Homestretch

Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Kenny Dorham (trumpet), McCoy Tyner (piano), Butch Warren (bass) and Pete La Roca (drums). From the album Page One (1963).

Butch Warren was an American double bassist who played in the hard bop style. The first time he played professionally was with his father Edward Warren’s group in Washington, D.C. at the age of fourteen. There he also played with Stuff Smith’s band and Rick Henderson’s band. In 1958 he moved to New York, where he worked with Kenny Dorham.

He stayed in this city for the rest of his musical career playing in clubs and as studio musician for Blue Note Records, appearing on recordings with Dexter Gordon, Jackie McClean, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham, Donald Byrd, Sonny Clarke, Stanley Turrentine and Herbie Hancock. He was a member of the Thelonious Monk’s quartet from 1963 to 1964 and then returned to Washington D.C., where he worked on a television show from 1965 to 1966. Then he got very sick and left the music. He died of lung cancer in 2013 at 74 years of age.

Tyner makes a long introduction with the bass and drums, and then Henderson and Dorham join in to expose a theme with a lot of swing at medium-fast tempo. The melody is made up of broken sentences. First Henderson comes in with a powerful and energetic solo, followed by Dorham with long and fast phrases. Next, Tyner makes a fluid and creative speech, and Henderson exchanges four-bar solos with La Roca. To finish, the group re-exposes the theme.