Wayne Henderson

The Jazz Crusaders developed their signature sound through the distinctive pairing of Wayne Henderson’s trombone with Wilton Felder’s tenor saxophone. A skilled hard bop improviser who later shifted focus to producing R&B, Henderson began performing regularly alongside Felder, Joe Sample, and Stix Hooper in Houston during the mid-1950s. Once the musicians relocated to Los Angeles and entered the studio in 1961, the ensemble was already billed as the Jazz Crusaders. Following numerous albums on Pacific Jazz, the group adopted the shortened name the Crusaders in 1971. Henderson’s departure from the lineup in 1975 deprived the Crusaders of much of their earlier character. During the mid-1990s he joined Felder for a nostalgic project that featured an expanded ensemble and resulted in a recording issued by the Par label. Henderson succumbed to heart failure at age 74 in Culver City, California, in April 2014.