“Lush Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn” (Verve) was promoted as a comeback, but that alone doesn’t explain its success. Although he’s made only one studio album in 11 years, Henderson never stopped touring and recording. “He’s always been as great as he is now,” says pianist Renee Rosnes, who often works with him. Nor is the retro approach to the latest release obviously the key: this is the fourth recent celebration of the quirky, haunting compositions of Strayhorn, Duke Ellington’s main co-writer between 1939 and 1967. The choice of the band obviously didn’t hurt: it includes three of the hottest younger players and the most celebrated jazz star of all, Wynton Marsalis. Still, “none of us know what makes jazz albums sell,” said veteran producer Orrin Keepnews, whose own recordings of Henderson sold poorly. Says Henderson: “Maybe the gods were smiling down on us, and timing factors into any occasion from a game of golf to a coup d’etat. There are some unknowns. If I can be allowed an opinion, I think it is a nice record.”
Indeed, success couldn’t have happened to a better jazz record. A sense of calm pervades “Lush Life.” Henderson meticulously planned the recording in collaboration with Don Sickler, a trumpet player and arranger who has known him since the 1970s. " He was really into it," said Sickler. And although Henderson’s disregard for schedules has earned him the nickname “The Phantom,” he also is legendary for the intelligence and concentration he brings to bear when he gets down to work.
The format was guaranteed to showcase the 55-year-old leader: he performs with the young sidemen in a quintet, quartet, trio, duet and finally alone. His playing is by turns explosive and delicate, and as usual he ranges over the entire instrument without making a show of his technical command. His solos are characteristically witty and unpredietable, “a little left-footed” as the bassist Rufus Reid, another frequent sideman, put it. On the final, title tune, Henderson’s solo floats so delicately that the thumping and clicking of the saxophone’s keys and pads can be heard; it comes as no surprise to learn that engineer Rudy Van Gelder turned out the studio lights and recorded him in pitch darkness.
The success of the tribute album now guarantees that more of Henderson’s own work will see the light. Like most jazz hits, “Lush Life” probably won’t sell 100,000 copies, but Verve has already begun recording a big-band album using unique arrangements Henderson developed for a rehearsal band he co-led with trumpeter Kenny Dorham in the late 1960s. Such elaborate projects have become a rarity in jazz. Those arrangements were the basis for a sold-out concert at Lincoln Center last month. Henderson says a collaboration with superstar guitarist John McLaughlin also is in the works. And the success of “Lush Life” may eventually give him a chance to record dozens of new tunes that have evolved from the melody lines he uses to teach his students improvisation. “It’s an incredible feeling,” he says. “I’ve found the same energy I had when I first came to New York.” With his commitments proliferating, he has finally been forced to hire a manager. Catch him if you can.
