(Reprinted from the August 2020 issue of Downbeat magazine)
Heading into his 80th birthday, trumpeter Eddie Henderson issues his third release for Smoke Sessions Records, Shuffle and Deal—a material addition to his vast oeuvre of bandleader releases. The album builds on several long-term creative relationships fostered during Henderson’s prolific career: He returns to the studio with practically the same winning lineup from his 2018 Smoke Sessions release Be Cool (bassist Gerald Cannon replaces Essiet Essiet), and daughter Cava Menzies and wife Natsuko Henderson again contribute originals to the effort. Most notably, though, the aesthetic pull of the album derives from Henderson’s deep musical affinity with the freakishly empathic pianist Kenny Barron.
The word “shuffle” is a play on the groove of the title cut—Henderson’s sophisticated, Miles-inspired composition, penned for the album—but, too, describes the recurrence of tunes from his and his players’ established repertoire. Henderson includes two of Barron’s compositions—“Flight Path,” a fervent, melodic imperative from the pianist’s like-named album for Elektra, and the charming Latin mid-tempo “Cook’s Bay,” from a Verve release, Spirit Song. Alto player Donald Harrison shares “Burnin’,” a dazzling reprisal from his album Paradise Found (Fomp). And four of the tracks are lovingly polished standards (“Over the Rainbow”; “God Bless the Child”; “It Might As Well Be Spring”; and “Smile”)—known ballads rendered all the more touching alongside these rambunctious originals.
Besides Henderson’s own, two other tunes are all-new with this release. Menzies’ clever, mixed-meter “By Any Means” delights with its clean horn lines and irresistible harmonic undertow, and Natsuko Henderson’s neo-soul “Boom,” featuring Mike Clark’s high-velocity drumming, sparkles with intensity.
But it is Henderson’s clarion trumpeting that guides the crush of talent on this album. His musical wisdom, gleaned over seven decades spent on the best jazz bandstands, informs every unerring note.
Shuffle and Deal: Shuffle and Deal; Flight Path; Over the Rainbow; By Any Means; Cook’s Bay; It Might as Well Be Spring; Boom; God Bless the Child; Burnin’; Smile. (58:57)
Personnel: Edie Henderson, trumpet; Donald Harrison, alto saxophone; Kenny Barron, piano; Gerald Cannon, bass; Mike Clark, drums.