Customer Reviews

The Kicker

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I stepped into Millenium Music in Durham, NC one day and I saw on the jazz preview rack The Kicker, so I popped on the headphones...and boy was I in for a treat! It's a real chill album, maybe not as deep as some other more widely publicized and praised jazz albums, yet the album doesn't get half the recognition due to it. It's exciting in some parts, yet has a wonderful chill value all throughout the album; songs that stood out for me included "Without a Song", "Nardis", and "O Amor Em Paz". This album is even great for those just getting their feet wet in jazz, it doesn't take a great depth of appreciation for jazz to fall in love with this wonderful CD (as I proved with one of my friends). So for avid and not-so-avid jazz fans alike I highly recommend this album for your jazz collection.

For those of you who know Joe Henderson primarily through his Blue Note output this album will not disappoint. In fact, you will find the first two tracks on other Blue Note albums on which Joe Henderson plays as a sideman Trompeta Toccata and The Kicker. This also serves as a nice introduction to Henderson's Milestone albums which take steps further out.

This album is great for Joe's arrangement of "Without a Song" using a reharmonized version of the A section. I think the only detractors are the trombone solos (often out of tune) and some of the horn parts in the arrangements can be a little cacophonous. Joe's solos are great as always and the rhythm section is an all star cast (Kenny Barron, Ron Carter, Louis Hays) If you are a Joe Henderson fan you should probbably have this one.

Joe Henderson was a great saxophonist, but I don't think I'll ruffle many feathers by calling this one of his lesser 60s efforts. Compare it to his 5 excellent albums on Blue Note, or for that matter McCoy Tyner's The Real McCoy (recorded around the same time) and you'll get a good sense of what I mean. Almost everything here - Joe's playing, the rhythm section, the compositions - has a better representative elsewhere. For example, Joe's playing here is good (was it ever bad during this period?) but certainly not at his best, and he's constrained by having to share solo space and relatively short track playing times. It's nice to hear him tackling 4 standards, but the 4 compositions by Joe were played better in their original Blue Note incarnations. And while Louis Hayes and Kenny Barron are great musicians, they don't hold a candle (at least here) to the intense fury of McCoy Tyner and Elvin Jones on Inner Urge and The Real McCoy.

You're better off picking up almost all of Joe's Blue Note recordings (as a leader and sideman) before this one. If you're interested in checking out the Milestone years there are plenty of other places to start, such as the brilliant Power to the People or Joe Henderson in Japan. This may have been viewed by Orrin Keepnews and Joe as a good way to reintroduce the saxophonist to the jazz public, but fortunately they didn't repeat the formula on later albums for the label.

I always consider this album is overrated. Henderson blows OK with familiar licks. But he does not extend enough, both in time and in creativity. Most songs are less than 4-5 minutes.

I would rather recommend Tetragon for Milestones date or any blue note dates.