Given the recording date of
Mode for Joe
and the band lineup, it's easy to assume this is a straight-up hard bop album. However, this 1966
Joe Henderson
record -- featuring trumpeter
Lee Morgan
, trombonist
Curtis Fuller
, vibraphonist
Bobby Hutcherson
, pianist
Cedar Walton
, bassist
Ron Carter
, and drummer
Joe Chambers
-- is a great example of modern jazz at its best. It was recorded during a time of sweeping musical changes due to developments in free jazz, soul-jazz, and even early experiments with fusion. It was a time when the bluesy and funky leanings of hard boppers were giving way to more individualized contemporary approaches. One of the best examples of this shift,
sounds more like the experimental work of
Branford Marsalis
than the groovy musings of
Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers
. The last track here, "Free Wheelin'," is the only dyed-in-the-wool hard bop tune heard here. Other than that, this outing's mostly uptempo songs serve as vehicles for solos.
Henderson
himself proves that the template for players such as
Marsalis
,
Joe Lovano
, and
Joshua Redman
was invented a generation earlier, as evidenced on "A Shade of Jade," "Black," and others, making this one of the sax legend's most intriguing albums.