Eddie Henderson leads a double life, dividing his time between his pursuits as an acclaimed trumpet and flugelhorn player with his work as a medical practitioner. Born on October 24, 1940, in New York City, Henderson led a charmed life for an aspiring musician, as he crossed paths with Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis at formative points in his youth. His family moved to San Francisco when he was young, and he became involved with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
After earning his zoology and medical degrees in the late ‘60s, Henderson landed his first big musical break in 1970 when he was offered a position in Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band. He remained with the group for three years, at which point he stepped out on his own and released his debut album as a leader, Realization. He also spent time in the Latin jazz outfit Azteca in the mid-’70s. Henderson released albums for Blue Note and Capitol through the end of the ‘70s, after which he performed and guested on other albums sporadically for the next decade. He returned to his own music in 1989 with Phantoms, and has continued to deliver albums and appear as a sideman.
