About

Tetragon is tenor saxophone virtuoso Joe Henderson’s second album on the Milestone label, where he continued to develop his sound in the post-bop realm before venturing further into the spiritual jazz realm later in his career, joined by a world-class ensemble featuring Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Barron, Louis Hayes, and Don Friedman.

This Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf reissue of Tetragon was cut from the original analog tapes (AAA) by Kevin Gray, pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Fidelity Record Pressing, and comes packaged in a gatefold tip-on jacket. — (via Label)

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Tetragon features chirpy melodies pitched midway between hi-energy mainstream and languid post-bop. Henderson’s tone is hard burr, skinny compared with some fuller-tone players, closer to parakeet-strangling, leaping into solos with imaginative twists and turns, probing multiphonic extremes. Add choppy-comping piano and Ron Carter motoring on bass, and you have solid listening session. Not an essential compared with the Blue Note sessions, but still an enjoyable Henderson outing, and perhaps one of the last for some time. — (via London Jazz Collector)

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This is more like it, an accessible and substantial effort. The rhythm section from The Kicker appears on two tracks and then the trio of Don Friedman (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Jack DeJohnette (drums) takes over. The material is in perfect balance: two Henderson originals, two Carter tunes (“R.J.” and “First Trip”, familiar to Miles and Herbie listeners), two standards, and a free jam. The tricky Kaper gem “Invitation” leads off, and Joe sounds like he’s either deigning or itching to play it. Either way, the tune fits his style very well. Joe’s original title track is an angular blues, and his “Waltz for Zweetie” capitalizes on the emotional possibilities of a waltz just as Bill Evans might, drifting with a melodic pierce that you can’t shake. Both compositions rank with his best. The free piece “The Bead Game” starts with a melodic tenor cue and veers into time-no-changes, where lots of chromatic lines and stop/start ideas take place. It’s like a pressure valve blowing off steam from the written pieces.

The bothersome thing about Tetragon, and it must be acknowledged, is that Henderson has moved beyond his Blue Note age of discovery into his Milestone age of style. He’s good enough to float through these tunes with automatic synonyms instead of tackling every harmonic obstacle. His trills and flurries become the easy way to skate through a bar or eight, depending. Not that the title track, for example, isn’t challenging, nor does “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” leave Joe short of fresh ideas. But he’s gone to another level here, having done the trench work and perhaps finding himself in need of a new challenge. Nevertheless, no fan can be without this album. — (via Jazz Shelf)

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Label: Milestone
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Stereo, 180gr
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 1968
Genre: Jazz
Style: Bop, Hard Bop, Modal

File under: Jazz - Tenor / Saxophone
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