Search - Horace Henderson & Fletcher :: H & f Henderson 1940 1941

Big Horace`s Special Treat

Roel Abels | Groningen, Netherlands | 09/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If the name Horace Henderson doesn`t ring a bell, this orchestra and its leader could be a big surprise for you. Sure, Fletcher had a younger brother, who was an very original arranger in his own right. And like his brother,he played piano. Horace played a more fluent and inspired jazzpiano than his elder brother did, in a rhythmic and economic spare style, first strongly influenced by Earl Father Hines and later on he took elements of William Basie`s playing into his style. As an arranger, Horace contributed charts to Fletcher`s orchestra as early as 1931, f.i. `Hot and Anxious`, a number in which he incorporated a riff which later became famous as `In The Mood`. Besides assisting his brother, he later on was asked by Benny Goodman to write special arrangements for him: f.i. `Dear Old Southland`, `Always` and `Big John`s Special`. By 1940 Horace had his own orchestra and built it into one of the finest and delicate swing machines of its time. His arrangements were now different from Fletcher`s, because he began to lean on a lesser extend on the call and response patterns between the trumpets and saxes. He made the sections in the orchestra play longer lines than before. Because of this,his written music got a beautiful free and airy feeling to it. And the band was boasted with first rate musicians in each section. Listen f.i. to the serene`Kitty On Toast`, written in a minor key and based on the changes of Honeysuckle Rose, with Ray Nance playing a beautiful violin solo. Take `Flinging A Whing-Ding`, a far better attempt to incorporate boogie woogie into an arrangement than Tommy Dorsey tried with `Boogie Woogie` in 1937. In this number you`ll hear the Basie inspired piano playing of the leader, Emmett Berry on trumpet and the outstanding bass of Israel Crosby. Further soloists in the band are: Harold Money Johnson on trumpet, Elmer Williams on tenor and the marvelous Oliver Coleman on drums. The cd concludes with four tracks from one of the last Fletcher Henderson orchestras of 1941.
Tranfers were made from the original 78s. The sound quality is good. Five stars all the way. Buy it at once and enjoy!"