Eddie Henderson - Dreams of Gershwin (Key'stone, 1998)

Eddie Henderson, trumpet
Joe Locke, vibes
Kevin Hays, piano
Ed Howard, bass
Billy Drummond, drums

Recorded March 24 & 25, 1998

Clinton Recording Studio, NYC

Engineer: Troy Halderson

Eddie Henderson has been recording jazz albums for more than 50 years. His recent Witness to History (Smoke Sessions, 2022) honors a legacy of jazz subgenres beginning with his fusion years through to steady work with Billy Harper and his own quintets. Dreams of Gershwin documents two recording sessions in 1998 during a decade of "resurgence" after a less fruitful decade of the 80s. 

Complete albums dedicated to George Gershwin's compositions are fairly common. Miles Davis's collaboration with Gil Evans (Porgy & Bess, Columbia, 1959) leads the pack, which raises the question: What more could be learned from yet another Gershwin tribute?

Henderson does not aim for anything radical on Dreams of Gershwin. He has learned not to mess with sacred texts, and his renderings of Gershwin's well-known body of work are approached with reverence. The band throw their hearts into the project, never coasting or going through the motions. While the overall vibe is intended to be "dreamy," as the album title suggests, careful listening reveals subtle nuances and new shades of meaning in old works.

The highlights include Henderson's trumpet solo on "It Ain't Necessarily So," Joe Locke's tempo-free introduction to "I Loves You Porgy," Billy Drummond's rhythmic variations on "Summertime," Kevin Hays' piano solo on "The Man I Love," and Henderson's creation of a medley comprising "Embraceable You" and his own "Natsuko-san." 

In addition to the Gershwin program, Locke's "Saturn's Child" closes the program and keeps the laidback vibe going to the end. Locke has included this piece on at least four other albums, and it deserves its wide exposure. He is namechecked earlier in this blog for his duet with Kenny Barron, But Beautiful.

Dreams of Gershwin is a Japanese release that overlaps with the content of the American album, Reemergence (Sharp Nine, 1999). Reemergence includes the "Gershwin Suite" of four songs. Dreams of Gershwin contains the same songs plus a couple of extras. The differences between the two releases are practically inconsequential.