 |
| Joe Henderson's Consonance 3LP set kicks off a series of Resonance releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase club archives. |
Here's the scoop...
UNISSUED JOE HENDERSON LIVE at JOE SEGAL'S JAZZ SHOWCASE in 1978! This is a major announcement for Resonance. Producer and Resonance co-president, Zev Feldman, began going through the massive tape archives of the legendary jazz impresario of Chicago, Joe Segal, back in 2011. Now, 15 years later, Resonance Records is launching a series of releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase for Record Store Day (April 18, 2026) starting with Joe Henderson "Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase."
This is the first-ever release of saxophone titan Joe Henderson and his quartet featuring pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Danny Spencer captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL in February of 1978. The limited-edition 180-gram 3-LP (and 2-CD, out April 24th) set was mastered from the original tapes by engineer and Resonance founder George Klabin and Resonance general counsel and co-producer of this album, John Koenig, with lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile pressing plant Le Vinylist.
This is part of Resonance's debut launch of releases from Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, marking the beginning of what will hopefully be a long line of incredible releases from the club's archives. The deluxe package includes newly curated liner notes by John Koenig, plus interviews with Joanne Brackeen, Steve Rodby, Danny Spencer, Joe Segal's son Wayne Segal and more. The striking cover photo was taken by Raymond Ross (CTSIMAGES), with design by Burton Yount.
JOE HENDERSON - CONSONANCE: LIVE AT THE JAZZ SHOWCASE
A1 - Mr. P. C. (24:00)
B1 - Inner Urge (26:46)
C1 - Invitation (22:15)
C2 - Relaxin' at Camarillo (7:41)
D1 - Recorda Me (23:33)
E1 - 'Round Midnight (16:10)
E2 - Good Morning Heartache (9:30)
F1 - Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise (23:39)
F2 - Isotope (6:37)
- Resonance’s First Release from Joe Segal’s Extensive Archives Captures a Master at Full Stretch
- Limited-Edition 180 gram 3-LP package with liner notes by John Koenig, reflections by musicians on the album: Joanne Brackeen, Steve Rodby, Danny Spencer, plus Jazz Showcase owner Joe Segal’s son Wayne Segal
- Available Exclusively for Record Store Day on April 18, 2026
- 2000 vinyl copies
Some nights don’t just fade away after the last note has dissipated. They linger in the marrow, waiting for the right moment to be heard again. Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase is one of those nights. Recorded in February of 1978 at Joe Segal’s storied Jazz Showcase in Chicago, this newly unearthed performance captures saxophone titan Joe Henderson in bracing communion with a quartet that knew how to listen as hard as it played. Nearly five decades later, the music arrives as a revelation. It feels alive, active, and fiercely contemporary.
This limited-edition, 180-gram 3-LP set marks Resonance’s first-ever release from the Jazz Showcase archives, inaugurating a new chapter in producer Zev Feldman’s archival mission.
“Joe's archives comprise one of the greatest libraries of previously unissued jazz recordings in existence and we're very lucky that these documents were made and preserved,” says Feldman, who first discovered the treasure trove of recordings when he was introduced to Segal in 2011. The vinyl will be available for Record Store Day, April 18, 2026 with a 2-CD set to follow on April 24, what would have been Joe Segal’s 100th birthday.
Mastered from the original tapes by George Klabin and John Koenig, with lacquers cut by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas, and pressed at Quebec’s boutique audiophile plant Le Vinylist, Consonance brings Henderson’s sound into the room with startling presence.
By 1978, Henderson had long since secured his place in the pantheon of jazz royalty. But categorizing him by era misses the point. His greatness wasn’t static, and he had the rare ability to be of his time without being trapped by it, to absorb the currents around him and redirect them through a singular voice. On Consonance, Henderson stands at a crossroads — post-bop wisdom in one hand, a restless future in the other — testing the strength of melody and rhythm in real time.
The quartet is essential to that alchemy. Pianist Joanne Brackeen brings a crystalline intelligence to the music, her lines darting and doubling back with a logic that’s as emotional as it is analytical. Bassist Steve Rodby — years before his work with Pat Metheny would bring him wider acclaim — anchors the band with a deep, elastic pulse. Drummer Danny Spencer rounds out the group with propulsion and nuance, never crowding the space Henderson leaves open, but never letting it cool either. Together, they form a unit that thrives on risk, the kind of ensemble that understands the weight of the music.
Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase, the setting for this encounter, was no mere backdrop. It was a proving ground and a listening room where seriousness was a prerequisite and flash alone wouldn’t save you. Segal, a tireless advocate for the music, built a sanctuary for artists to stretch out and work through ideas in front of an audience that knew how to hold silence. The room’s intimacy sharpened the exchange between band and crowd, a feedback loop of concentration and release that’s palpable on tape.
Consonance is the sound of Henderson responding to that environment — probing, pressing, then laying back just enough to let the music breathe. His tenor carries that unmistakable mix of muscle and mercy: a burnished tone that can cut through steel, then soften into a whisper without losing authority. He phrases like someone telling the truth slowly, not leaving room for interruption. There’s urgency here, but also patience, and confidence that will give you everything.
The deluxe package deepens that story with newly curated liner notes by co-producer John Koenig, alongside interviews with Brackeen, Rodby, Spencer, and Wayne Segal, son of Joe Segal. Their reflections sketch a fuller portrait of the night and the ecosystem that made it possible: the trust between musicians, the discipline of the room, and the sense that something important could happen if everyone stayed present long enough.
For Brackeen, the date stands as a testament to Henderson’s generosity as a bandleader; his willingness to invite ideas rather than dictate them. Rodby recalls the elasticity of the set, how the music seemed to lengthen and contract in response to the moment. Spencer speaks to the balance required to drive the band without overwhelming it. And Wayne Segal situates the performance within his father’s lifelong commitment to creating space for artists to be fully themselves. These voices don’t annotate the music so much as echo it, extending the conversation across time.
Consonance feels especially vital now as it reframes Henderson as both a monument and collaborator. It reminds us that Henderson’s brilliance wasn’t just in his compositions or his résumé, but in his capacity to meet musicians where they were, and then push them somewhere new.
The sound quality honours the performance as well. Klabin and Koenig’s mastering preserves the dynamic range and tonal depth of the original tapes, while Lutthans’ lacquers translate that fidelity into a vinyl experience that rewards close listening. Le Vinylist’s pressing completes the chain with quiet surfaces and weighty presence, the kind that invites you to drop the needle and stay awhile.
As Resonance’s first release from the Jazz Showcase archives, Consonance sets a high bar and signals a future rich with possibility. These recordings are dispatched from rooms where the music was still being figured out, night by night. And to hear Henderson in that context is to understand jazz as a living practice that resists closure even as it accumulates history.
In the end, Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about the kind of continuity that resonates long after the last note fades. Through his work, Henderson asked questions with rigor and grace, and on this Chicago night in 1978, he found answers that still ring true. For listeners willing to meet the music on its own terms, the reward is profound: a front-row seat to a master at work, listening forward.
Yusef Lateef – Alight Upon The Lake: Live at The Jazz Showcase
A1 - The Untitled (28:04)
B1- Mutually Exclusive (14:20)
B2 - Eboness (13:02)
C1- Inside Atlantis (19:40)
C2 - I Remember Webster (8:18)
D1- Dunia (10:21)
D2 - Opus 1 & 2 (17:09)
E1 - Golden Goddess (13:44)
E2 - Straighten Up & Fly Right (13:37)
F1- Yusef's Mood (24:00)
- Limited-Edition 180 gram 3-LP package with liner notes by Lateef biographer Herb Boyd plus an interview with Bennie Maupin
- Available Exclusively for Record Store Day on April 18, 2026
- 1800 vinyl copies
Alight Upon the Lake: Live at the Jazz Showcase is a previously unissued recording of woodwind multi-instrumentalist icon Yusef Lateef featuring pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath captured live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase in Chicago, IL in June of 1975. The limited-edition 180g, 3-LP set was mastered from the original tapes by engineer Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab in Salina, KS, and pressed at Quebec's boutique audiophile pressing plant Le Vinylist. The deluxe package includes newly curated liner notes by Lateef biographer Herb Boyd, plus interviews with woodwind master and Lateef mentee, Bennie Maupin, Joe Segal's son Wayne Segal and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment