Release Date: 15 September 2023
Label: Smoke Sessions / House Arrest
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 195269246297
Genres: Jazz  
Release Date: 15 September 2023
Label: Smoke Sessions / House Arrest
Packaging Type: Digipak
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 195269246297
Genres: Jazz  
Description
Trumpet legend Dr. Eddie Henderson celebrates the 50th anniversary of his debut album as a leader, 1973's "Realization," with the exhilarating new release "Witness to History." The stellar quintet on this album bridges that half-century of music: lifelong collaborator George Cables returns once again to the piano bench. Henderson's colleague in The Cookers, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison, and his more recent collaborator, bassist Gerald Cannon, have also appeared on the trumpeter's recent string of releases for Smoke Sessions. They're joined by legendary drummer Lenny White, who has reunited with Henderson in the studio for the first time since Realization 50 years ago).
Henderson is also the subject of an upcoming PBS documentary "Dr. Eddie Henderson: Uncommon Genius," set to arrive in February 2024 that charts his fascinating life in three disparate endeavors: as a medical doctor, as a pioneering figure skater, and, of course, as a legendary jazz musician.
"My first trumpet teacher, way back in 1949, was Louis Armstrong," recalls Henderson, "From that point on, I witnessed the evolution in music through Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Booker Little, Woody Shaw, John Coltrane, up to the present. I lived through the turmoil of the '60s and '70s and the rise of Black Power in this country. So, I have been a witness to history, and inevitably that rubbed off on me musically."
"Witness To History" traces Eddie Henderson's evolution through a remarkable span of time, but it's abundantly clear that he's done more than watch from the sidelines as history unfolds. Dr. Henderson has made his own indelible mark on history, and this vital music reveals that he's far from writing his final chapter.
Tracklisting
Joe Farnsworth
Harold Mabern
Wayne Escoffery
Bobby Watson
Kevin Hays, Ben Street & Billy Hart
Buster Williams
Dax Riggs
Steve Davis
Eddie Henderson
Eddie Henderson
Eddie Henderson