"Mode for Joe" provides musical beauty, intelligence

I arrived home from work, ate dinner with the family, then dialed the 1966 JOE HENDERSON album "MODE FOR JOE" on my iPod and left the music carry me off.

It's one of those classic jazz albums with a twist.

Henderson employs six other musicians to make the lineup a SEPTET, with trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Joe Chambers.

The inclusion of trombone and vibraphone, in particular, lends this album a full sound with unique musical ingredients.

The album's beauty and complexity prompted Leonard Feather to pen in the liner notes:

"As the six tracks on these sides fluently indicate, (Henderson) is well on his way to becoming one of the major new jazz figures of the late 1960s."

I like it because it is an album I can "sink my teeth into," meaning, there is so much musical invention occurring, I am always delighted and surprised when I listen.