Joe Henderson

★★★★

The Complete Joe Henderson Blue Note Sessions

MOSAIC. CD

Influential jazz sax player’s ’60s output for Alfred Lion’s legendary label.

Many casual jazz fans will be familiar with Joe Henderson from his big, blustery solos on two of Blue Note’s most iconic tracks: Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder and Horace Silver’s Song For My Father, both recorded near the midpoint of the 1960s when the Ohio-born hornblower was one of the label’s exciting new discoveries. This 5-CD box set (only available from www. mosaicrecords.com) contains all five albums he recorded for Blue Note between 1963 and 1966 and also features collaborations with trumpeter Kenny Dorham. Across the set’s 47 tunes (three previously unissued), you can hear how Henderson’s forceful playing was unique, incorporating jazz and blues with piquant Latin and avant-garde inflections. The set’s defining moment is

Mode For Joe, as Henderson’s horn, howling like a wounded animal, exudes a spinetingling brilliance. Charles Waring