Jazzy start to my vacation

I'm enjoying a JAZZY start to my SIX-DAY VACATION, listening to a playlist devoted to the tenor saxophone player JOE HENDERSON (1937-2001).

I've got a quartet of Henderson's albums as a leader -- "PAGE ONE," "OUR THING," "IN 'N OUT" and "MODE FOR JOE" -- that I have combined on the playlist with albums by Kenny Dorham, Grant Green, Lee Morgan, Andrew Hill, Horace Silver and Larry Young on which the Ohio native provided excellent support.

Henderson's versatility made him a sought-after sideman.

Hill said in the liner notes for the pianist's "Point of Departure" album that:

"Joe Henderson is going to be one of the greatest tenors our there. You see, he not only has the imagination to make it in the avant-garde camp, but he has so much emotion too. And that's what music is - emotion, feeling. Joe doesn't get into that trap of being so technical that emotions don't come through."

That's why I love listening to Henderson, too. The emotion sweeps me away.