Joe Henderson: In ‘n’ Out (1964) Blue Note

Track Selection:Punjab

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Artists

Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone; Kenny Dorham, trumpet;  Richard Davis, bass; Elvin Jones, drums; McCoy Tyner, piano; recorded Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, April 10, 1964, released in January 1965.

Music

Henderson is on peak form and Dorham partners well. Within a couple of years Blue Note Records Inc would be gone, and Henderson would migrate to Milestone – with a legacy of several great records, including the excellent Tetragon, and the more polemical If You Ain’t Part Of The Solution, You’re Part Of The Problem and its less successful follow up If You Apply The Wrong Solution To The Wrong Problem, Then You Got A Helluva Problem (Bum Note Records). Henderson’s hard tone found a new home briefly with Alice Coltrane, after which he slipped off the cutting edge for a decade or two, flirtations with Japan, Brazil, and Soul Jazz, not to return to form until his reinvention with highly regarded The State of the Tenor (1985)

Vinyl: Blue Note BN 4166

US original, NY labels, VAN GELDER, Plastylite, mono

After an enjoyable listening session and rediscovering a fine record, it reminded me how important pressing quality is, and the magic that Plastylite achieved for Blue Note. Rich vibrant full dynamic range, with sizzling top end, punchy mid range, and the natural resonance of rich acoustic bass, all in the right proportion. Wonderful.

My  “Division of Liberty”  stereo pressing was a disappointment. Not that the session doesn’t have a fine line-up – it is just a very lack-lustre pressing, missing the presence and energy to command your attention. Faced with a not inexpensive opportunity to upgrade to an original Blue Note, some thought had to go into the decision. This original pressing, mono, was EX condition vinyl, all the right pedigree confirming an original, with NYC labels, thick vinyl, ear and VAN GELDER in the runout, you know it is going to sound astonishing. And my word it does.

Pity about the cover. As the old joke scribbled on the dirty builders van goes – “also available in white”. Forty five years ageing and sadly, by this time, Blue Note had abandoned laminating covers. It is nevertheless the authentic article.

Collectors Corner

It is always a difficult decision to buy a copy of a record you have already. Wouldn’t make sense to the “it’s all the same music isn’t it” school of thought. Living proof that it is not all the same music. I hadn’t played the Liberty for a long long time, just flat and uninviting, so you don’t bother. Now this is a different proposition. This is one to play.

Bidding on the stereo Liberty taught me a lesson about the workings of eBay’s “reserve price”. Unknown to me at the time (2010), eBay had a minimum reserve price of £50. I kept upping my bids, getting a “reserve not met” response, until I recklessly bid £50. Really, I was just  curious to find out what the reserve was. Unfortunately, when you hit the reserve, your bid is automatically accepted, and you are obliged to buy. To rub salt in the wound, the seller of the stereo let me know how pleased he was to have got the reserve price, as he had acquired the record for nothing.

Definitely a good decision to upgrade to the Van Gelder mono, if a tad pricey. The seller was Ray’s Jazz, London, in 2011, They needed the mark-up to survive, and for me there was no international postage cost or customs charges, so not bad deal, all things considered. I was just sore about that Ebay reserve, and more, about to my ignorance of Liberty practices.