Tenor saxophonist Slim Henderson, his real first name Douglas, was active in the first half of the 20th century in a stylistic netherworld somewhere between classic blues and classic jazz. One of Henderson's most famous solos illustrates the situation perfectly. Paul Williams came up with his RB hit entitled The Hucklebuck after listening to two records, bebop maestro Charlie Parker's Now's the Time and bluesy bandleader Lucky Millinder's D-Natural Blues -- the latter featuring a superb improvisation by Henderson in a key that many saxophonists would rather eat their reed then try to play in.

The famous classic blues singer who was subsequently known as Rosa Henderson married this fearless saxophonist in 1918. She also joined up with a touring revue known as the Mason-Henderson show, the first surname belonging to performing partner John Mason. There were opportunities to record for several members of this group after it began camping out in New York City in the early '20s. Producer, publisher, and A&R man Joe Davis took an interest in both husband and wife Henderson, landing contracts with Victor for the latter and with the Columbia "race series" for the former. The eclectic nature of Slim Henderson's work in the '20s is more than hinted at in this comment from Bruce Bastin's excellent biography of Davis, -Never Sell a Copyright: Slim Henderson's "...recordings were considered by blues collectors to be outside their scope." Besides the cantankerous Argufying, released by Columbia under the names of both Henderson and Mason, the saxophonist also cut one of the earliest calypso sides in 1927.

In the same year Henderson was also in the cast of +Bottomland, a musical theater concoction from composer and performer Clarence Williams. In later years Henderson was more involved with sideman assignments in various big bands than creating recordings under his own name. In addition to the aforementioned Millinder group, Henderson was also in the reed section of Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra in the late '40s. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, Rovi