It’s only been a minute since the wondrous San Francisco based octet SFJAZZ Collective celebrated their tenth anniversary with the release of SFJAZZ Collective: 10. They are ready to follow it up, and as is usual with the collective, their new offering serves as a tribute to a modern jazz master. Drawing on a vast reservoir of musical influences, the collective’s new album celebrates the music of legendary saxophonist and composer Joe Henderson. Featuring both new arrangements of Henderson’s classic and lesser-known pieces, and original compositions written be each member of the collective, the upcoming Live: SFJAZZ Center 2014, The Music of Joe Henderson and New Compositions was recorded live last October at the SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco.
“There’s a catchy quality to Joe’s melodies”, said the collective’s pianist Edward Simon, adding that “they’re sing -able, and yet his tunes have very interesting harmonic progressions and sonorities,”.
Live: SFJAZZ Center 2014, The Music of Joe Henderson and New Compositions is due out on March 10th. Ahead of its release, we can get a taste of it with the funky and sterling first single ‘Fire, arranged by drummer Obed Calvaire. Lifted from Joe Henderson’s album Elements, the piece was originally recorded in 1973 featuring Alice Coltrane.