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 2003 he published his first novel, Where the Truth Lies.. He died in New York City. Holmes later became the first and so far only person singlehandedly to receive Tony Awards for book, music and lyrics, for the 1986 Broadway musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. In 1996 he created the television series Remember WENN for American Movie Classics. Henderson suffered a stroke in 1950 resulting in partial paralysis that ended his days as a pianist. Holmes previously had been in the band The Buoys, which produced the song Timothy about cannibalism. He reformed bands of his own several times in the 1940s, toured with Ethel Waters again in 1948 - 1949. 1 Hits of 1979.

In 1939 he disbanded his own band and joined Goodman's, first as both pianist and arranger and then working full time as arranger. "Escape" was included on his fifth album, Partners in Crime, and reached the Hot 100 No. Many of Goodman's hits from the swing music were arranged by Henderson for his own band in the late 20s and early 30s. That one song is so strongly associated with him that, in one interview (http://www.rupertholmes.com/writings/new_york_magazine.html), he reflected that his tombstone might well be a giant pineapple. Since he needed new charts every week for the show, his friend John Hammond suggested that he purchase some Jazz charts from Henderson. Rupert Holmes (born February 24, 1947 in Cheshire) is a composer and writer who is best known for the 1979 novelty hit "Escape" (later subtitled "The Piņa Colada Song") but has had a varied and distinguished career in several media. In 1934, Goodman's Orchestra was selected as a house band for the "Let's Dance" radio program.

In addition to his own band he arranged for several other bands, including those of Teddy Hill, Isham Jones, and most famously, Benny Goodman. He was well regarded as an arranger and his arrangements became influential. Following a serious auto accident in 1928, he seemed to lose interest in business matters, and was never known as a disciplinarian. Although the band was very popular, Henderson had little success managing the band.

He later led a band of his own that also received critical acclaim. Beginning in the early 1930s, Fletcher's piano-playing younger brother, Horace Henderson (11/22/1904-1989) contributed to the arrangements of the band. Reed men Coleman Hawkins, Buster Bailey, Benny Carter and Chu Berry also were in and out of Fletcher's band. 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.

Henderson's band also boasted the formidable arranging talents of Don Redman. 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 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. His success in music made him forget about a career in chemistry.

He also lead the band accompanying singer Ethel Waters. He also worked at Black Swan Records as music director and pianist. He worked for the Pace-Handy music company as a song demonstrator. After graduation, he moved to New York City to attend Columbia University for a master's degree in chemistry.

He attend Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1920. His father was a principal and his mother taught piano. Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia. 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.