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Wayne Henderson

From his formative years in the Lone Star Republic (Texas) to his present international recording artist status, multi-instrumentalist and producer/composer Wayne Henderson is identified by his ebullient persona and scintillating trombone style. Without sounding rhapsodic, we're also compelled to emphasize that Henderson's effervescence, combined with the legendary Jazz Crusaders many smash hit-recordings, is in large part responsible for the cosmic success of these musical icons since the group's inception in 1961.

More than forty-years ago, Wayne Henderson, along with childhood buddies Wilton Felder, Joe Sample, and Nesbert "Stix"¨ Hooper, formed the nucleus of the Jazz Crusaders/Crusaders. As a fledgling, attending Houston's Phyllis Wheatley Jr. High School, the precocious Henderson took the lead in sculpting the group's dazzling style into one that was ground breaking, with considerable eclectic overtones. By fusing elements of jazz, funk, soul, R&B, rock, Latin, and gospel, an iridescent sound emerged with such impact that a musical revolution was unearthed. As the quartet's cornerstone, Henderson's objective was to accentuate the straight-ahead (often restrained) jazz sound with other musical styles that, ironically, are the offspring of generic, or classic jazz. As a result of exposure to all of the above-mentioned forms while growing up, Henderson's transcendent appreciation for all musical elements compels him to subconsciously or otherwise express those nuances in live performances and on recordings.

Back in the day, when Henderson first conceived of the name Jazz Crusaders and the idea of forming a band, the group filtered through a number of musicians, including the first pianist for the group, James "Sonny¨ Reason, followed by keyboardist Alvis Harvey, Flutist Hubert Laws, and La La Wilson on bass. Along with saxophonist Felder and drummer Hooper, Sample was later added to the mix as pianist. The group eventually became known as the Black Board Jungle Kids, Swingsters, Modern Jazz Sextet, and Nite Hawks; then came the designation invented by Henderson and the name of choice, Jazz Crusaders - under which they proceeded to record a number of projects for World Pacific Jazz (their first label), including their first and the ever popular Freedom Sound album. Their second album, which enjoyed widespread success, is uniquely titled Looking Ahead. The group went on to record for Blue Thumb, ABC, and GRP labels in the 60s and 70s.

It was in 1975 that Wayne ("Big Daddy¨) as he is sometimes called) Henderson went on hiatus from the group and augmented his career by producing and recording with other notable acts: Patti Austin, Jean Carne, Bill Withers, Ronnie Laws, Ramsey Lewis, Steely Dan, Bobby Lyle, Everette Harp, Phillip Ingram, Nathan East, Lenny Williams, Rebbie Jackson, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King, the Jackson Five, Hiroshima, Hugh Masekela, Joni Mitchell, Wilton Felder, and Tina Turner, to mention a few. Some of these artists appear on Wayne's newest album, which we will talk about in a minute. Most of Henderson's independent projects were produced under his own LA based labels, At Home Productions and Angel City Records. A side point: Rebbie Jackson's Centipede project, which Henderson co-produced with Michael Jackson, went nearly platinum with more than 900,000 records sold.

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Album Review

The Jazz Crusaders: The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions

Read "The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions" reviewed by George Harris


If songs like “Scratch" come to mind when you think of the Jazz Crusaders, you are in for a real treat with this six-CD set. Originally including “jazz" in their moniker, Wayne Henderson (trombone), Wilton Felder (tenor), Joe Sample (piano) and Stix Hooper (drums) put together a collection of studio recordings that offers a pleasant surprise for mainstream jazz fans. This rocking set reveals the origins and many directions this multifaceted band took during the musically tumultuous '60s.

Listening to ...

612
Album Review

Jazz Crusaders: The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions

Read "The Pacific Jazz Quintet Studio Sessions" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


You would think that in this day and age of compact disc reissues and with many years of activity under our belts that just about everything worthy of release has at one time or another made it to the stores. But even though jazz stands in good steed these days in terms of the availability of classic music, there still exists small pockets of music that have somehow eluded us and that is where this set falls. And when a ...

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Obituary

Wayne Henderson, Jazz Crusaders Co-Founder, Dies

Wayne Henderson, Jazz Crusaders Co-Founder, Dies

Source: Michael Ricci

Wayne Henderson, trombonist and co-founding member of the popular jazz-funk band The Jazz Crusaders (later known as The Crusaders), died Friday, April 4, in Culver City, Calif. The cause of death was heart failure, according to The Crusaders' manager. Henderson was 74. Along with fellow Houston musicians Joe Sample (piano), Wilton Felder (tenor saxophone) and Stix Hooper (drums), Henderson moved to Southern California and rebranded the group The Jazz Crusaders. Their sound owed much to hard bop, the dominant straight-ahead ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Pacific Jazz...

Mosaic Records
2005

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Emphasized

Songlines Recordings
1979

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Living On A Dream

Songlines Recordings
1978

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Big Daddy's Place

Songlines Recordings
1977

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