Trumpeter and flugelhorn participant Eddie Henderson first caught the eye of jazz listeners as a dulcet Miles-esque presence inside Herbie Hancock’s boldly progressive early ’70s Mwandishi band. Fusionist within the truest sense, that sextet merged probing improvisation, synths and heavy studio FX, and African and fashionable classical tonal sketches throughout three good however commercially challenged albums. Hancock would disband the group and famously pivot his sound in direction of the earthier pocket and pulse of 1973’s Head Hunters. However neither he nor the remainder of his outdated ensemble members’ subsequent solo recordings fully deserted the explorative spirit of Mwandishi. In Henderson’s case, these sensibilities have been absorbed into albums that variously embraced lush digital keyboards and groove-centric rhythms with out sacrificing their harmonic sophistication and integrity – an aesthetic splendidly exemplified by 1976’s Heritage.
Hearken to Eddie Henderson’s Heritage now.
From the LP’s sepia-toned cowl imagery – Henderson as a baby taking part in trumpet backdropping Henderson as an grownup holding his flugelhorn – a tangible sense of private journey grounds its greatest moments. A practising MD who undertook his residency in psychiatry earlier than launching his music profession, Henderson adopted the Swahili identify Mganga (“Healer”) whereas with the Mwandishi band. His alternative of fabric and collaborative gamers right here really feel completely in sync with this nom de plume. The lead observe, “Inside You,” is a beautiful Mtume composition that ripples like an indelible reminiscence. Anchored by piano and crisp, proto-boom-bap drums, it supplies an beautiful mattress for Henderson’s alternately muted, elongated phrasing and unmuted, staccato stabs.
“Time and Place” and “Nostalgia” share this contemplative vibe. A Henderson unique, the previous finds the chief’s trumpet and his fellow former Mwandishi cohort Julian Priester’s trombone converging with Patrice Rushen’s electrical keys and Hadley Caliman’s soprano sax over the poetic glide of a 6/8 waltz. The latter locations Henderson’s melancholy lengthy tones in dialog with Paul Jackson’s bass vamp and drummer Mike Clark’s cymbals (each from Hancock’s Headhunters band) with splashes of Mtume’s percussion and Rushen’s keys rounding out the dialogue.
Heritage additionally permits ample room for shifting moods. Rushen’s two compositional contributions, “Acuphuncture” and “Kudu,” most explicitly flirt with funk as reference factors but keep away from repetition, staying trustworthy solely to the subsequent rhythmic or melodic development. By the point Henderson and firm attain the penultimate, climactic “Dr. Mganga” – a percolating brew of textures and polyrhythms – they’re nicely deep into the murkier areas the place the brooding meets the attractive. Based mostly round a repeated riff launched by Caliman’s bass clarinet, “Dark Shadow” concludes the album on a moody be aware.
Henderson’s recorded repertoire has since encompassed jazz-funk dance flooring favorites and acoustic post-bop conventional. Nevertheless, Heritage – and “Inside You” particularly – would proceed to search out followers many years after its launch through the hip-hop era. If “Inside You’s” opening bars’ loop-ability inevitably attracted the ears of rap artists and producers within the ’90s, it’s the transcendent emotive high quality of Henderson’s unique that made it so ripe for repurposing for the likes of say, Jay-Z’s “Coming of Age” from his basic Cheap Doubt. And speaks palpably to the broader connectivity inherent in Heritage.
Hearken to Eddie Henderson’s Heritage now.
