THE SHOWROOM SESSIONS: Streaming LIVE from Piedmont Piano Company
Eddie Henderson Quartet
TWO SHOWS - 5pm and 8pm
LIVE AUDIENCE + streaming (5pm only)
Eddie Henderson - trumpet
George Cables - piano
Essiet Essiet - bass
Sylvia Cuenca - drums
ATTEND IN-PERSON $30
We are offering a limited number of tickets to attend this performance in person. Advance purchase is required. Ticket holders must be fully vaccinated to attend, and will be asked to show proof of vaccination at the door.
Watch the LIVE STREAM on youtube or facebook
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EDDIE HENDERSON
Jazz trumpeter extraordinaire Eddie Henderson received his first informal lesson on the trumpet at the age of 9 from Louis Armstrong. As a teenager he studied trumpet at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and performed with the San Francisco Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. In 1957, Eddie met Miles Davis for the first time. Miles, a family friend, admired the strikingly beautiful tone and musicality of Henderson’s trumpet playing and encouraged him to pursue a career in music. As a family friend, Miles has been a major musical influence on Eddie throughout his life. That culminated in May of 2002 with the recording of So What, a tribute to Miles that features songs associated with the legend. As Henderson puts it, “Miles is so very special to me because when I was in high school he stayed in my parent’s house when he came through San Francisco. I was going to the conservatory then studying classical music. I saw him do all these songs live that I recorded on the tribute album.”
Eddie had the good fortune of meeting many famous musicians growing up (including getting those early tips from Satchmo) because his parents were both entertainers. His mother was a dancer at the original Cotton Club and his father a member of the popular singing group Billy Williams and the Charioteers. His stepfather was a doctor to people like Miles, Coltrane and Duke Ellington, so the association with musicians continued. In addition to excelling on his instrument, Eddie excelled academically enough to go to medical school and become a doctor.
From 1968 until the late ‘80s, Henderson mixed music and medicine. He received his first major musical exposure as a member of Herbie Hancock’s trailblazing Mwandishi sextet, an ensemble that also included young innovators such as Bennie Maupin, Julian Priester, Buster Williams and Billy Hart. From 1969 through 1973 they recorded Mwandishi and Crossings for Warner Bros. and Sextant for Columbia. His experiences with Hancock exerted a profound influence on Henderson as reflected in the music on his first two solo albums, Realization and Inside Out, recorded in 1972 and 1973 for Capricorn Records.
After leaving Hancock, the trumpeter worked extensively with Pharoah Sanders, Norman Connors and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Eddie returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1975 where he joined the Latin-jazz group Azteca and fronted his own bands. The expressive rhythmic thrust of Henderson’s jazz/fusion experiences manifested itself on his Blue Note recordings Sunburst and Heritage and in 1977, he broke through with a single on the Billboard charts, “Prance On” (from the album Comin’ Through).
Eddie has also performed with such notables as Dexter Gordon, Roy Haynes, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones, Johnny Griffin, Slide Hampton, Benny Golson, Max Roach and McCoy Tyner.
GEORGE CABLES
When George Cables was going to school in New York City he used to walk the streets at night, taking in the cosmopolitan sights and sounds, mentally recording his encounters with “so many different kinds of people.” In his musical career as well, Cables has prowled sidestreets and main thoroughfares in relative anonymity, absorbing countless influences into his personal style.
Born in New York City on November 14, 1944, Cables was classically trained as a youth and when he started at the “Fame” worthy High School of Performing Arts, he admittedly “didn’t know anything about jazz.” But he was soon smitten with the potential for freedom of expression he heard in jazz.
He has performed and recorded with some of the greatest jazz musicians of our time, including: Joe Henderson, Roy Haynes, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Williams, Bobby Hutcherson and Dizzy Gillespie.
George Cables has emerged as a major voice in modern jazz. He is currenuy performing and recording as a soloist, with trio and larger ensembles, and as a clinician in college jazz programs. In addition to composing and arranging for his own albums, George Cables has contributed to recordings by Dexter Gordon, Art Pepper, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson and many others. He is noted for his fresh Interpretations of classic compositions and for his innovative style of writing. georgecables.com
ESSIET ESSIET
Essiet Okon Essiet first received critical acclaim more than a decade ago as a member of saxophonist Bobby Watson's post-hard bop group Horizon. He has long since established himself as one of New York's premier bassist.
He began is musical studies on the violin at age 10, then switched to bass four years later and began studying jazz. Having traveled widely as a youngster with his family, originally from Nigeria, he had an easy time adjusting to life on the road once he turned professional. His early exposure to many cultures, languages, folkways, and religions fostered his worldview of strength through diversity. "Some musicians are purist" says Essiet, "but I like to mix styles. I like many different types of cultures."
His first big break came in 1982 when he met Chicago based percussionist Famoudou Don Moye, a founding member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and The Leaders, who asked Essiet to join his quartet. During that same year the bassist met Abdullah Ibrahim, the famed South African pianist.
Eventually Essiet settled in NYC. Two years later, he joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and remained in the group until the famed drummer/teacher's passing in 1990. During the next decade the bassist began what has proven to be a significant freelance career, performing and recording with such notables as Benny Golson, Johnny Griffin, James Moody, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, and Cedar Walton to name a few. essietokonessiet.com
SYLVIA CUENCA
Sylvia is an active drummer on the New York music scene contributing outstanding performances in a variety of situations. She has had the honor of sharing the bandstand with saxophone legend Joe Henderson for 4 years. They toured extensively in Europe, Asia and U.S. Sylvia also performed with trumpet legend Clark Terry for 17 years. Terry’s quintet and big band performed jazz cruises, clubs, concerts and festivals in the U.S. Europe, the Caribbean, and South America. She recently performed with Kevin Mahogany in South Africa and toured as a leader in India.
Sylvia also performed and toured with jazz luminaries Billy Taylor, Eddie Henderson, Gary Bartz, Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, Frank Foster’s Loud Minority Big Band, Red Holloway, Jimmy Heath, George Cables, Irene Rosnes, Kenny Drew Jr., Emily Remler, Al Grey, Frank Wess, Michael Brecker, Helen Merrill, Houston Person, Hilton Ruiz, Marian McPartland, Lou Donaldson, Etta Jones, Geoffrey Keezer, Catherine Russell, Joe Williams, Vienna Art Orchestra, Jon Faddis, John Abercrombie, Lew Soloff, Dave Stryker, Paul Bollenback, Dianne Reeves, Dianne Schuur and Albert “Tootie” Heath’s 4 drum set group called “The Whole Drum Truth” also featuring Louis Hayes and Joe Saylor and many others. sylviacuenca.com