In 'N Out

I had never heard this record,before buying it,a couple of months ago. Of course,I know Joe (all bop fans should). And,having brought Kenny Dorham with him,I knew it was sure thing. While I'm not the biggest McCoy Tyner fan in the world (utmost respect notwithstanding)this set is great. And,where Tyner goes,so goes Elvin Jones. Richard Davis is always welcome. So here it is:Joe's opener,title tune "In'N Out" is definately hard bop. This is some seriously 'bad,bad' stuff! Joe hits it once,then,gets right to the point: SMOKE!Richard is in there strong. Elvin's hustle is no big surprise. McCoy is his usually abstract self,(fastest fingers on earth)jammin'hard,when up pops KD. Kenny comes up 'blowin'(what else?)smoke',before Joe comes back to continue where he left off.Joe themes(once)and is gone. You don't hear great hard bop everyday. This is IT!"Punjab" is Kenny's (I think). This is my foremost on the set. The theme is a cool,laid back, easy swinger that sounds like KD. Joe comes out first,"jumpin' with swing" or "swinging with jump", which ever one perfers. It's Joe; and it's good. KD is a little abstact,here,or maybe just very serious. He puts down an excellent solo. McCoy swings beautifully,with strong work from Elvin and Richard."Serenity" is an equally sharp,yet laid-back swinger,with Kenny leading off on a cool'drive' that I thought should have been longer,but,not bad,at all. Joe's solo IS longer and meticulously sharp. McCoy's solo is really great;swung with artful finesse. Richard gets off a very cool solo, as well. Again,the theme is really great.I remember Kenny's "Short Story" as the title tune from one of his Prestige albums. Here,the intro is a little different,but the track is still a "smoker".Kenny comes out "cookin'", with McCoy(also "cookin'")right behind him. Joe just gets down to some serious swinging. McCoy does likewise. Elvin gets off some 'fours' with Joe, before embellishing on KD's already slick theme."Brown's Town" is either Joe's or McCoy's. Abstact in an 'old-fashioned' sort of way. Medium-tempoed. KD leads off,swinging moderately. McCoy's solo is excellent,while typical McCoy Tyner. Richard is next,with some most-emphatic bass. Joe does not solo,here,but the CD does contain an alternate track of "In N Out".If you know Joe Henderson, you know that this is a great CD to have. If you don't, this is a great place to start.

What a pleasure to listen to this record. The sound is terrific, which is expected in a AAA released mastered by KG. There's no any type of background noise and the vinyl is completely flat. The graphics in the cover are very beautiful, with high resolution images. The cover itself is not made of the same delux material as the tone poet releases, but the overall feeling is great. An incredible release for an incredible price. Highly recommended!!

Very beautiful album. The Blue Note 80 release is mastered very nicely and the 180 gram vinyl should hold up and not warp. Highly recommend!

Joe Henderson is one of my favorite tenor saxophonists.#1.......John Coltrane#2.......Michael Brecker#3.....Joe Henderson

This fine album consists of 5 fairly long songs (6-10 minutes each) that give the lead musicians plenty of space to improvise in extended solos. Joe Henderson , Kenny Dorham, and McCoy Tyner are most prominently featured and all deliver solid solos. They are nicely supported by Richard Davis on bass and Elvin Jones on drums.This is the first Henderson album I heard, although I knew his work from albums lead by Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, and McCoy Tyner including Morgan's "The Sidewinder" and "The Rumproller", Silver's "Song for My Father" and "The Cape Verdean Blues", and Tyner's "The Real McCoy". For some reason, I did not really like this album very much the first few times I listened to it. None of the tunes really grabbed me and I found it kind of dull. I had bought it together with Henderson's "Mode for Joe", Morgan's "The Cooker", and "The Best of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker". I listened to Morgan's album first, followed by this one, the Mulligan/Baker album, and "Mode for Joe" in that order. Maybe the problem was that the Morgan and Mulligan/Baker albums both featured some classic tunes that I recognized and could enjoy right away. However, I liked "Mode for Joe" right away even though it only featured new compositions that I had not previously heard. "Mode for Joe" differs from this album in that it features a septet -- the quintet of sax, trumpet and rhythm section being complemented by trombone and vibes. I do tend to like larger ensembles (especially when they include trombone) and am a bigger fan of Lee Morgan than of Kenny Dorham. I also suspect that the writing on "Mode for Joe" is better, or at least attempted to create more memorable melodies.However, after listening to the other albums, I came back to this one expecting to have the same reaction. To my surprise, I found myself liking it much more than I originally had. I found plenty of interesting melodic fragments if not full blown melodies and appreciated the quality of the solos much more. Perhaps I had been distracted when first listening to it since I had been travelling when I bought it and the other albums. I do think that this is an album that you need to listen to fairly closely in order to fully appreciate.I even almost gave this album 5 stars, but decided to give it 4 since a really great album should have impressed me on the very first hearing and since I wanted to save 5 stars for "Mode for Joe" which I do like more.

Great album by a master saxophonist.

One of Joe's best recordings during Blue Note's heyday. A must for any Joe Henderson fan. You won't be disappointed.

good