Song:Tidal Wave
Album:Tidal Wave: The Original Decca Recordings
By the time big band swing was king in the late 30s, bandleader Fletcher Henderson was forgotten. But he led the first successful big band in the 20s and discovered many young musicians. It appears he wasn't very good with money. He was born Dec. 18, 1897 in Cuthbert, GA. Henderson had a degree in chemistry but couldn't find a job as a chemist in New York. He knew how to play piano so in 1920, he took a job as a song demonstrator with the Pace-Handy music company. This led to a job at the Black Swan label as an arranger. He formed his first band in 1924 and got a big boost when he brought Louis Armstrong in from Chicago. The great Don Redman did many of the arrangements. Henderson was the only big band until Duke Ellington started his band in 1927. Redman left in 1927 and Benny Carter and Henderson's younger brother Horace Henderson started writing a lot of the arrangements. This comp consists of Henderson's recordings for Decca in 1931 & 1934. Tidal Wave is from 1934 and was written by trombonist Russ Morgan. Tenor sax legend Ben Webster is one of the musicians featured. For all his success, Henderson was a terrible businessman and ended the band in 1935. He started writing arrangements for Benny Goodman in 1935. He started up his band again in 1936 but ended that in 1939 and worked for Goodman full time as a staff arranger. Henderson unsuccessfully attempted to start bands through the 40s and toured with Ethel Waters in the late 40s. Fletcher Henderson suffered a stroke in 1950 and died Dec. 28, 1952 at age 55. Fletcher Henderson is a forgotten legend of jazz. Here's a video of 12th Street Rag by Fletcher Henderson.
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