Biography
Haywood Henry remains an underrecognized figure despite ranking among the swing era’s premier baritone saxophonists, a stature confirmed by his periodic role filling in for Harry Carney in Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. He began on clarinet, an instrument he kept as a double for the rest of his life, and tenor saxophone before settling on baritone. While enrolled at Alabama State Teachers College he performed with the ’Bama Street Collegians in 1930, spent time freelancing, and formally rejoined the ensemble in 1934 upon relocating to New York; the band soon took the name Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. From 1934 through the early 1950s Henry served as a steady member of the Hawkins group, contributing occasional solos. After leaving that long association he appeared with Tiny Grimes, cut a 1951 session with Julian Dash, joined the Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band for its 1957–1958 engagements, and spent a decade recording more than a thousand rock-and-roll sides—frequently alongside Mickey Baker—while remaining uncredited on numerous hits. In the early 1960s he worked with Wilbur DeParis; later associations included gigs with Max Kaminsky, Snub Mosley, Louis Metcalf, Earl Hines between 1969 and 1971, several Broadway productions such as Ain’t Misbehavin’, Sy Oliver’s Orchestra from 1972 to 1980, and the New York Jazz Repertory Company. He also participated in a 1971 Erskine Hawkins reunion recording and remained active through the late 1980s. Under his own name Henry led sessions for Davis in 1957, Strand in the early 1960s, and Uptown in 1983, the last widely regarded as his most authoritative statement.