Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Fletcher Henderson was very important to early jazz as leader of the first great jazz big band, as an arranger and composer in the 1930s, and as a masterful talent scout. Between 1923-1939, quite an all-star cast of top young Black jazz musicians passed through his orchestra, including trumpeters Louis Armstrong, Joe Smith, Tommy Ladnier, Rex Stewart, Bobby Stark, Cootie Williams, Red Allen, and Roy Eldridge; trombonists Charlie Green, Benny Morton, Jimmy Harrison, Sandy Williams, J.C. Higginbottham, and Dickie Wells; clarinetist Buster Bailey; tenors Coleman Hawkins (1924-1934), Ben Webster, Lester Young (whose brief stint was not recorded), and Chu Berry; altoists Benny Carter, Russell Procope, and Hilton Jefferson; bassists John Kirby and Israel Crosby; drummers Kaiser Marshall, Walter Johnson, and Sid Catlett; guest pianist Fats Waller; and such arrangers as Don Redman, Benny Carter, Edgar Sampson, and Fletcher's younger brother Horace Henderson. And yet, at the height of the swing era, Henderson's band was little-known.
Fletcher Henderson had a degree in chemistry and mathematics, but when he came to New York in 1920 with hopes of becoming a chemist, the only job he could find (due to the racism of the times) was as a song demonstrator with the Pace-Handy music company. Harry Pace soon founded the Black Swan label, and Henderson, a versatile but fairly basic pianist, became an important contributor behind the scenes, organizing bands and backing blues vocalists. Although he started recording as a leader in 1921, it was not until January 1924 that he put together his first permanent big band. Using Don Redman's innovative arrangements, he was soon at the top of his field. His early recordings (Henderson made many records during 1923-1924) tend to be both futuristic and awkward, with strong musicianship but staccato phrasing. However, after Louis Armstrong joined up in late 1924 and Don Redman started contributing more swinging arrangements, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra had no close competitors artistically until the rise of Duke Ellington in 1927. By then, Henderson's band (after a period at the Club Alabam) was playing regularly at The Roseland Ballroom but, due to the bandleader being a very indifferent businessman, the all-star outfit recorded relatively little during its peak (1927 to 1930).
With the departure of Redman in 1927, and the end of interim periods when Benny Carter and Horace Henderson wrote the bulk of the arrangements, Fletcher himself developed into a top arranger by the early '30s. However, the Depression took its toll on the band, and the increased competition from other orchestras (along with some bad business decisions and the loss of Coleman Hawkins) resulted in Henderson breaking up the big band in early 1935. Starting in 1934, he began contributing versions of his better arrangements to Benny Goodman's new orchestra (including "King Porter Stomp," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and "Down South Camp Meeting"), and ironically Goodman's recordings were huge hits at a time when Fletcher Henderson's name was not known to the general public. In 1936, he put together a new orchestra and immediately had a hit in "Christopher Columbus," but after three years he had to disband again in 1939. Henderson worked as a staff arranger for Goodman and even played in B.G.'s Sextet for a few months (although his skills on the piano never did develop much). He struggled through the 1940s, leading occasional bands (including one in the mid-'40s that utilized some arrangements by the young Sun Ra). In 1950, Henderson had a fine sextet with Lucky Thompson, but a stroke ended his career and led to his death in 1952. Virtually all of Fletcher Henderson's recordings as a leader (and many are quite exciting) are currently available on the Classics label and in more piecemeal fashion domestically.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra Selected Favorites, Vol. 16
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Charly Records on 21 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fletcher Henderson And His Orchestra's I'll Take Her Back If She Wants To Come Back
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Pop - Released by Charly Records on 24 Jun 2006
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Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra Selected Favorites Volume 6
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra Selected Favorites Volume 4
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Pop - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
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Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra Selected Favorites Volume 5
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Pop - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra Selected Favorites Volume 9
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Pop - Released by Charly Records on 20 Jun 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
T.N.T.
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Blues - Released by PROFOUND on 14 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
D Natural Blues
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Blues - Released by PROFOUND on 14 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Carousel
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Carooousel & mooore on 16 Jun 2019
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Salon
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by More Wings in Hell on 11 Dec 2020
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Live Through This
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by LTT brothers music on 12 Jul 2020
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All Time Jazz: Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Bella Musica Edition on 13 Jun 2014
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A June Morning
Eva Taylor Acc. By Clarence Williams' Blue Five, Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra, Clarence Williams' Blue Five
Jazz - Released by a june morning on 17 Jan 2023
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Sweet And Hot
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Blues - Released by PROFOUND on 14 Aug 2019
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Just We Two
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Just we on 23 Apr 2023
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Fletcher Henderson & his Orchestra
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Blues - Released by PROFOUND on 14 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Search For Meaning
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra, The Dixie Stompers
Jazz - Released by classics & more on 23 Apr 2017
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Dually Attired
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by Records on 7 Mar 2016
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Lets Have A Drink
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by obligat music on 23 Nov 2015
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Be With Me
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by obligat music on 23 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dark City Nights
Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra
Jazz - Released by umore catalog on 12 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo