Famed jazz musician to play in Waikiki

As a teenager studying classical trumpet at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Eddie Henderson knew groundbreaking jazz trumpet player Miles Davis as a friend of his parents who stayed with them when visiting town. A member of the conservatory’s symphony orchestra, Henderson delivered a critique after attending one of Davis’ San Francisco gigs.

“You don’t play correct,” Henderson recalls telling Davis, in his bio at eddiehendersonquartet.com. This was in 1957, two years before Davis released “Kind of Blue,” often referred to as the best jazz album of all time.

Davis, who was driving them home, slammed on the brakes and, after asking what Henderson played, said, “Yeah. I’ll BET you play trumpet.”

After this, Henderson quickly grew to appreciate jazz and Davis, from whom he received the occasional tip. As a young horn player, he received his breakthrough in 1970 with Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi band and went on to play with Pharoah Sanders, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Dexter Gordon and others, as well as lead his own groups.

Henderson, 77, who lives in New York, performs Friday and Saturday at Halekulani’s Lewers Lounge, accompanied by local musicians Tommy James on piano, Rocky Holmes on sax, Noel Okimoto on bass and Dean Taba on drums. It will be Henderson’s third appearance in as many years for Halekulani’s “Live at Lewers” Masters of Jazz series.

In a career that has embraced jazz in its myriad forms — bebop, cool, fusion and funk, with forays into disco and rock — Henderson has more lately been playing acoustic hard bop, touring with Billy Harper in 1991 and performing in the 2000s with the Mingus Big Band.

A medical doctor trained in psychiatry, he has also worked as a general practitioner and says in his bio that playing music is what heals him and enables him to help others.

Henderson is in Honolulu in conjunction with the Hawaii International Film Festival. At 6 p.m. Sunday, at the Dole Cannery theaters, he will introduce the Hawaii premiere of “I Called Him Morgan,” a 2016 documentary directed by Kasper Collin about jazz musician Lee Morgan, Henderson’s friend and a brilliant trumpet player who was shot dead by his wife at a New York nightclub at age 33. The film tells Morgan’s story through the observations of his friends and fellow musicians, and also includes an interview with his wife. (Get tickets, $12-$14, at Dole Cannery or online at hiff.org.)

Henderson’s more recent recordings, including “Oasis” (2001), “So What?” — a tribute to Miles Davis (2002) — and “For All We Know” (2010) have a smooth, cool, sweet sound that promises memorable listening.