Career Synopsis
Luther
Henderson's talents include composing, arranging, conducting, and performing.
He worked on more than two dozen Broadway productions in various capacities.
For "Ain't Misbehavin" he was the original pianist as well as orchestrator, arranger and musical supervisor. For "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music" he was the musical consultant and arranged several selections.
Mr. Henderson orchestrated and co-composed the music of Jelly Roll Morton for "Jelly's Last Jam". He was nominated for the Tony Award in the awardís inaugural year in the category of orchestration for "Play On!"
As dance arranger and/or orchestrator, Mr. Henderson's credits include "Flower Drum Song," "Do Re Mi',"Funny Girl", "Hallelujah Baby", and "No, No, Nanette". He is the arranger of "Three Black Kings", composed by Duke Ellington, originally commissioned by the Dance Theatre of Harlem as "Les Trois Rois Noirs".
In off-Broadway and regional theater, Mr. Henderson was the composer for the AMAS Repertory Theatre production of "The Crystal Tree" and was musical supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger for "The All Night Strut" at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C., and for "Jazzbo Brown" in New York City.
Mr. Henderson's talents have been much utilized in the arena of television. For NBC-TV he served as musical director, orchestrator, arranger, and pianist for the Columbia Pictures television special "Ain't Misbehavin'", for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. In addition, he worked on the Emmy Award winning special "The Helen Morgan Story", starring Polly Bergen, as well as "The Bachelor", "The First Victor Borge Special", "The Second Victor Borge Special", and for PBS (WNET), "The V.D. Blues". In film, Mr. Henderson was the composer and orchestrator for "Recess" and "The Slams".
Albums to his credit include several with the Canadian Brass and Eileen Farrell's "I Got a Right to Sing the Blues," re-released in 1992. For Columbia Records, the Luther Henderson Orchestra recorded six albums. In addition, Mr. Henderson has contributed to various albums recorded by the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Andre Kostelanetz Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, Mandy Patinkin, Polly Bergen, Anita Ellis, and others. Mr. Henderson's composition "Ten Good Years" with lyricist Martin Charnin was recorded by Nancy Wilson on her "Coconut Grove" album.
Mr. Henderson counts his work with Duke Ellington, Andre Kostelanetz, Jules Styne, Carol Haney, Richard Rodgers, Polly Bergen, and Lena Horne as the most important milestones of his career. He was married to actress/director Billie Allen.
EDUCATION
New York University, Graduate School of Music (1946-47)
Juilliard Institute of Musical Art, B.S., Music (1942)
College of the City of New York, Math Major (1936-38)
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