Inner Urge [Content/Copy-Protected CD]

Joe Henderson was the new tenor kid on the block at tht time of this recording, his penultimate album under his Blue Note contract. He had quickly emerged as a very distinctive voice, pitched somewhere between Rolins and Coltrane but with equal regard for players like Getz and was already a mature composer. His three previous Blue Notes centred upon his regular partnership with trumpeter Kenny Dorham and as such "Inner Urge" marked Henderson's debut quartet recording. From the outset it is claer that he knew exactly what to do with this classic of classic jazz-line-ups.

On the face of things it might have looked like a suicidal exercise in comparison to invite half of the John Coltrane quartet into the studio but Henderson was firmly in charge of the musics direction not seeking pastiche. True, the intensity of Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner gave the album a dark energy typical of Trane's contemporary sessions, but Henderson here works a broader seam: there is a exotic Spanish/Greek improvisation "El Barrio" full of growling multi-phonics, a quirky Monk-like blues "Isotope" and gorgeous reading of Duke Pearson's ballad "You Know I Care".

The title track, a boiling and earnest declaration of intent, is one of the composers most challenging structures. An almost overlooked point is that the very first solo heard on this album is a bass one, by the dependable Bob Cranshaw. There is no let down in intensity from start to finish, with the closing "Night and Day" (Henderson's first standard recording under his own name) swinging upward over Elvin's joyous drum workout.

This is by far the best of Henderson's early work. His other four Blue Notes are highly recommended. His second album for Milestone Records "Tetragon" (1968) will please anyone looking for an encore of this set, albeit at a slightly lower pressure.

I have been cheerfully drowning myself of late in the warm, choppy, all-embracing seas of the multitudinous and various reissues from the venerable Blue Note stable of jazz.
Joe Henderson (1937-2001) was a tenor sax player who never became what you might call a household name, unlike Coltrane or even Dexter Gordon, both of whom his tone has echoes of at times, but that`s not through lack of either inspiration or expertise. There`s a quite mesmerising urgency and sense of drama to this 1964 date that is partly down to Henderson`s muscular control as leader, but also to his trio of fellow musicians, a fiery Elvin Jones - when wasn`t he fiery? - whacking his drum kit on the opening title track like there`s no tomorrow (in jazz, there isn`t), the moody, tripping bass figures of Bob Cranshaw, and the princely wisdom of the great pianist McCoy Tyner playing a storm.
Cook & Morton`s Penguin Guide to Jazz calls this music `dark and intense`, and it does have the same single-minded intensity you hear on some Coltrane recordings of the period, though Henderson was a different animal with a less relentlessly reedy tone than Trane - an observation merely, not a value judgement.
Tyner (happily still with us at 73) really does shine on these five tracks. What a warm, humane sound he has, and even at the age of 26 comes across as a fully-formed musician of endless inventiveness and panache. His lengthy solo on Isotope is a joy to listen to.
Before this marvellous album is rounded off with a perfectly executed riff on Cole Porter`s Night And Day - Joe`s improvising on its almost hackneyed theme being a masterclass in the art - we have the abrasive Trane-like impressionism of El Barrio, with Joe`s opening sax plaint riveting the attention, as well as the beautifully played and most welcome ballad You Know I Care.
A year after Page One, his superb debut as leader, this is an essential Blue Note classic from start to finish.
Mighty Joe Henderson was one of the greats. Get the urge.

This great Blue Note album was recorded at the end of 1964 and features Joe Henderson on tenor, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Elvin Jones on drums.

The five tracks are all seven minutes plus which gives plenty of time for ideas to develop and for each player to shine. The tracks are generally at mid tempo and the feel of the album is a mixture of dark and intense, on the eleven minute title track and `El Barrio`, and more romantic and emotional on the other three.

The flow of ideas and emotion from Henderson is stunning and he's beautifully backed by the other players. Tyner and Jones were in Coltrane's band at this time and show just as much commitment to Henderson as they did to their normal leader.

There are new liners notes to go with the original ones and Rudy Van Gelder's remastered sound is, as you would expect, superb.

If you enjoy this record I'd also recommend McCoy Tyner's `The Real McCoy' from 1967, which features almost the same line up (Ron Carter on bass instead of Cranshaw) but has a more frenetic but no less intense feel.