JOE HENDERSON 'BLACK MIRACLE' MILESTONE OF SENSUAL AFROCENTRIC 70'S JAZZ FUSION
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JOE HENDERSON 'BLACK MIRACLE' A MILESTONE OF SENSUAL AFROCENTRIC 70'S JAZZ FUSION!
Black Miracle Review
by Vincent Thomas
All Music.com
Although the album title still evokes an Afrocentricity that defined Joe Henderson's career -- especially his Milestone recordings of the '70s -- as the last of that string, Black Miracle was a decidedly softer album with enough pop elements to make it (dare it be said) "easy listening" for a wide range of jazz heads. From the lush big-band horn section of "Gazelle" to the midtempo Stevie Wonder cover "My Cherie Amour" with George Duke on keyboard and the steady shake of Bill Summers' percussion, this album rarely provokes. Alas, it was his last studio album of a grand decade, even if many critics and enthusiasts refuse to acknowledge the import of Henderson's Milestone years, and here Henderson appeared to finally succumb to pop pandering, albeit not as egregiously as some of his peers. Nothing exhibited this more than the album's closer, "Old Slippers," with Harvey Mason's drums and Dawilli Gonga's clavinet in full-bore fusion syrup, and the preceding "Immaculate Deception," which sounded like it came out of Freddie Hubbard's poppish CTI catalog. Lee Ritenour's guitar always felt too corny for a Henderson record. Henderson was a little more than ten years from his career renaissance, but even in a less than stellar swan song he found time to drop one last gem, the breakbeat and hip-hop sample-ready "Solution," featuring Joe in the crease. Throughout the '70s, that's where he was most comfortable.
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