This track is a moody, intense and brooding piece of music, made more so by Henderson’s unique playing style. Ron Carter’s use of a major 7th in the bass line adds an element of suspense to the tone and thus contributes to the mysterious feel of the music.
Black Narcissus demonstrates a somewhat unusual use of 3/4 rhythm for the era in which it was recorded, balking the straight four swing style which was evidently popular in hard bop jazz at the time. Through following a ‘jazz waltz’ feel it keeps the musical pattern of a 3/4 piece, yet adding an element of swing through the syncopated feel and slight anticipation on the 2nd and 3rd beats through the emphasis of the rhythm commonly used in jazz waltz.
An interesting Rhodes piano solo is included from pianist Herbie Hancock in what must be one of the earliest and at that time experimental use of the Rhodes piano in jazz music, preceding acts strongly associated with the Rhodes such as The Headhunters and Weather Report by several years.
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