On Joe Henderson's 1965 album In 'n Out, the listener enjoyed five giants for the price of one. The tenor saxophonist and trumpeter Kenny Dorham were joined by powerful cookers: pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, who were two-thirds of John Coltrane's rhythm section, and bassist Richard Davis, who had just recorded with Eric Dolphy on Out to Lunch (1964). Recorded for Blue Note in April 1964, In 'n Out features three Henderson originals and two by Dorham. This is a perfect album, so it's tough to pick a favorite, but Punjab is a tiger. Henderson's modal composition is stormy and swishes restlessly between bright and dark tones. The music here is a reflection of its times—lyrically hopeful but fed up with the era's racism. The brilliant cover design was by Reid Miles.
Here's Joe Henderson's Punjab...
As a bonus, here's baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams with Zoot Sims (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), Ron Carter (b) and Elvin Jones (d) recording the song on Encounter! on December 11 or 12, 1968, 50 years ago. Interesting how they slowed it down by half...
