Henderson, Luther (14th March 1919-29th July 2003)

He was a pianist, composer, orchestrator and arranger born to a musical family in Kansas City, Missouri who moved to the Sugar Hill district in Harlem, New York when he was four years old. He learned to play the piano while young and was the winner of a contest in Harlem. He first studied maths at the City College of New York before moving on and earning his BSc degree in 1942 at Juilliard School of Music.

During the WWII years he served in the Navy and worked with the Naval Station Great Lakes Navy band in Illinois as an arranger. In 1944 he moved to the US Navy School of Music where he was the staff orchestrator, remaining there until 1946. Once he has finished his military service he started to work with many of the top artists of the time, including Lena Horne, who he worked as a pianist and musical director for, Richard Rodgers, Jules Styne and Duke Ellington, who had been his neighbour as a child and who nicknamed him his “classical arm” and he worked with for many years. In fact his first work on Broadway was as co-orchestrator with Billy Strayhorn on Duke Ellington’s Beggar’s Holiday.

From then he worked on over 50 musicals on Broadway as musical director, arranger and orchestrator. Some of these include Ain’t Misbehavin’, Flower Drum Song, Funny Girl, Jelly’s Last Jam, which saw his songwriting debut and won him a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrationsa 1992 Tony nomination, No No Nanette and Play On!, which also won a Tony nomination, along with numerous others.

During the 1950s he began working on television and was nominated for an Emmy for the TV special of Ain’t Misbehavin’. He was also the character known as The Professor on the 1970’s TV series Joya’s Fun School.

He worked with countless artists as a musical director and/or arranger on television, on Broadway and on recordings with just a few including Victor Borge, Diahann Carroll, Robert Goulet, Gregory Hines, Eartha Kitt, Andre Kostelanetz, Dean Martin, Carmen McRae, Liza Minnelli, Dinah Shore, Andy Williams and Nancy Wilson on television shows and recordings. He also wrote music and arrangements for brass instruments that have since been performed and recorded by Canadian Brass and other ensembles.

He recorded 6 albums with the own Luther Henderson Orchestra and during the 1990s the City of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle performed and recorded his arrangements of music by Duke Ellington using the title Classic Ellington, which were also performed by Regina Carter, Dianne Reeves and Clark Terry and St. Luke’s Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. His more than 100 arrangements of Duke Ellington’s music were also recorded by the Canadian Brass, which gained a Grammy Award nomination for it’s Take the “A” Train in 2000.

His recordings were many and a select few include his own Clap Hands!, The Greatest Sound Around and Turned-On Broadway along with Greatest Hits in Stereo/Don’t Mess with Tess by Teresa Brewer, The Songs That Got Away by Sarah Brightman, A Canadian Brass Christmas, Basin Street, Red White & Brass, Brass on Broadway and Swingtime! by Canadian Brass, Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago by Chicago Symphony Low Brass, WWII Radio Christmas by Bing Crosby, Dawson, Ellington: Orchestral Works by Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Neeme Jarvi, The Broadway I Love by Placido Domingo, First Annual Connecticut Jazz Festival and Black, Brown & Beige; Three Black Kings; New World A-Comin’; Harlem, 1942-1944 and Chelsea Bridge by Duke Ellington, April in My Heart by Billie Holiday, American Classics by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Some of the Best by Lena Horne, 1944-1947 by Etta Jones, From Q, With Love by Quincy Jones, Winter Wonderland by Johnny Mathis, A Christmas Gloria by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mandy Patinkin by Mandy Patinkin, Drums Unlimited by Max Roach, Broadway Extravaganza Vol. 1: Symphonic Recollections by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Private Recordings August 1970 by Sylvester, Duke Ellington: The Symphonic Portrait by the United States Air Force Symphony Orchestra, UK Singles Collection 1950-1962 by Frankie Vaughan, No Count Sarah by Sarah Vaughan, Slick Chick on the Mellow Side by Dinah Washington and numerous soundtracks and compilations.

After battling cancer for a long time he died in 2003 when he was 84 years old. He left behind his wife, the actress and director Billie Allen and three children.

In 2004 the National Endowment for the Arts posthumously awarded him the Jazz Master Award and in 2008 the Luther Henderson Scholarship Fund was established by his wife at the Juilliard School of Music.

Christmas Carols recordings by Chicago Symphony Low Brass Ensemble

The First Nowell (Traditional/Anonymous)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Anonymous/Traditional)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

Here We Come A-Wassailing (Wassail Song) (Anonymous Middle Ages English)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Lucas Henderson

I Saw Three Ships (Traditional/Anonymous)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson

Sources:

Henderson, Luther (14th March 1919-29th July 2003)

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