“Black Narcissus” : Discovering Joe Henderson’s ‘Power To The People’

Despite not knowing all that much about jazz saxophonist Joe Henderson, his debut 1963 album Page One was one of the first jazz records I bought. Sure, there were a couple CDs I bought in the mid-90s when I wanted to broaden my musical horizons; there was Thelonious Monk’s Monk’s Dream(that one stuck), as well as something by Chick Corea(that did not). I also had a few Bela Fleck and the Flecktones albums, and for the life of me I’m not sure how I stumbled across the world of Bela Fleck prior to the internet and Google. I suppose that was the magic of pre-internet days. We just found things; old school discovery via stumbling in the dark till you stubbed your toe on it.

In 2008 I bought a turntable. The first one I’d owned since the Soundesign stereo system I got for Christmas back in 1986. It was Audio Technica AT-PL120, and is the same one I still have now. On a post-Christmas trip to Chicago I stumbled upon the treasure that was Jazz Record Mart. This was a real deal jazz record shop. It was old and filled to the rim with every and any jazz album you could think of. I was primed and ready to start collecting jazz records as my love for jazz had grown exponentially over the last few years, with my snagging up quite a few Blue Note CD reissues. What I wanted to buy I wasn’t sure, but I knew I wanted to come home with some jazz albums.

I ended up with Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder(a classic), Miles Davis’ Nefertiti(another classic), and Joe Henderson’s Page One. I’d been listening to a lot of Accu-Radio on my computer at work. In-particular their 60s hard bop channel and had heard “The Sidewinder” on there quite a bit, so Lee Morgan was on my mind. Miles, well of course Kind Of Blue was played quite a bit but I wanted something post-cool jazz, and Nefertiti looked serious and heady so I went with it. But Joe Henderson’s Page One was more of a spur of the moment buy. I may have heard “Blue Bossa”, a Kenny Dorham penned track on internet radio, but I can’t say for sure. I like to think it was purchased out of serendipity; my jazz sixth sense tingling and telling me to pick it up. More likely it was “Hmm, I guess I’ll grab this one too.”

It turned out to be a great call, as Page One is fantastic. The hard bop vibes and Latin flavors of tracks like the aforementioned “Blue Bossa” and “La Mesha”, and “Recorda Me”, as well as the great “Homestretch” and album closer “Out Of The Night” were the perfect entry point for my deep dive into the world of jazz. But then that was as far as I went into the world of Joe Henderson. Until recently.

Not too long ago I’d read that Joe Henderson’s Power To The People was being reissued by Milestone Records on remastered vinyl. I gave it a quick listen online and was blown away so I immediately had the vinyl ordered in at my local shop.

It’s a stunning album, and one that shows Joe Henderson getting more political and involved in the black power movement. His music was always heady and forward-thinking, but with Power To The People he moved his art forward with thoughtful, dense arrangements like album opener “Black Narcissus”. Besides Henderson on sax there’s Herbie Hancock on keys, Ron Carter on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Mike Lawrence on trumpet. These are THE guys you want on a late 60s/early 70s jazz album. Best of the best.

“Afro-Centric” lays down a serious groove as Carter and DeJohnette get seriously funky, towing the line between hard bop and fusion. The highlight here is Herbie Hancock on the electric piano. His sound on the keys is a significant force in the push of jazz into the 70s. This also marks the first time Joe Henderson had any electric instruments on one of his albums, with Herbie’s keys and Carter’s bass doing the honors.

Elsewhere, “Opus One-Point-Five” is low key and romantic, while “Isotope” has an almost Eric Dolphy vibe to it, or Dolphy with a twist of Monk. Very jazz lounge vibe. Title track “Power To The People” has a frenetic quality to it. The chaos of the world strewn throughout this urgent track. We take a break from the forward push into the 70s fusion and experimentation with the laid back bop of “Lazy Afternoon”(the only track not penned by Henderson) and slink into the finale, the epic three-movement work “Foresight and Afterthought”.

There were certain jazz composers/musicians that stuck in the same mode for the entirety of their career and were great in that mode. I couldn’t picture someone like Art Blakey doing anything other than what he did for his career. Same with Thelonious Monk. But there were other artists that evolved their sound as their mindset and worldview evolved. Miles, Coltrane, Herbie; even Lee Morgan pushed his composition game with something like Search For The New Land. McCoy Tyner hit new levels of composition and thoughtful and thought-provoking art with Sahara(also released on Milestone). Freddie Hubbard began a new era with 1970s Red Clay.

And Joe Henderson did the same with Power To The People.