Dedication: A Conversation with Dr. Eddie Henderson

One would be hard-pressed to find a figure that better represents the evolution of modern improvisation-based music than Eddie Henderson. At age nine, the trumpeter studied with the master of the jazz idiom – Louis Armstrong. Eight years later, Henderson met Miles Davis, who shifted his focus away from European classical music. Later, Henderson became a powerful force in fusing jazz with rock, electronic, and other musical forms as part of both Herbie Hancock’s groundbreaking Mwandishi ensemble and through great Blue Note albums under his own name. Now an elder statesman of the music, he has played a central role in continuing its perseverance by instilling his lessons to young artists, including Giveton Gelin. But all of that is only part of Henderson’s story. 

Professional musicianship came as a later career to Henderson. First, he served his country in the Air Force during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Upon returning to civilian life, Henderson studied zoology at UC Berkeley and later earned his Medical degree from Howard University. The latter is particularly incredible considering the dearth of Black physicians at the time, a problem that still plagues the profession. But trailblazing is a familiar trait to him; he was also the first African American to compete for a national figure skating championship. Each of the three sides of Henderson’s career – doctor, figure skater, and musician – are unique, yet one cannot help but find a unifying force behind them all. This centralizing element – his focus on hard work and stick-to-itiveness – is further highlighted in the documentary Dr. Eddie Henderson: Uncommon Genius, which will premiere on PBS in 2024. But, before then, he will lead a sextet at Smoke Jazz Club on December 26 and 27, 2023 as part of the venue’s annual John Coltrane Festival. 

PostGenre: You will perform at the John Coltrane Festival. Did you know Coltrane well?

Eddie Henderson: Not well. I met him only a few times. I first met him back in 1958 when he was still playing with Miles Davis. I was in high school at the time. After that, I saw him intermittently with his quartet until he passed. But I did not know him well. Mostly just quick hellos and goodbyes to one another. 

PG: Going back before high school, you were nine years old when you studied with Louis Armstrong. Of course, since then, you have been involved in many various fusion and straight-ahead projects. Seventy-four years after studying with him, do you see jazz music today as a continuation of the music Satchmo represented, or has it turned into something else entirely?

EH: It’s hard to say. Louis Armstrong was the initial innovator of jazz. Of course, things keep evolving as time passes. It’s hard to equate what Louis Armstrong did then to what’s happening today. There has been a gradual evolution, and today’s music is very far removed from what Louis Armstrong did. Now a lot of jazz music is tied to hip hop. The art form itself has never been stagnant. It constantly evolves. And it’s always going to change. It’s hard to compare one generation to the next as they’re all steps on a path of evolution. 

PG: In terms of continuing the legacy of the music, as an educator, is there a younger trumpet player who you see as the future of the music or whose music deeply resonates with you?

EH: Oh yeah, there are quite a few who are very talented. I have taught at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio for the last eight or nine years. There are several trumpet players there, up and coming, who are still largely unknown but exceptional. They’re also often very well-versed in the history of the music and the language of jazz. They’re also very up-to-date on the instrument. 

PG: What do you enjoy most about teaching? 

EH: Just imparting the knowledge I’ve learned over my lifetime to the younger generations coming up. Without people imparting that knowledge, this art form will become extinct. I’ve always wanted to keep an interest in this music in the new generations to perpetuate the legacy of this ethnic tradition. 

PG: What initially got you on the jazz path yourself? Early on, you studied at the San Francisco Conservatory with a focus on classical trumpet. What changed your path?

EH: Yeah. That was way back in the 50s when I was at the Conservatory. That ended after I met Miles Davis. After meeting Miles, my trajectory veered off toward improvisation-based music. So, I stopped pursuing the classical direction back in the late 50s. Regardless, I’ve always continued to try to perfect my prowess. It is a never-ending job to master the instrument. But my focus now is much more on trying to express my inner feelings and who I am as a person, rather than trying to play the way other people did four hundred years ago. 

PG: Of course, even your own musical expression has changed over time. 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of your first album as a leader, Realization (Capricorn, 1973). 

EH: That’s right.

PG: You also released an excellent recording earlier this year, Witness to History (Smoke Session, 2023). What do you think you have learned the most in the fifty years between those two recordings?

EH: Well, Realization was my very first album, and the band was brought over from Herbie Hancock’s group at the time. Almost everyone on the record was part of Mwandishi, so, the album sounds similar to our records with that group. The record just happened to be under my name. Since then, I’ve seen a lot in my musical lifetime up to the present. And hopefully, that evolution I’ve encountered has rubbed off in my playing and is a part of my style. 

PG: Since you mentioned Mwandishi, what do you feel you learned the most from when you were in that group? 

EH: Mwandishi required you to be spontaneous and work in the moment rather than trying to play something preconceived ahead of time. If you create a plan, the rest of the band might be around the corner somewhere else by the time you try to execute it. I’ve really learned how to listen to work within that context. You had to blend in with the other members of the band. The concept of soloists standing out front and the rest of the group supporting them didn’t apply. Instead, with the Mwandishi band, everyone made a more active collective effort to make something. The emphasis was on interplay – a conversation – between everyone in the band. 

PG: What is fascinating is that Mwandishi still sounds futuristic, even as its final album was released a half-century ago. What do you feel is the legacy of that group?

EH: Well, it was that interplay of musicians and the chemistry between us. We just melded with each other and listened to each other. We made a collective effort instead of providing a self-portrait of each soloist. It was a collective collage of everyone playing together. 

PG: But in terms of self-expression, you have recorded with Pharaoh Sanders and Archie Shepp but are not known as a free player. Is the avant-garde something that you have consciously avoided? 

EH: No. The avant-garde was not something I consciously avoided. I did not go into that kind of music much simply because when I was coming up, all of my heroes – Miles Davis, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, and Lee Morgan- were not making that kind of music. I later started listening to Charlie Parker. None of them were avant-garde players. And I was guided by what they did. I certainly enjoy avant-garde music, but I find my expression more in what I do presently.

PG: Which is primarily acoustic music. You have several great fusion recordings to your credit, but it seems that over the last few decades, you have generally been going for a more traditional sound. What was the impetus behind your stepping away from fusion?

EH: Right. After Mwandishi ended in the mid-70s, I had a few hits in the disco fusion era. But at some point, I realized I had a big gap in my performance and my knowledge of how to play changes. I made a conscious effort to go back and clean up some of my weak areas in terms of playing. I guess that’s where I’m still at right now, just trying to clean up big inadequacies that I felt I had in my playing. I think that spending time improving has made me a much more well-rounded player than I was back then. 

PG: To ask you about one of your works from the 1970s, however, Sunburst (Blue Note, 1975) is viewed by some as among the best albums of the decade. 

EH: Oh yeah. George Duke and Alphonso Johnson had some experience with electronics, but it was the producer’s idea to add those elements. I didn’t even get the Echoplex or phase shifter until the night before. So it was really beginner’s luck that the album came together as it did. That was a very enjoyable album to work on. 

PG: Tracks on that album, and your other 70s Blue Note albums have been sampled pretty heavily. Were you surprised when you first heard people sampling those albums?

EH: I was surprised. I was not even knowledgeable about what sampling meant when I first heard my music sampled. Jay-Z sampled my songs, as did Biggie. Actually, Jay-Z’s first platinum album [Reasonable Doubt (Rock-a-Fella, 1996)] sampled my recording of “Inside You” from Heritage (Blue Note, 1976). But, even to this day, I haven’t gotten a penny from it. I’m supposedly due about $90,000 for the sample, but I haven’t received anything. 

PG: Wow.

EH: Yeah, that definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.  

PG: Jumping to the present, Witness to History includes not only Lenny White, who was also on your first album fifty years ago but also Donald Harrison and George Cables, who are both part of the Cookers with you. What do you enjoy most about being with the Cookers?

EH: Well, all the other musicians in the Cookers are my musical peers and from the same generation. We just finished playing this weekend up in New Hampshire and two nights in Portland, Maine. We’ve been together for about fifteen or sixteen years now. The longevity we’ve been together, I think, speaks for itself. We all greatly respect one another and the group. If the Cookers get a tour or something, we drop anything that conflicts and pay allegiance to the Cookers because I think it’s important that we play music representative of the generation from which we came. 

PG: To ask you a somewhat random question, you were a doctor before becoming a professional musician. Do you see a connection between your medical and musical careers?

EH: Well, the connection is the discipline required. When you learn discipline at an early age, you can do any number of things. It’s harder to acquire discipline later on in life because there are so many distractions getting in the way. 

PG: Is that discipline also the same thing that connects your artistry in figure skating with that in music?

EH: Yes. Mastering different moves in skating requires endless hours of practice and discipline. The same is true with playing your instrument to be able to express your soul through it.

PG: You have now been playing the trumpet, to express your soul through the horn, for seventy-four years. Do you feel you are still learning things about the trumpet?

EH: I still learn something new every day. Every time I pick the trumpet up, even after all these years, I learn something. The trumpet is just a tube, and you blow air through it. But to get the most from the instrument takes work, especially on your airstream. You can make a single note into a million different sounds depending on the mechanics of your airstream. But to make the most sense of it all takes discipline and dedication to hard work. I’m still very dedicated.

Dr. Eddie Henderson will be performing at Smoke Jazz Club on December 26 and 27, 2023 as part of the John Coltrane Festival. More information can be found here. ‘Witness to History‘ is now available on Smoke Sessions Records and can be purchased on Bandcamp.