"Homestretch" is a burning uptempo blues from Joe Henderson's 1963 Blue Note debut Page One. Henderson's own 12-bar blues composition in B-flat is taken at a blistering 273 bpm, providing a showcase for the kind of fiery, hard-swinging improvisation that was Blue Note's stock in trade. Henderson leads with five choruses of tenor saxophone that balance melodic invention with rhythmic intensity, his angular phrasing and adventurous note choices marking him as a distinctly modern voice on the instrument. Trumpeter Kenny Dorham follows with four tightly constructed choruses, and pianist McCoy Tyner contributes four hard-driving choruses of his own. The extreme tempo demands virtuosic command from all the soloists, and each rises to the challenge with aplomb. The blues form provides a familiar harmonic foundation that allows the musicians to take greater risks with their melodic and rhythmic choices, and the result is some of the most exciting small-group jazz of the early 1960s. "Homestretch" demonstrates that Henderson, despite his reputation for harmonic sophistication, was equally at home in the most elemental of jazz settings, blowing hard over a blues at breakneck speed.
