Joe Henderson – So Near, So Far (Musings For Miles)

For the most part So Near, So Far (Musings for Miles) runs counter to the recordings we’ve come to know and expect from the work Henderson had done for Blue Note Records, where he set the standards for the jazz and avant garde movement that came on the scene during the early 60’s. It was during those formative years that Henderson projected the dynamics of intelligence, harmony, and sometimes discord, where he found himself standing at the proverbial crossroads of a musically polarized gene, bringing forth hard driving swing while pushing the boundaries of experimentation, yet keeping his ideals of balance ever-present.

And while most listeners who are even remotely knowledgeable regarding jazz know his name, his work leaves most in the wind, as his improvisations where often blunt and harsh as he nearly created his own musical architecture that incorporated elements of swing and be-bop that were delivered in a sequence of notes and merging textural extremes that were almost stair-like in their nature ... sounds that didn’t so much draw people in, as his music closed a circle, keeping most out.

Yet here, he steps out of the shadow of Davis, Coltrane, and others, finding himself no longer a sideman, and delivering what might well be his first bonafide commercial success, as his esthetics have been more closely monitored, never swinging too far from center, or climbing his mathematically challenging scale. For the most part So Near, So Far is a timeless recording where he’s able to keep himself away from the cliffs and crashing waves, allowing the listener into his world through a backdoor, because it’s not until his ten minute version of “Side Car” that his young ideas come swooping back, but by this juncture, one’s ready for them, as he’s eased us into his circle so carefully that both he and the listener have no where else to go than to ride with Henderson as glides through open harmonies and structural bliss, crackling like a fire, nearly consuming all ... yet finding a way to end the album on an accessible note, with the title song “So Near, So Far.”

Review by Jenell Kesler