Bobby Henderson

• Active: '70s, '80s, '90s
• Genres: Jazz
• Instrument: Vocals, Trumpet

Biography

Bobby Henderson and all its Bobs and Roberts of variation is a common enough moniker so there should be no cases of shock caused by revealing the presence of more than one in the jazz world alone. That world actually does encompass the entire globe, so the Australian trumpeter Bobby Henderson may have had to dodge the occasional comment that his land of origin makes him more suitable to play the didgeridoo than a European brass instrument. He also has been confused with a pianist and vocalist of the same name who has been deceased since 1969. That Bobby Henderson's penchant for blowing a little trumpet now and then hasn't helped keep them apart, but it is one of the rare instances when the two name-alikes would have enjoyed playing together. Like the pianist, the Australian model of jazz Henderson likes the traditional style of swing, so traditional that a listener might think the music is coming from the port of New Orleans rather than Sydney.

Fans of this sort of music might have first come across this trumpeter on an early-'80s live recording done in Holland; Henderson was on tour with the band of trad jazz stalwart Graeme Bell at the time. Other projects of syncopated note since that time have included the Baker-Baldwin Radiogram Washboards, a sextet that has been confused with various Ginger Baker side projects but is really nothing of the sort, and a collaboration with Australian jazz vet Col Nolan that seems to have inspired Henderson to burst into song, as in vocalizing. This is just one more thing he has in common with the aforementioned American jazzman who shares his name. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide