Bill Henderson (jazz singer)

William Randall "Bill" Henderson (born March 19, 1926 in Chicago , Illinois - † April 3, 2016 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American jazz singer and actor .

Life

Bill Henderson, who was influenced by Joe Williams , began his professional career as a singer in 1952 when he performed with Ramsey Lewis in Chicago . He then moved to New York where he worked as a soloist. In June 1958 Bill Henderson recorded a vocal version of his composition Señor Blues for Blue Note with Horace Silver's band . In October - also for Blue Note - four tracks were created with the trio of organist Jimmy Smith , including the number Ain't That Love and the jazz standard Willow Weep for Me .

At the end of October 1959 he recorded his first album Bill Henderson Sings for Vee Jay Records with Benny Golson's orchestra, consisting of Booker Little , Bernard McKinney , Yusef Lateef , Wynton Kelly , Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb , including his interpretation of the hardbop classic Moanin ' . In late 1960, another four tracks for Vee Jay such as the Percy Mayfield number Please Send Me Someone to Love , in which the singer was accompanied by Tommy Flanagan , Freddie Green , Milt Hinton and Elvin Jones .

In 1961 Henderson was on tour in Japan with Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers ; In 1963 an album was created for MGM , on which he was accompanied by the Oscar Peterson Trio. Despite his talent, he did not have an artistic breakthrough in the 1960s. In 1965 the single Who Can I Turn To? followed by the album Bill Henderson (Verve V / V6 8619). In 1966 he interpreted Lennon / McCartney's classic Yesterday in the Count Basie Orchestra (Basie Beatle Bag) .

Bill Henderson then settled in Los Angeles, where he worked as an actor and occasionally performed with a band. In the 1970s Henderson played a few albums for Discovery Records and appeared mainly in the Los Angeles area. Well known is a concert in August 1975 in the 'Times Restaurant ("Live at the Times"). 1999 Henderson met again in appearance, when he participated in Charlie Haden's album The Art of the Song participated (Why Do not I Choose You) . In May 2007 the live album Beautiful Memory: Live at Vic was created , on which the drummer Roy McCurdy also participated.

He should not be confused with the jazz pianist of the same name, who worked with Billy Higgins and Harold Land , among others .

Appreciation

Writer Will Friedwald pays tribute to singer Bill Henderson, despite his few recordings, “as the ultimate hardbop singer.” Like Ernie Andrews, “he translates blues techniques onto standard material, and while Andrews uses a kind of shout , Henderson relies more on groans and whispering, with a voice that comes close in character to the voices of singing instrumentalists and which (...) reminds of a cross between Ray Charles and Johnny Hartman . "

Discographic notes

• Horace Silver: Six Pieces of Silver (Blue Note, 1956–1958)
• Bill Henderson: Please Send Me Someone to Love (Vee Jay)
• Bill Henderson: The Complete Vee-Jay Recordings Vol. 1 & 2 (Koch, 1993 and 2000, respectively)
• Bill Henderson with the Oscar Peterson Trio (Verve, 1963)
• Bill Henderson: Live At The Times (Discovery Records DSCD-779)

swell

• Bielefeld catalog 1988 & 2002
• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-141-02327-9 .
• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
• Will Friedwald: Swinging Voices of America - A Compendium of Great Voices. Hannibal, St. Andrä-WIERT, 1992, ISBN 3-85445-075-3 .

Web links

• Works by and about Bill Henderson in the catalog of the German National Library
• Bill Henderson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Bill Henderson at Allmusic (English)
• Obituary in JazzTimes

Remarks

1. ^ Mike Barnes: Bill Henderson, Jazz Vocalist and Actor, Dies at 90. In: hollywoodreporter.com. The Hollywood Reporter , April 4, 2016, accessed April 7, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Donald Byrd (tp), Junior Cook , Horace Silver, Gene Taylor , Roy Haynes played in the Silver Band , the A-side of the single was Silver's composition Tippin . See (as well as for the further discographic information) Jazzdisco.org
3. ↑ Quoted from W. Friedwald, p. 267.
4. ↑ The Vee-Jay recordings also appeared as Bill Henderson Sings (Vee-Jay, 1959), Bill Henderson - His Complete Vee-Jay Recordings, Vol. 1 (Vee-Jay NVJ2-909) or as Bill Henderson With Benny Golson's Orchestra (Vee-Jay VJ 337) or His Complete Vee-Jay Recordings, Vol. 2 (Vee-Jay NVJ2-912).