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Fletcher Henderson

© Agha Yasir

Listening to Henderson's big band, you can hear jazz evolving from early New Orleans style to sophisticated swing. Georgia-born Henderson grew up listening to the blues of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, and the big bands he led in New York beginning in 1923 swung with a rootsy, bluesy feel - a feel absent from tighter ragtime and dance bands.

Yet Henderson's ensembles were far more polished than the so-called Midwest Territory bands of his day. They always played in tune and many of the musicians read music - essential, because the ensemble relied upon tight arrangements by Don Redman and others. But despite its musical literacy, the band lent its own interpretation to songs, stamping them as their own with improvised solos by star players.

Henderson's orchestra pointed the way toward famous big bands of the 1930s - which played tight compositions containing wide-open spaces for extended solos. Don Redman - a saxophonist, clarinetist, and sensitive arranger - was a key to Henderson's success.

Henderson had a gift for spotting talent: In 1924, he recruited Armstrong from New Orleans, and the combination of Redman's charts and Satchmo's "Copenhagen," Redman's arrangements pit trombone and trumpets again sax and clarinet in an energetic push-pull. Songs were tightly scripted to spotlight soloists such as Armstrong and sax man Coleman Hawkins.

Initially, Henderson's band was much stiffer than its New Orleans counterparts such as Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers, but the arrival of Louis Armstrong loosened things up. Redman, as well as Henderson, sax/trumpet player Benny Carter, and arranger Bill Challis came up with consistently solid arrangements in subsequent years. The band showcased a steady stream of great soloists: trumpeters Joe Smith, Rex Stewart, and Tommy Ladnier; trombonists Benny Morton, Charlie Green, Jimmy Harrison, and J.C. Higginbotham; saxophonist Chu Berry; and clarinetist Buster Bailey.

Comparing Henderson's music with jazz recorded by Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers during the same period can give you a tangible idea of the big band swing (Henderson). Morton brought opera and classical influences into his music, but his arrangements, while tight, were never as intricate or inventive as Redman's arrangements for Henderson.

On the other hand, Morton's band swung harder. He employed all seven Peppers to maximum effect, making great use of contrast, harmony, rhythmic tension, and multiple interwoven melodies (known as polyphony).

While Henderson's band was a key to the transition from New Orleans jazz as exemplified by Morton and others, and vintage big band swing played by Duke Ellington and Count Basie's bands, Henderson never quite put it all together. Even when Armstrong takes the lead, Henderson's band sounds stiff and methodical on its tight arrangements, never attaining the heat of Morton's Peppers.

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