Ernie Henry – Last Chorus (Full Album)

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Last Chorus is a posthumous album by American jazz saxophonist Ernie Henry featuring tracks recorded in 1956 and 1957 for the Riverside label.

AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow:
Ernie Henry was a promising alto saxophonist who passed away prematurely on December 29, 1957, when he was only 31. He had recorded his album Seven Standards and a Blues on September 30, and four songs for an uncompleted octet date on September 23. This CD reissue has the latter tunes (which feature trumpeter Lee Morgan; trombonist Melba Liston, who contributed “Melba’s Tune”; tenor saxophonist Benny Golson; and pianist Wynton Kelly), an alternate take from the Seven Standards set (“Like Someone in Love”), a leftover track from the preceding year (“Cleo’s Chant”), the solos of Thelonious Monk and Henry (from the lengthy “Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are”), and an alternate version of “S’posin'” taken from the altoist’s final recording (a quartet outing with trumpeter Kenny Dorham). Overall, the music is fine and, surprisingly, does not have an unfinished air about it. It does make one wish that Ernie Henry had taken better care of his health, as he was just beginning to develop a sound of his own (https://goo.gl/Nnvi44).

Track listing:
“Autumn Leaves” (Joseph Kosma, Johnny Mercer, Jacques Prévert) – 3:15
“Beauty and the Blues” (Benny Golson) – 6:28
“All the Things You Are” (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 7:49
“Melba’s Tune” (Melba Liston) – 2:41
“S’posin'” [alternate take] (Paul Denniker, Andy Razaf) – 4:54
“Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are” [excerpt] (Thelonious Monk) – 6:58
“Like Someone in Love” [alternate take] (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 4:40
“Cleo’s Chant” [alternate take] (Ernie Henry) – 8:31

Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios in New York City on August 30, 1956 (track 8), October 9, 1956 (track 6), September 15, 1957 (tracks 1-4), September 30, 1957 (track 7) and November 13, 1957 (track 5)

Personnel:
Ernie Henry – alto saxophone
Kenny Dorham (tracks 5 & 8) Lee Morgan (tracks 1-4) – trumpet
Melba Liston – trombone (tracks 1, 2 & 4)
Benny Golson (tracks 1-4), Sonny Rollins (track 6) – tenor saxophone
Cecil Payne – baritone saxophone (tracks 1, 2 & 4)
Kenny Drew (track 8), Wynton Kelly (tracks 1-4 & 7), Thelonious Monk (track 6) – piano
Paul Chambers (tracks 1-4), Eddie Mathias (track 5), Oscar Pettiford (track 6), Wilbur Ware (tracks 7 & 8) – bass
G. T. Hogan (track 5), Philly Joe Jones (tracks 1-4 & 7), Max Roach (track 6), Art Taylor (track 8) – drums

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Released: 1958
Recorded: August 30 and October 9, 1956, September 15 & 30, 1957 and November 13, 1957
Reeves Sound Studios, New York City
Length: 44:53
Label: Riverside
RLP 12-266
Producer: Orrin Keepnews