Joe Henderson on "Isfahan"

Lush Life (1992) is a tribute/concept album by Joe Henderson that was on Verve during Joe Henderson's post-80s "Renaissance" period, when the Young Lion phenomenon was in full swing and Joe put out some commercially successful records with Verve. Some other records from this period are So Near, So Far, a Miles Davis tribute, Double Rainbow, an Antonio Carlos Jobim tribute (Jobim was originally scheduled to play on the date, but passed away shortly before it was to happen), and Porgy and Bess. Joe's playing on this record is great, but maybe a touch less raw then his 60s Blue Note records; it's also generally more understated than his playing on the late 60s and 70s Milestone records, but his sense of time and melodic tastefulness on this record is so together. For me, Joe's later records are a model of sophisticated phrasing and sound. Check out this duet on "Isfahan" with a then-19-year-old Christian McBride—the notation, of course, is inadequate for the wide palette of nuances that Joe draws upon in playing this kind of relaxed swing, but you can get all the phenomenal laying-back and other details from the record:





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