Fletcher Henderson born 18 December 1897

Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. (December 18, 1897 – December 28, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was often known as "Smack" Henderson.

An early pioneer of the swing beat, Fletcher Henderson led one of the most successful African-American jazz bands of the 1920s. Henderson's orchestra was certainly the most influential. Both he 
and arranger Don Redman developed many of the techniques that later came to be employed by the big bands of the 1930s and 1940s. Their careful arrangements and emphasis on interplay between 
horns and reeds, along with the division of the band into instrument sections with identifiable leads, all laid the groundwork for the emergence of swing in the mid-1930s.

Born to a wealthy, middle-class African-American family, Henderson grew up in isolation from popular black culture. Both he and his brother Horace learned piano from their mother at an early age, studying the classics. Fletcher went on to earn a degree in chemistry from Atlanta University and in 1920 moved to New York to find work as a chemist and pursue post-graduate studies.

Due to his skin colour Henderson found all doors closed to him in his chosen profession. Instead he took a job as a song demonstrator for the music publishing company owned by William C. Handy and Harry Pace. When Pace left to form the Black Swan record label he hired Henderson as musical director. While at Black Swan Henderson put together several studio bands and backed blues singer Ethel Waters on her recording debut and on tour.

In 1922 Henderson formed an orchestra of his own. The band held residency at the Club Alabam in 1923 and 1924 and the Roseland Ballroom from 1924. Early members included saxophonists Redman and Coleman Hawkins. At first Henderson's outfit featured selections more typical of a dance band rather than a jazz outfit, partly due to Henderson's 

unfamiliarity with the genre. Redman's arrangements improved over time, and Henderson, in an effort to infuse the group with more of a jazz sound brought in Louis Armstrong from Chicago. Armstrong's presence in New York caused great excitement, as the city's jazz patrons had so far been unfamiliar with his emerging style. During his thirteen-month stay Armstrong left an indelible impression on Henderson's band, which by 1925 had solidified into a top-notch jazz outfit.

                              

Redman's progressive arrangements kept the orchestra popular for the next several years, with recordings on a variety of labels under several different pseudonyms. When Redman left in 1927, Henderson himself took over the job of writing book. The band remained strong until 1929 when a dispute over the role of white musicians during a Philadelphia musical revue in which the group was to perform caused many of Henderson's best musicians to 

leave. Henderson regrouped, but though his new line-up featured at times such talent as Lester Young, Benny Carter, and Chu Berry his new band never managed to achieve the same level of success as his previous outfit.

Henderson's orchestra continued until 1934, when it disbanded. His greatest direct influence on swing came that same year when in need of money he sold a few of his best arrangements to Benny Goodman, who had just formed his own orchestra. Several of those numbers, including ''King Porter Stomp,'' ''Blue Skies,'' ''Sometimes I'm Happy,'' and ''Down South Camp Meeting,'' became big hits for the early

Goodman band serving as an influence on the developing swing style which Goodman made popular.

In 1935 Henderson formed a new orchestra. It too failed to capture the public's attention, and in 1939 he disbanded and went to work for Goodman as staff arranger. He also spent several months as the band's pianist, becoming the first black musician to appear onstage with a white orchestra. He soon quit that role, however, to work as arranger full-time.

Henderson left Goodman in the early 1940s to start a new orchestra of his own. Throughout the decade he organized a string of successive groups for various occasions and also worked as a freelance arranger. He returned to Goodman as staff arranger in 1947. In 1948 and 1949 he toured as an accompanist for Ethel Waters and in 1950 lead an orchestra for the Jazz Train revue, which he co-wrote with J.C. Johnson. Henderson's last public appearance was leading a sextet at Cafe Society in New York in December 1950. A few days later he suffered a debilitating stroke leaving him partially paralyzed and unable to perform. Fletcher Henderson passed away in 1952.
(Edited from parabrisas.com)