Artist: Luther Henderson & His OrchestraLP: The Greatest Sound Around
Here's some poppy, happy hand-clapping (plus a bit of finger-snapping) for a cool and foggy Seattle morning. When Luther Henderson was little, Duke Ellington was his neighbor! You can read all about Mr. Henderson here and here, and I've included the slightly hip liner notes from the back of the LP here:
THE GREATEST SOUND AROUND
HAND-CLAPPING RHYTHMS OF LUTHER HENDERSON
AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MAN BEATS POPS
A little rhythm is a dangerous thing, somebody said—and
then ran before we could take his name. But he was so right.
You get to moving around to it, nodding the head, beating a
heel against the parquet, toeing a table leg, putting a spoon
against the glass. Pretty soon you're on your feet, walking
with a twitch, trying a fancy step, snapping finger and thumb
to the beat. Hardly any time at all you're slapping hands
and letting it take over. Watch it.
On the other hand, why not? It was a good year for rhythm,
1959, a vintage year maybe. And not just in jazz. The pop tunes
had it too, as the twelve assembled here from that crop attest
to. Very big, they were, in 1959, though some of them were born
long before that. And while many of them were essentially ballads,
they all take a beat, they all will move on request. And when they
are put to a crisp rhythm by the guy who is simply the earth-
movingest arranger around (L.H.) and executed by the
sharpest set of instrumentalists collectable—you
get it, man, the Greatest.
Luther Henderson—the man who made all this rhythm possible
and without whom we would have a blank record—is a head-
nodder from away back. His first dance sets were for Ellington;
his first notable backgrounds were for Lena Horne, whose ac-
companist and arranger he used to be. Then came some years
of servicing with appropriate musical settings for just about
every top vocalist and dancer in show business. Polly Bergen,
Anita Ellis and Joya Sherrill have recently recorded with Luther
the latest in a long list of vocal records, in addition to which his
first instrumental—Clap Hands (CL 1340 / CS 8149)—was last
year's pick of the pack of rhythm-slanted orchestral albums.
And still he complains. It seems that all this rhythm—finger-
snapping, hand-clapping and all that—is hard on gloves and
cuticles. Price of fame, man, price of fame.
HAND-CLAPPING RHYTHMS OF LUTHER HENDERSON
AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MAN BEATS POPS
A little rhythm is a dangerous thing, somebody said—and
then ran before we could take his name. But he was so right.
You get to moving around to it, nodding the head, beating a
heel against the parquet, toeing a table leg, putting a spoon
against the glass. Pretty soon you're on your feet, walking
with a twitch, trying a fancy step, snapping finger and thumb
to the beat. Hardly any time at all you're slapping hands
and letting it take over. Watch it.
On the other hand, why not? It was a good year for rhythm,
1959, a vintage year maybe. And not just in jazz. The pop tunes
had it too, as the twelve assembled here from that crop attest
to. Very big, they were, in 1959, though some of them were born
long before that. And while many of them were essentially ballads,
they all take a beat, they all will move on request. And when they
are put to a crisp rhythm by the guy who is simply the earth-
movingest arranger around (L.H.) and executed by the
sharpest set of instrumentalists collectable—you
get it, man, the Greatest.
Luther Henderson—the man who made all this rhythm possible
and without whom we would have a blank record—is a head-
nodder from away back. His first dance sets were for Ellington;
his first notable backgrounds were for Lena Horne, whose ac-
companist and arranger he used to be. Then came some years
of servicing with appropriate musical settings for just about
every top vocalist and dancer in show business. Polly Bergen,
Anita Ellis and Joya Sherrill have recently recorded with Luther
the latest in a long list of vocal records, in addition to which his
first instrumental—Clap Hands (CL 1340 / CS 8149)—was last
year's pick of the pack of rhythm-slanted orchestral albums.
And still he complains. It seems that all this rhythm—finger-
snapping, hand-clapping and all that—is hard on gloves and
cuticles. Price of fame, man, price of fame.
[ Luther Henderson: March 14, 1919 — July 29, 2003 ]
Personally, I'm partial to my Luther Henderson hand clap album...
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