Joe Henderson - Multiple (Remastered 2025) (1973/2025)

By the time Joe Henderson went into the studio for the 1973 sessions that would become Multiple, he had undergone a thorough metamorphosis. His last Blue Note dates (for Mode for Joe) were in 1966 and his first for Milestone were the following year (for The Kicker); Multiple would be his eighth album for his new label in just six short years. Between the freedom offered by Orrin Keepnews at Milestone and the fire and fervor of the era, Henderson had become one of the most interesting figures on the early '70s jazz scene, with albums that seamlessly bridged the gap between post-bop, spiritual jazz, and the electrically-tinged fusion of the time. And, if Henderson was one of the Blue Note artists whose importance didn't become clear until many years after his time on the label, his stint at Milestone was even less considered; only recently has it garnered the wide respect it's always deserved.

Multiple represents an interesting transition for Henderson, as the rapid pace of exploratory freedom he undertook on albums like Power to the People, Tetragon, and, most daringly, the large group space-funk of Black is the Color slowed into a sound that managed to be both compositionally concise and atmospherically expansive. It would not have been out of place on ECM at the time (both Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland are here!), but there's a simmering intensity and an organic roughness to these five pieces.

"Song for Sinners" is the shortest number, but it's also the most dizzying and dazzling; Henderson's tenor playing comes in short bursts atop a foundation of earthy vocals, electric piano, electronics, and otherworldly percussion that, together, creates a propulsive, ethereal jam. A similar vibe is undertaken on "Tress-Cun-Deo-La," but the group (augmented by guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer, in one of his earliest studio performances) stretches out considerably more. More conventional (at least for the era) are the post-Miles grooves on the Holland-penned "Turned Around," but "conventional" is an especially relative term for Henderson at this point in his career, as it could be argued that albums like Multiple were some of the most important and exciting—if belatedly appreciated—albums of the time. © Jason Ferguson

Tracklist
1. Tress-Cun-Deo-La (10:33)
2. Bwaata (10:56)
3. Song For Sinners (6:25)
4. Turned Around (6:39)
5. Me, Among Others (7:05)