Greg Henderson

US producer, songwriter, trumpet player, and owner of Rain Forest Records (2) & Rain Records (2)

Majored in music at Queens College, NY and received an academic scholarship to study and teach at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.

During college he supported himself by playing latin music in the Frank Nieves Orchestra performing alongside salsa legends and learning the New York club scene. In the early-70s work was in abundance and Greg started his own R&B and funk band called Obsidian. They played all over New York City and in the summer of 1974 opportunity knocked. Greg was hired by the Jackson 5 to play trumpet with them in a string of dates including Madison Square Garden.

Darryl Gibbs (of Crown Heights Affair and Strikers) was putting together the best players he knew to form a new band called Made In USA. He hired Greg to join the horn section and help arrange parts. The brief was to form a band that could duplicate their recordings live that was testament to their musicianship. They constantly played gigs keeping a busy schedule and honing a polished NY sound firmly rooted in the high-school funk and soul bands that spawned across the four-boroughs some years earlier. In 1977, Made In USA released their one and only album for De-Lite Records. Despite a hit single on the east coast, the LP didn’t gain traction commercially and the band soon disbanded.

Greg had worked the NY circuit for the better part of a decade and his goal to lead a band and record his own compositions came together in early 1978 when he formed a 10-piece band called Master Force. Motivated by his leadership, the musicians adhered to a strict rehearsal regime practising after hours in a warehouse mail room fine tuning Greg’s original works.

Produced by Greg Henderson and self-released on his own Rain Forest Records imprint, Master Force’s 1979 single ‘Hey Girl’ c/w ‘Don’t Fight The Feeling’ has become a staple classic across generations and a standout choice on any playlist. Whilst independent distribution and exposure was limited, Henderson’s output on his Rain Records imprint became revered amongst DJ’s in the UK from the start.

‘Dreamin’ was Henderson’s second solo-release after producing ‘Dancing To The Beat’ for Park Way Records. Recorded in 1982 in a community recording studio in Brooklyn, it featured a vocal trio on lead called Lorali led by Isabelle Coles of Kleeer and Herbert Aikens from Made In USA on drums.

Like Master Force, the project was self-funded and released on his Rain imprint before making a deal with Sam Records receiving greater exposure in clubland NY. The 12” mix was licensed for release on London-based Greyhound Records.

Greg continued to record and produce for Rain Records releasing ‘Never Too Late’ and ‘Good Love’ featuring his late-friend Romero Jefferson aka Rome Jefferies. Both releases remain highly-sought after and like ‘Dreamin’ have remained crowd favourites with soul and dance fans old and new.