Fletcher Henderson Biography
Fletcher Henderson (1897-1952) was a pivotal figure in the early days of jazz, leading jazz’s first great big band and serving as an influential arranger and composer. Between 1923 and 1939, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra established the basic framework for big band swing, one that virtually every subsequent swing band would follow. Henderson was also an astute judge of talent, and his group played host to many of jazz’s leading players, including Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Chu Berry, Benny Carter and Fats Waller.
Fletcher Henderson was the son a former slave who became a teacher after being freed by General Sherman during the Civil War. When Henderson arrived in New York from his native Georgia in 1920, he had college degrees in chemistry and mathematics, and intended to pursue a career as a chemist. But the racial attitudes of the period made it difficult for him to pursue his chosen vocation, and he ended up with a job with the Pace-Handy music company. When that company launched a record label, Black Swan, Henderson became its recording director, playing piano and organizing session bands.
Henderson made his first recordings as a leader in 1921; three years later, he organized his first big band. Henderson’s early releases were musically adventurous, but it wasn’t until Louis Armstrong joined in 1924 and Don Redman’s arrangements adopted a more swinging direction that the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra truly came into its own. The band’s regular gigs at Manhattan’s Roseland Ballroom helped to make it a popular local attraction. By the early ’30s, Don Redman had moved on, and Henderson, who had developed into a first-class arranger himself, took over those duties.
Despite its popularity, the Henderson orchestra soon fell victim to the economic ravages of the Depression, to bad business decisions, and to increasing competition from other bands. Beginning in 1934, Henderson made ends meet by writing arrangements for Benny Goodman’s orchestra, and saw Goodman’s recordings far outsell Henderson’s versions of the same tunes. In 1936, Henderson reorganized his orchestra and scored a major hit with “Christopher Columbus,” but disbanded the group three years later. Henderson then spent a period as pianist in Goodman’s all-star sextet, and as the Goodman orchestra’s in-house arranger. Henderson continued to lead various bands on and off until his death in 1952.
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