Sylvester C. Henderson (April 5, 1925 – April 9, 1973), known as Duke Henderson, was an American

blues shouter A blues shouter is a blues singer, often male, capable of singing unamplified with a band. Notable blues shouters include: *Piney Brown * Walter Brown, of the Jay McShann orchestra *H-Bomb Ferguson *Wynonie Harris *Screamin' Jay Hawkins *Duke Hende ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

singer in the West Coast blues and jump blues styles in the mid-1940s. In the late 1940s he renounced his past and began broadcasting as a minister and gospel music

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

. He eventually became a preacher.

Music career

Apparently born in Liberty, Missouri, Henderson lived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, from the 1940s onward. In 1945, he made his debut recordings with the New York–based

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

record label.

Jack McVea John Vivian McVea (November 5, 1914 – December 27, 2000) was an American swing, blues, and rhythm and blues woodwind player and bandleader. He played clarinet and tenor and baritone saxophone. Career Born in Los Angeles, California, his fat ...

recommended Henderson to the label, and he was backed on the recording dates by several notable Los Angeles session musicians, including McVea,

Wild Bill Moore William M. "Wild Bill" Moore (June 13, 1918 – August 1, 1983) was an American R&B and jazz tenor saxophone player. Moore earned a modest hit on the Hot R&B charts with "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll", which also was one of the earliest roc ...

and

Lucky Thompson Eli "Lucky" Thompson (June 16, 1924 – July 30, 2005) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist whose playing combined elements of swing and bebop. Although John Coltrane usually receives the most credit for bringing the soprano sa ...

(saxophones), Gene Phillips (guitar),

Shifty Henry John Willie "Shifty" Henry (4 October 1921 – 30 November 1958) was an American musician, most noted as a double bass and bass guitar player, and blues songwriter. He also played flute, violin, viola, saxophone, and oboe and was in demand as a se ...

and Charles Mingus (bass), and

Lee Young Leonidas Raymond Young (March 7, 1914 – July 31, 2008) was an American jazz drummer and singer. His musical family included his father Willis Young and his older brother, saxophonist Lester Young. In 1944 he played with Norman Granz's fir ...

and Rabon Tarrant (drums). The recordings were not a commercial success and Henderson lost his recording contract with Apollo. In 1947, Al "Cake" Wichard recorded for Modern Records billed as the Al Wichard Sextette, with vocals by Henderson. Henderson subsequently recorded material for a number of labels over several years. His work was released by Globe, Down Beat,

Swing Time In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...

, Specialty ("Country Girl" b/w "Lucy Brown", October 1952), Modern, and Imperial. Henderson ended up at

Flair Records Flair Records was an American record label owned by the Bihari brothers, launched in the early 1950s. It was a subsidiary of Modern Records. Its most famous artist were Elmore James, who released ten singles with this label (as listed below), R ...

, where his 1953 release, "Hey Mr. Kinsey", was billed as recorded by Big Duke, and displayed a knowledge of the then current thinking on human sexual activity. Later in the decade, Henderson renounced his past and, billed as Brother Henderson, commenced broadcasting on

XERB XERB-AM/XHRB-FM is a radio station in Mexico, broadcasting on 810 AM and 89.9 FM in Cozumel, Quintana Roo. History The first station to carry the XERB callsign was a border blaster on 1090 kHz in Rosarito Beach, Baja California, which was ...

(the radio station that later broadcast

Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active from 1960 till his death in 1995. Famous for his gravelly voice, he credited it for his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes ...

). His ministerial career there as a gospel music DJ career was short-lived. In the late 1950s Henderson broadcast on

KPOP K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

in Los Angeles. After his DJ career, he became a preacher at Bethany Apostle Community Church. In February 1959, '' Billboard'' reported that Proverb Records was being jointly formed by Brother Henderson. By 1964 its subsidiary label, Gospel Corner, was initiated. Henderson died in Los Angeles in 1973, although some sources state 1972. In 1994, Delmark issued a compilation CD containing 20 tracks from Henderson's recordings for Apollo in late 1945.

Compilation album

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Duke 1925 births People from Liberty, Missouri 1973 deaths American blues singers American jazz singers West Coast blues musicians Jump blues musicians 20th-century American singers Jazz musicians from Missouri 20th-century American male singers American male jazz musicians

Music career

Compilation album

See also

References