Inner Urge (The Rudy Van Gelder Edition) [Remastered]

The November 1964 Inner Urge session found rising tenor saxophone master Joe Henderson, then 27, at the helm of a quartet with two of John Coltrane’s renowned sidemen, pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones (both of whom would record Coltrane’s A Love Supreme just over a week later). Bob Cranshaw, the album’s bassist, was a regular with Sonny Rollins, the other leading tenor of the day. Henderson inherited much from these role models, but he approached the tenor legacy on his own terms, building a sound and vocabulary that paved the way for Michael Brecker, David Liebman, Joe Lovano, and countless others.

Henderson’s fourth Blue Note album is a paramount example of the label’s mid-’60s post-bop aesthetic, with just five songs at a tight but impactful 45 minutes. “Inner Urge,” much like a number of Coltrane compositions, remains a challenging test piece for improvisers to this day. “Isotope” presents an angular take on the blues, while “El Barrio” sets up an extended groove very much in the Coltrane “modal” wheelhouse of the period. The Coltrane influence spikes again in the cascading harmonies Tyner superimposes on Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” And Duke Pearson’s ballad “You Know I Care” is an occasion for Henderson to summon the tenor ancestors, navigating the tune with a warm, deep tone and ceaseless ideas.

Following Inner Urge, Mode for Joe was Henderson’s last Blue Note release before the transition to his prolific tenure on Milestone. Though he returned to Blue Note for The State of the Tenor in 1985, he spent the remainder of his career with Verve until his passing in 2001 at age 64.