Page One

Whereas I have some reservations regarding some of the albums released by Joe Henderson as a leader (I think that he was always a better sideman than leader) I have been extremely impressed by this album overall. I understand that it is Joe's first as leader. The choice of material is probably pretty typical for the year (1963) when Latin American rhythms were all the rage both in jazz and pop music. There is a Latinesque feel throughout the album but obviously on Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa" and Joe's "Recorda Me". The playing by the two front line musicians (Dorham and Henderson) is very good, skilful and inventive even if Kenny Dorham's rasping vibrato at the start of his playing on "Blue Bossa" makes one worry that the music equipment has failed. Joe's solo on the ballad "La Mesha" (Dorham) is very good indeed. However for me the stand out musician is the pianist McCoy Tyner who plays just beautifully and probably inspires the front liners too. Good support from bassist Butch Warren and drummer Pete LaRoca.Certainly a worthy addition to any jazz collection. Highly recommended.

This is probably the best of the Dorham/Henderson Blue Notes. It introduced two tunes which became standards, Dorham's "Blue Bossa" and Henderson's "Recorda Me". They seem to inspire superior solos by the horns, and McCoy Tyner was the best pianist in this series. The rhythm section is excellent and altogether this is an outstanding example of this sort of jazz.

A first for Joe Henderson with the great Blue Note label based in New YorkA Hard Bop Classic

Great.

'Page One' is Joe Henderson's debut as a leader. It's a standard early '60s Blue Note hard bop date, with the usual high quality support from a first-rate rhythm section comprising McCoy Tyner, Butch Warren and Pete La Roca. The two horns, Henderson and more experienced trumpeter Kenny Dorham, had already worked together, and are clearly comfortable in each other's company. The six selections include three songs that would go on to be much recorded over the years: Dorham's 'Blue Bossa' and 'La Mesha', and Henderson's 'Recorda Me'.Because of the stellar career that followed for Henderson, 'Page One' has been heavily praised, and perhaps over-praised. It's a confident, varied and interesting recording, but Henderson is just starting out here, and within a couple of years he would be recording albums that make 'Page One' seem solid but unadventurous. McCoy Tyner, although perfectly at home in this music, is not the innovator that he would become with Coltrane and as a leader later in the 60s, and the underrated Dorham is firmly in the hard bop mode. Two tracks - 'Recorda-Me', and the vaguely oriental 'Jinrikisha' - hint at the more challenging music that Henderson would shortly be making, but the concluding blues is closer to the spirit of the date as a whole.At this point Henderson was arguably still doing his best work as a sideman. Listeners who like what they hear on 'Page One' can go on to 'Our Thing' and 'In'N'Out', both featuring Dorham alongside Henderson, with confidence: but they should also check out Horace Silver's 'Song For My Father', Lee Morgan's 'The Sidewinder', Andrew Hill's 'Black Fire', Grant Green's 'Idle Moments' and Kenny Dorham's 'Una Mas', all recorded in the same year as 'Page One', all featuring Henderson, all bona fide classics. If these aren't enough, two more albums featuring Henderson were recorded in '63 but not released until 1980 and 1999 respectively: Blue Mitchell's 'Step Lightly' and Bobby Hutcherson's 'The Kicker'. Taken together, these recordings showcase a young tenor player of rare ability getting into his stride.

The distinctive tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson(1937-2001) is in superb form on his first album as leader recorded in New Jersey on June 3, 1963 with trumpeter Kenny Dorham, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Butch Warren & drummer Pete LaRoca.The six impressive tracks include four Henderson originals plus two from Dorham and the highlights are Henderson's 'Recorda Me'and Dorham's 'Blue Bossa'.'Page One' is one of Joe Henderson's finest BLUE NOTE albums and this inventive hard bop still sounds fresh and exciting over 50 years later.

One of the great things about these Kenny Dorham-Joe Henderson albums is how their character is influenced by the different pianists they were hooked up with for the recording date. This has the great McCoy Tyner on and, as you might expect, it's more lyrical and 'tasteful', as it were, then the other albums in the series. Being partly a Kenny Dorham date there is of course one of his trademark latin-tinged hard-bop themes, 'Blue Bossa', but, and this may be a bossa too far for some, also one by Henderson, the well-covered 'Recorda Me'. The mix is leavened though with the funky 'Homestretch' and the lovely standard-sounding ballad, 'La Meisha' as well as the bouncy, but slightly oblique, 'Jinriksha'.Regardless, the soloing, by all of the front men is of a uniformly great standard and if it's all a bit more subtle than some of the other albums by the pair that's no bad thing. Henderson's soloing, in particular, is excellent and rewards close listening and if you like Tyner his work here is just the sort music making you like him for. The whole album is, in my opinion, the equal of many much more lauded ones of the time by the likes of Wayne Shorter or Lee Morgan, but for some reason Henderson's output rarely gets the attention it deserves. Add this to your collection and it'll sit nicely alongside  Search for the New Land  and  Speak No Evil .

For me this album is an absolute classic to rival anything of its time.It has the sensibilities of Tyner all over it, without the waffling unrestrained solos of Coltrane.Henderson and Dorham are concise, melodic and interesting in their phrasing throughout.The whole album hangs together perfectly like a more upbeat Blue Note answer to Kind Of Blue.