The Night Beat — Joe Henderson Quintet, At the Lighthouse

On The Night Beat on Wednesday, February 2, we’ll feature a few tunes from “If You’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem”, with live performances recorded in late September 1970 by the Joe Henderson Quintet at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California.

Then-owner and in-house producer at Milestone Records, Orrin Keepnews felt this band would best be showcased on a live recording rather than confined to a studio.  The resulting album proves he was correct.

The quintet includes Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone; Woody Shaw, trumpet; George Cables, piano; Lenny White, drums; and Ron McClure, bass.

While this quintet did not exist for long, better things came along for most of the musicians.

Joe had previously worked and recorded with trumpet player Woody Shaw a few years earlier on a couple of Blue Note albums worthy of Desert Island Disc status: Horace Silver’s “Cape Verdean Blues” and organist Larry Young’s “Unity.” By the end of 1970, Woody had recorded his breakthrough 2LP album for Contemporary Records, “Blackstone Legacy.”

All of 20 years old, drummer Lenny White had already appeared on a couple of recordings including Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew.” Within a couple of years, he was part of the second iteration of Chick Corea’s “Return to Forever.”

Pianist George Cables soon began working with some of the best jazz musicians of the day including Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, and Art Pepper. He always had (and continues to have) the ability to make anybody he works with sound better.

Prior to working with Joe Henderson, bassist Ron McClure had been part of the Charles Lloyd “classic quartet” which also included pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette.  In the mid-1970s McClure was the bassist for Blood, Sweat, and Tears.

In early 1971 and within a few months of the Lighthouse recording, Joe Henderson joined Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Henderson mentioned in an interview that it was the only time instrument manufacturers sought him out and gave him new horns to play. Joe would’ve earned $200k a year had he remained with the band but he found the music uninteresting and was gone within four months.

While Joe’s recordings as a leader and sideman for Blue Note in the early-to-mid 1960s and Verve in the 1990s are well-known, those recorded for Milestone Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s have been largely forgotten or ignored. “If You’re Not Part of the Solution, You’re Part of the Problem” is Exhibit #1 for why they shouldn’t be.

Listen in to The Night Beat with Doug Crane on Wednesday, February 2, at 8 pm. Only on KUVO JAZZ!

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