Horace Henderson
Horace Henderson (born November 22, 1904 in Cuthbert , Georgia , † August 29, 1988 in Denver , Colorado ) was an American jazz pianist, arranger and band leader. He is the brother of the band leader Fletcher Henderson .
Life
Horace Henderson started playing the piano at the age of 14. During his studies, which he began at Atlanta University and continued at Wilberforce University in Ohio, he founded the band "The Wilberforce Collegians", in which fellow students Benny Carter and Rex Stewart as well as Castor McCord played. They performed together in New York, among other places. From this band later the "Horace Henderson Orchestra" and in 1928 the "Dixie Stompers" emerged. He then worked with Sammy Stewart and in 1928 reorganized his old band "The Collegians", which in 1931 was taken over by Don Redman .
Horace Henderson continued to be the band's pianist and arranger before he worked as an arranger for his brother's "Fletcher Henderson Orchestra" in 1933/4 (recordings in 1933 as a sideman) and in 1936 ("Hot and Anxious", "Christopher Columbus", the 1936 was a hit, "I found a new baby"). In the 1930s he also worked for many other swing bands such as Charlie Barnet's , the Casa Loma Orchestra , Tommy Dorsey , Earl Hines , Jimmie Lunceford and Benny Goodman . With Goodman, many of his arrangements were also broadcast live on radio nationwide ("Sing, Sing, Sing", "Big John's Special" for Gene Krupa , "String of Pearls", "Japanese Sandman", "Walk Jenny Walk", too) for Krupa).
From 1937 to 1940 he again had his own orchestra (recordings in 1940) in Chicago . In 1942/3 he was briefly in the army, then back with his brother. He accompanied Lena Horne and had groups of his own in Los Angeles from 1945 to 1950 . He then played in Minneapolis , Las Vegas and finally in Denver , where he also lived from the 1960s.
Henderson was in the shadow of his brother Fletcher Henderson all his life , but as an arranger contributed significantly to his success (the band's songbook contained almost as many arrangements by him as by Fletcher Henderson). In Gunther Schuller's standard work "The Swing Era" he is recognized as one of the most important arrangers of classic big band jazz after Duke Ellington.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Henderson, Horace |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz band leader, pianist and arranger |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 22, 1904 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cuthbert , Georgia |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 29, 1988 |
| Place of death | Denver , Colorado |