Joe Henderson: Punjab
Musicians:
Joe Henderson (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Richard Davis (bass), Elvin Jones (drums).
Composed by Joe Henderson
.Recorded: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, April 10, 1964
Rating: 95/100 (learn more)
Like many of Joe Henderson's songs, "Punjab" is the kind of modern jazz composition that arose in the wake of harmonic innovations introduced in Coltrane's Giant Steps and Miles's Kind of Blue. There's a lot of root movement in the thematic line declared by Henderson and Dorham. While the tune is a blues at its core, it's a longer form than the standard 12 bars. But since it's still the blues, Henderson sounds right at home, producing an endless wellspring of articulations that employ both lightning-fast arpeggios and easygoing, rhythmic phrases, all gliding over a melody with strange chord changes. And oddly enough, it's a melody that's hard to shake once it gets inside of you. "Punjab" succeeds in making the complex simple to digest.
Reviewer: S. Victor Aaron
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Tags: 1960s jazz · tenor sax
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