His musical contributions laid the foundation for swing music. View on source site. Author Ian Hill , University of Georgia. Originally published Dec 20, Last edited Jul 16, Fletcher Henderson Image from Wikimedia. Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra.
Article Feedback Why are you reaching out to us? Share this Article. Fletcher Henderson Fletcher Henderson, a performer, arranger, and bandleader, became a popular and influential figure in big band and swing music during the s. Facebook Twitter Email. Share this Snippet. Star Featured Content. In , he put together a new orchestra and immediately had a hit in "Christopher Columbus," but after three years he had to disband again in Henderson worked as a staff arranger for Goodman and even played in B.
He struggled through the s, leading occasional bands including one in the mid-'40s that utilized some arrangements by the young Sun Ra. In , Henderson had a fine sextet with Lucky Thompson , but a stroke ended his career and led to his death in Virtually all of Fletcher Henderson 's recordings as a leader and many are quite exciting are currently available on the Classics label and in more piecemeal fashion domestically.
AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Viewed as part of a well-rounded education, Henderson's musical training did not immediately inspire a career in the arts. In he attended Atlanta University to study mathematics and chemistry.
Occasionally taking a job in music, he devoted most of his time to science and sports, particularly baseball. It was in reference to his batting average and his singular habit of smacking his lips that Henderson's university colleagues gave him the nickname "Smack. In Henderson, intent on further pursuing his education and finding work in science, arrived in New York City. He was soon confronted, however, by the lack of job opportunities for black chemists. Because music publisher W. Handy, often called the Father of the Blues, emphasized musically correct scores and sheet music, rather than traditional interpretations of the blues, Henderson's musical reading skills were held in high regard at the company.
In Handy's partner Harry Pace left the firm and founded Black Swan Records, a black-owned company boasting such distinguished directors as educator and writer W.
Because of Pace's disinterest in blues and other non-classical forms, he employed Henderson--a respected college graduate and formally trained musician--to become the company's musical director. At Black Swan Henderson led small bands, organized recording sessions, and played piano for numerous vaudeville-style blues singers. He might pick the numbers in the office, present them to vocalists, then we'd have rehearsal and get it together.
Often there were only two pieces of music, one for the piano and one for the trumpet or violin. Since Henderson's upbringing and musical training had not brought him in direct contact with the blues, his musicianship was received with little enthusiasm by singers like Ethel Waters, who, in her first meeting with the erudite pianist, found him priggish and without real knowledge of, or feeling for, blues music. As a remedy, Waters insisted Henderson listen to James P. Johnson piano rolls.
In the studio Henderson and his core of musical sidemen were extemporaneously developing a new style, incorporating the looseness and improvisation of the blues with standard European musical forms. Though this style did not have the distinctively loping and relaxed feel of the New Orleans or Chicago styles, it clearly contributed to the melding of African-American and European musical traditions.
It was around that time that he assembled an eight-piece group, which landed a job at the Club Alabam, a cellar club on West 44th Street and Broadway.
They listened closely and learned fast. By the time Satch departed in the fall of to return to Chicago, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra had no competitors among jazz ensembles. While Henderson did make a few mistakes he did not let Louis Armstrong sing with his band and he probably should have had his younger brother Horace Henderson or guest Fats Waller take over as the regular pianist , his orchestra was at the top of its field. Unfortunately, Fletcher Henderson was not a good businessman and his orchestra did not prosper at the level that it deserved.
As Duke Ellington rose to prominence during , Henderson began to fade. His orchestra only recorded ten songs in , and just four apiece in and when it was near the height of its powers. While things picked up in , the momentum had been lost. Ellington was now leading the way and many other big bands such as those of Cab Calloway , Don Redman , Chick Webb , and the Casa Loma Orchestra had become strong competitors.
Henderson was no longer setting the standard. His charts not only featured a swinging melody and riffs but developed as they progressed, going from one stimulating theme to another, building up from chorus to chorus.
However business during the Depression at the Roseland Ballroom was shaky. A frustrated Coleman Hawkins, who felt that the group had permanently stalled, left in and spent five years in Europe. While the band continued to swing and featured top-notch personnel, Henderson broke up the orchestra just before the Swing era began. Fletcher Henderson decided to try again in , forming a new big band that included such young notables as trumpeter Roy Eldridge, tenor-saxophonist Chu Berry, bassist Israel Crosby, and drummer Sid Catlett.
He made guest appearances as a pianist with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and was a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet for a few months in before being succeeded by the superior Johnny Guarnieri.
Henderson led other short-term big bands in , , , and but none lasted long or made much of an impression. Unfortunately, that would be his last job.
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