Fletcher Henderson

A good source for information on Fletcher Henderson is The Fletcher Henderson Story a 3 CD Box Set sampling Henderson's music with extensive liner notes by jazz scholar Frank Diggs. In the early 2000s, Anderson's voice seems to be regaining some of its previous range. He died in New York City. The band has endured into the 21st century and continue to release new albums every few years. Henderson suffered a stroke in 1950 resulting in partial paralysis that ended his days as a pianist. In 1996, an assemblage of progressive rock artists released a tribute to Tull, To Cry You a Song, which included contributions from several former Tull members, as well as artists including Keith Emerson, Tempest, and Wolfstone. He reformed bands of his own several times in the 1940s, toured with Ethel Waters again in 1948 - 1949. Anderson and Barre have remained the core of the band (Pegg finally leaving in 1995, being replaced by Jonathan Noyce).

In 1939 he disbanded his own band and joined Goodman's, first as both pianist and arranger and then working full time as arranger. Anderson has released several solo albums since the early 1980s, and in the 1990s Barre also began releasing solo work. Many of Goodman's hits from the swing music were arranged by Henderson for his own band in the late 20s and early 30s. Of particular note is 1992's A Little Light Music, a mostly-acoustic live album which was well received by fans due to its different takes on many past compositions. Since he needed new charts every week for the show, his friend John Hammond suggested that he purchase some Jazz charts from Henderson. Since then the band has released a variety of albums in a style similar to Crest but also incorporating more folky influences. In 1934, Goodman's Orchestra was selected as a house band for the "Let's Dance" radio program. It also included a booklet outlining the band's history in detail.

In addition to his own band he arranged for several other bands, including those of Teddy Hill, Isham Jones, and most famously, Benny Goodman. 1988 was also notable for the release of 20 Years of Jethro Tull, a 5-LP themed set (also released as an unthemed 3-CD set and as a truncated single CD version) consisting largely of outtakes from throughout the band's history as well as a variety of live and digitally remastered tracks. He was well regarded as an arranger and his arrangements became influential. The style of Crest has been compared to that of Dire Straits, in part because Anderson seemed to no longer have the vocal range he once possessed. Following a serious auto accident in 1928, he seemed to lose interest in business matters, and was never known as a disciplinarian. In response to the criticism they received over the award, the band then reportedly took out an advert in a British music periodical with the line, "The flute is a heavy metal instrument!". Although the band was very popular, Henderson had little success managing the band. The fact that it was the first time a Grammy geared towards metal was presented it was seen as a particularly hard blow and insult for heavy metal fans (after this, and perhaps because of this, separate Grammys were awarded for hard rock and heavy metal the following years).

He later led a band of his own that also received critical acclaim. The award was particularly controversial as many did not consider Jethro Tull hard rock, much less heavy metal. Beginning in the early 1930s, Fletcher's piano-playing younger brother, Horace Henderson (11/22/1904-1989) contributed to the arrangements of the band. They went on to win a 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, beating odds-on favorites Metallica. Reed men Coleman Hawkins, Buster Bailey, Benny Carter and Chu Berry also were in and out of Fletcher's band. Vettese absent (Anderson contributed the synth programming) and relying more heavily on Barre's electric guitar than the band had since the early 1970s, the album was a critical and commercial success. At one time or another, in addition to Armstrong, the band featured Henry "Red" Allen, Joe Smith, Rex Stewart, Tommy Ladnier and Roy Eldridge on trumpet. Tull returned stronger than anyone might have expected with 1987's Crest of a Knave.

Henderson's band also boasted the formidable arranging talents of Don Redman. Although the band was reportedly proud of the sound the album was not well-received, and as a result of either that or the throat problems Anderson developed singing the demanding Under Wraps material on tour (or both), Tull went on a three-year hiatus during which Anderson began a highly successful salmon-farming business. For a time his ideas of arrangement were heavily influenced by those of Paul Whiteman, but when Louis Armstrong joined his orchestra in 1924 Henderson realized there could be a much richer potential for jazz band orchestration. In 1984 Tull released Under Wraps, a heavily electronic album. In 1922 he formed his own band, which was resident first at the Club Alabam then at the Roseland, and quickly became known as the best "Colored" band in New York. 1981 marked the first year in their album career that the band did not release an album. His success in music made him forget about a career in chemistry. Peter-John Vettese replaced Jobson on keyboards, and the band returned to a folkier sound—albeit with synthesizers—for 1982's The Broadsword and the Beast.

He also lead the band accompanying singer Ethel Waters. Craney departed following the A tour and Tull entered a period of revolving drummers (primarily Gerry Conway and Doane Perry). He also worked at Black Swan Records as music director and pianist. It had a sound and feel completely unlike anything Tull had exhibited before. He worked for the Pace-Handy music company as a song demonstrator. But the album had a heavy electronic feel, contributed by guest keyboardist Eddie Jobson. After graduation, he moved to New York City to attend Columbia University for a master's degree in chemistry. Entitled A, it featured Barre on electric guitar, Dave Pegg of Fairport Convention on bass, and Mark Craney on drums.

He attend Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1920. For whatever reason, though, Anderson released his solo album as a Tull album in 1980. His father was a principal and his mother taught piano. Anderson decided to record his first solo album. Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia. Bassist Glascock died in 1979 following heart surgery, and Stormwatch was completed without him (Anderson contributed bass on a few tracks). Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. (December 18, 1897 - December 28, 1952) was an African American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and Swing music. During this time, David Palmer, who had orchestrated some strings for earlier Tull albums, formally joined the band, mainly on keyboards.

Although not formally considered a part of the folk-rock movement (which had actually begun nearly a decade earlier with the advent of Fairport Convention), there was clearly a lot of exchanging of musical ideas between Tull and the folk-rockers. The band had long had ties to the folk-rockers Steeleye Span. The band closed the decade with a trio of folk rock albums, Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch. Songs from the Wood was the first Tull album to receive unambiguously positive reviews since the time of Benefit and Living in the Past. The press seemed oblivious to the ploy, and instead asked if the title track was autobiographical—a charge Anderson hotly denied.

Anderson, stung by critical reviews (particularly of A Passion Play), responded with more sharply-barbed lyrics. 1976's Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! was another concept album, this time about the life of an aging rocker. Following this album, bassist Hammond-Hammond left the band, replaced by John Glascock. Critics gave it mixed reviews.

In 1975 the band released Minstrel in the Gallery, an album which resembled Aqualung in that it contrasted softer, acoustic guitar-based pieces with lengthier, more bombastic works headlined by Barre's electric guitar. It also included a song, "Only Solitaire", allegedly aimed at a music writer who was one of Anderson's harsher critics. However, 1974's War Child, an album originally intended to be a companion piece for a film, received some critical acclaim, and produced the radio mainstay "Bungle in the Jungle". They had passed the peak of their popularity with the critics, and a decline in popularity with the public followed.

Up until this point, Ian Anderson had a friendly relationship with the rock press, but this album marked a turning point for the band. After several years of increasing popularity, A Passion Play sold relatively well but received generally poor reviews. Instead they quickly recorded and released A Passion Play, another single-track concept album with very allegorical lyrics. In 1973, the band attempted to record a double album in tax exile at Chateau d'Herouville (something the Rolling Stones and Elton John among others were doing at the time), but supposedly they were unhappy with the quality of the recording studio and abandoned the effort.

The title track is one of their more enduring singles, though reportedly Anderson wrote it with the specific intent of preventing its ascent to the pop charts. The live tracks excepted, it is regarded by many Tull fans as their best overall release. 1972 also saw the release of Living in the Past, a double-album compilation of singles, B-sides and outtakes, with a single side recorded live in 1970. This album's quintet—Anderson, Barre, Evan, Hammond-Hammond and Barlow—was one of Tull's longest-standing line-ups, enduring until 1975.

This was a concept album consisting of a single very long track split over the two sides of the LP, with a number of movements melded together and some repeating themes. Drummer Bunker departed next, replaced by Barriemore Barlow, and the band's 1972 album was Thick as a Brick. Aqualung is adored and reviled in equal amounts, although the title track and "Locomotive Breath" feature on most classic rock stations. The album is a combination of heavy rock music focusing on themes such as social outcasts and organised religion, and some lighter acoustic fare about the mundanity of everyday life.

Bassist Cornick left following Benefit, replaced by Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, and this line-up released Tull's best-known work, Aqualung in 1971. In 1970 they added keyboardist John Evan (although technically he was only a guest musician at this stage) and released the album Benefit. Stand Up feels not entirely unlike a jazz-tinged early Led Zeppelin album, with a heavy and slightly dark sound. Bach's Bourrée—it largely abandoned the blues in favour of the up-and-coming style of progressive rock being developed at the time by groups such as King Crimson, The Nice and Yes.

S. Written entirely by Anderson—with the exception of the jazzy rearrangement of J. This new line-up released Stand Up in 1969. Barre would become the second longest-standing member of the band after Anderson.

Following this album, Abrahams left (forming his own band, Blodwyn Pig), due to what was mainly a musical difference (Abrahams preferred to stick with the blues, which Anderson came to regard as a stylistically narrow and restrictive vocabulary for white "middle class" Englishmen). After a series of auditions (contrary to a rock rumour, not including Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, who actually agreed to appear on the Rolling Stones' Rock 'n' Roll Circus, to perform A Song For Jeffrey), former Motivation, Penny Peeps and Gethsemane member Martin Barre was hired as the new guitarist. The music was written by Anderson and Abrahams. After a couple of minor singles (including their first—an Abrahams-penned pop tune called Sunshine Day—on which the band's name was misspelled "Jethro Toe", now a collector's item), they released the bluesy album This Was in 1968. Their management were even suggesting that Abrahams do all the singing and the flute be eliminated, relegating Anderson to rhythm piano.

The story goes that the band went through a variety of name changes to get repeat bookings, and that Jethro Tull was the name they happened to sport when they scored a record deal (the name comes from an agriculturist Jethro Tull who invented the seed drill). Jethro Tull "paid their dues" in clubs in the mid-to-late 1960s with a revolving line-up which eventually crystallized into Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, and later many other instruments), Mick Abrahams (electric guitar), Glenn Cornick (bass guitar) and Clive Bunker (drums). More than most other rock bands, their music stands apart from the rest of rock music. Despite this, it is difficult to point to specific artists who have directly influenced or been influenced by Jethro Tull.

Their music has incorporated elements of classical and celtic folk music, as well as the art rock and alternative rock phases of rock music. Their music is marked by the quirky vocal style and unique lead flute work of frontman Ian Anderson, and by unusual and often complex song construction. Jethro Tull is a progressive rock band that was formed in Blackpool, England in the 1960s. a new album due for release in August 2005, the album title is currently to be announced.

The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (2003). Living with the Past (2002) (live). J-Tull Dot Com (1999). Roots to Branches (1995).

Nightcap (1993). The Best of Jethro Tull: The Anniversary Collection (1993) (collection). 25th Anniversary boxed set (1993) (collection). A Little Light Music (1992) (live).

Catfish Rising (1991). Rock Island (1989). 20 Years of Jethro Tull (1988). Crest of a Knave (1987).

A Classic Case (1985) (orchestral cover album). Original Masters (1985) (collection). Live at Hammersmith '84 (1990) (live). Under Wraps (1984).

Broadsword and the Beast (1982). A (1980). Stormwatch (1979). Live - Bursting Out (1978) (live).

Heavy Horses (1978). Repeat - The Best of Jethro Tull - Vol II (1977) (collection). Songs from the Wood (1977). Too Old to Rock And Roll, Too Young to Die (1976).

- The Best of Jethro Tull (1976) (collection). M.U. Minstrel in the Gallery (1975). War Child (1974).