Bill Henderson - Señor Blues · Complete Recordings 1958-1961 (2023)

It is time for William Randall Henderson (1926-2016), artistically known as Bill Henderson, to receive much wider recognition as one of jazz’s leading male singers. From 1952, slowly but surely, Bill’s rich singing voice and personality style drew him into the hearts of the public in his native Chicago. He could sing with equal grace and conviction a tender ballad, a stomping blues, a semi R&B tune, show tune, novelty tune, or whatever he chose.

Encouraged by pianist Billy Taylor, Bill went to New York in 1957, and in the tough field of jazz vocalists, he gradually rose above the rest. In 1958, he first recorded a single with the Charlie Rouse group and shortly thereafter he teamed up with Horace Silver for the now classic recording of “Señor Blues.” It was a jukebox hit, and as Bill said, “that’s when it all began.”

In June 1960, Louise Davis Stone in the The Citizen Call, praised Henderson with these words: “One night at the Half Note, Bill Henderson took the mike with the Cannonball Adderley Quintet and set the place afire with ‘Moanin’’ —I’ve been a fan ever since. There’s a naked sexuality, plus an element of sincerity, that makes his voice one of the most significant voices in the business.”

This 2-CD set compiles the first recordings that Bill Henderson made for the Riverside, Blue Note, and Vee Jay labels between 1958 and 1961. Always surrounded by excellent musicians, Henderson indisputably demonstrates in these sessions that he owned an impressive vocal instrument and knew how to use it.

—Jordi Pujol