Joe Henderson - Page One (1984 Japanese Blue Note Vinyl LP)

Vinyl: EX
Sleeve: EX
Obi: VG+

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Joe Henderson - Page One | Vinyl LP - 1984 Japanese Blue Note Reissue (BNJ71024, The Hits of Blue Note Part 2, Toshiba EMI Ltd.)

• Henderson's debut as a leader, recorded June 3, 1963 at Van Gelder Studio; Kenny Dorham on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Butch Warren on bass, Pete La Roca on drums
• "Blue Bossa" and "Recorda-Me" have both become standards and remain among the most played tunes in the hard bop repertoire; all six tracks are originals by either Henderson or Dorham
  
• 1984 Japanese Blue Note pressing (BNJ71024), manufactured by Toshiba EMI Ltd.

Kenny Dorham had already done the work before Henderson walked into Van Gelder's studio. He introduced Henderson to Blue Note, put him on Una Mas a few weeks earlier, and made sure he got his own session booked for June 1963. He brought along Butch Warren and Pete La Roca, wrote two of the six tunes, played on all of them, and wrote the liner notes. Alfred Lion produced. If Page One reads as a debut, it's partly because Dorham designed it that way.

The two Dorham compositions — "Blue Bossa" and "La Mesha" — open Side A. "Blue Bossa" is the bossa nova-tinged piece that became a jam session permanent fixture almost immediately; "La Mesha" is a short, quiet ballad. Henderson wrote the other four: "Homestretch" runs hard, "Recorda-Me" is his other enduring standard, "Jinrikisha" swings hard and "Out of the Night" closes on a slow blues crawl. McCoy Tyner appears on all six tracks but couldn't be credited by name on the original cover — he had just signed to Impulse Records, making him contractually off-limits for a Blue Note artist credit. He's listed as "ETC." The Japanese pressing states the situation directly: "McCoy Tyner performs by courtesy of Impulse Records."

Henderson was 26 years old when this was recorded. Dorham described him in the liner notes as "one of the most musical young saxophonists to show since Charlie Parker." This 1984 Japanese pressing is part of The Hits of Blue Note Part 2 series, manufactured by Toshiba EMI Ltd., and includes a four-page folded insert with Japanese liner notes and a Henderson Blue Note discography.