Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Haywood Henry was born Frank Haywood Henry on January 10, 1913 in Birmingham, Alabama. He began on clarinet before choosing baritone saxophone as his primary instrument, but continued to play clarinet on occasion throughout his career. In 1930 he was a member of the Bama State Collegians, then returned to play with them again from 1934 under Erskine Hawkins, playing with him with Hawkins into the 1950s.
Following Hawkins, Haywood worked with Tiny Grimes, Julian Dash, the Fletcher Henderson Reunion Band, and occasionally stood in for Harry Carney in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. In the 1960s he played with Wilbur DeParis, Max Kaminsky, Snub Mosley, Louis Metcalf, Earl Hines, Sy Oliver and the New York Jazz Repertory Company.
During the 1950s and ‘60s he played, mostly anonymously, on over 1000 rock and roll records. He also worked in the orchestras of Broadway shows in the 1970s. He participated in an Erskine Hawkins reunion ensemble in 1971, and performed well into the 1980s.
Henry recorded three albums as a leader: one for Davis Records in 1957, one for Strand early in the 1960s, and the last for Uptown in 1983. Baritone saxophonist Haywood Henry was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1978 and passed away on September 15, 1994.
