Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
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| Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn | |||||
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| Studio album by Joe Henderson | |||||
| Released | 1992 | ||||
| Recorded | Sep 3, 1991-Sep 8, 1991 | ||||
| Genre | Jazz | ||||
| Length | 61:50 | ||||
| Label | Verve | ||||
| Producer | Richard Seidel, Don Sickler | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Joe Henderson chronology | |||||
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Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (also known as Lush Life) is an award-winning 1992 tribute album by jazz composer and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson. Composed entirely of songs written by jazz legend Billy Strayhorn, the album was a critical and commercial success, leading to the first of three Grammys Henderson would receive while under contract with Verve Records and helping to establish Henderson an international star.[1][2] The album had sold nearly 90,000 copies at the time of Henderson's death in 2001 and has been multiply re-released by Verve, Polygram Records and, in Hybrid SACD, by Universal.[1][3]
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[edit] Background
Henderson, who had not recorded a studio album in 11 years, had been featured throughout the late 80s and early 90s on recordings by a number of modern jazz musicians, including Wynton Marsalis, when producer Richard Seidel proposed to him the idea of the tribute album to be released under his own name.[4] The album separated the songwriter from his usual material, which according to The New York Times suited Henderson, highlighting his evolution into "one of jazz's most detailed improvisers".[4] Like The New York Times—which credits the album's producers for understanding jazz culture of 1992, "where challenging acoustic music is both an artistic necessity and a play for a market"[4]—Ink Blot Magazine describes the album's success as largely due to its instrumental combinations; rather than performing with a band, Henderson is featured in solo performance, in duet, in trio, in quartet and quintet.[5] Entertainment Weekly agrees that the idea of highlighting the material by dramatically changing personnel "works without getting gimmicky".[6]
[edit] Critical reception
The album was praised on its release by The New York Times as being "as close to artistic genius as jazz gets nowadays".[4] In another article in 2002, the same reviewer described the album as "perfectly produced", "thoughtful, carefully experimental and cross generational".[7] Entertainment Weekly declared Henderson's "originality and sheer strangeness" a match for Strayhorn's compositions, stating that Henderson's "fierce muscularity" counterbalanced "Strayhorn's angst—as exquisitely, in a new way, as Duke Ellington and his orchestra used to".[6] The album comes "highly recommended" by Allmusic, which notes that "it does deserve all of the hype".[3]
[edit] Charts and awards
The album ranked #1 in Billboard's "Top Jazz Albums" chart,[3] holding its position at top of the charts for two months.[8] With the track "Lush Life", Henderson received the 1992 Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Soloist".[3]
[edit] Track listing
Except as otherwise noted, all songs by Billy Strayhorn.
- "Isfahan" (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn) – 5:59
- "Johnny Come Lately" – 6:30
- "Blood Count" – 7:19
- "Rain Check" – 5:54
- "Lotus Blossom" – 4:31
- "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing" – 6:58
- "Take the "A" Train" – 7:11
- "Drawing Room Blues" – 7:33
- "U.M.M.G. (Upper Manhattan Medical Group)" – 5:02
- "Lush Life" – 5:03
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Performance
- Joe Henderson – tenor saxophone
- Gregory Hutchinson – drums
- Wynton Marsalis – trumpet
- Christian McBride – bass
- Stephen Scott – piano
[edit] Production
- William Claxton – photography
- Stanley Crouch – liner notes
- Larry Offsey – design
- Dean Pratt – liner notes
- Susan Ragan – photography
- Richard Seidel – producer
- Don Sickler – arranger, producer, transcription
- Maureen Sickler – assistant engineer
- Camille Tominaro – production assistant
- Rudy Van Gelder – engineer, digital mastering, mixing, surround mix, compilation mastering
[edit] References
- ^ a b Ratliff, Ben. (July 3, 2001) Joe Henderson, saxophonist and composer, dies at 64 The New York Times. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Hamlin, Jesse. (February 8, 2008) Black history month: Joe Henderson. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ a b c d Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn at Allmusic
- ^ a b c d Watrous, Peter. (March 1, 1992) High notes and low in preserving the ephemeral The New York Times. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Greilsamer, Marc. Joe Henderson, Lush Life - The Music of Billy Strayhorn inblotmagazine.com Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ a b Hajdu, David. (March 6, 1992) Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (1992) Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Watrous, Peter. (June 14, 1992) The jazz festival revisits itself. The New York Times. Retrieved 24/03/08.
- ^ Ratliff, Ben. (July 14, 1996) The invisible man at Ellington's elbow The New York Times Retrieved 24/03/08.
