Bill+henderson

Duke Henderson - Get Your Kicks (1945) {Delmark DD-668 rel 1994}
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© 1945, 1994 Apollo / Delmark Records | DD-668
Jazz / Blues / Jump Blues / Regional Blues / West Coast Blues

Blues shouter Henderson was quite a popular jump blues singer on the postwar L.A. scene. His 1945 output for Apollo, collected here, rates with his best; backed by top-drawer sidemen including saxists Lucky Thompson, Wild Bill Moore, and Jack McVea and guitarist Gene Phillips, Henderson's pipes convey the proper party spirit on these 20 swinging sides.

Within a refined setting of easy listening pop ballads and lightly funky up-tempo selections produced by Al McKay, Henderson proves himself an assured vocalist with mastery of clarity and phrasing. The problem here is the material isn't challenging enough – it's often formulaic and derivative of other early-'80s releases. Even a contribution from Stevie Wonder, "Crush on You," wanders into oblivion. But the singer's debonair tone and elegant, polished diction makes the weaker sound stronger. A perfect example is the mid-tempo "I'd Rather Be Gone," which suffers from a sleepy melody and clichéd rhythm arrangement.

Bill Evans & George Russell Orchestra - Living Time (1972) {CBS Japan 25DP 5306 rel 1988}
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© 1972, 1988 CBS / Sony Japan | 25DP 5306
Jazz / Post Bop / Experimental Big Band / Keyboards

A brilliant "experimental" album featuring elaborate and rhythmically complex compositions by jazz academician George Russell performed by an large ensemble, and featuring Bill Evans on piano and Fender Rhodes. Very psychedelic and groovy. Pianist Bill Evans' second and final Columbia album was a rematch of sorts with composer-arranger George Russell; Evans had been on a couple of Russell's more significant albums of the late '50s. Russell's lengthy and episodic work "Living Time" (which has eight "events") features crowded ensembles as played by Evans' trio plus 19 musicians (including two additional keyboardists). Despite the major names in the "backup group" (including the reeds of Jimmy Giuffre, Sam Rivers and Joe Henderson), the focus throughout is on Evans' acoustic and electric keyboards.

Buddy Henderson, better known as "Bugs" Henderson, was a blues guitarist who was popular in Europe and from the 1970s was based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, where he was known as a local blues guitar legend. Henderson played with blues musicians such as B. B. King, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters and Stevie Ray Vaughan, also with rhythm and blues saxophonist Don Wise and the rock guitarist Ted Nugent. He died just four days after a benefit concert in his name. The performers at the 11-hour “Benefit Bugs” event included Ray Wylie Hubbard, Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King, and Mouse and the Traps, the band from early in his career with the hit songs, “A Public Execution” and “Maid of Sugar – Maid of Spice” that featured his guitar solos.