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Joseph Lee Henry (born December 2, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums. Don't Give Up On Me by Solomon Burke (Best Contemporary Blues Album, 2002), A Stranger Here by Ramblin' Jack Elliott (Best Traditional Blues Album, 2009), Genuine Negro Jig by Carolina Chocolate Drops (Best Traditional Folk Album, 2010). See grammy.com.Unknown (November 10, 2011) Joe Henry and Eclectic and Raucous Reverie NPR, retrieved June 30, 2012
1999's Fuse was recorded with producers Daniel Lanois and T Bone Burnett. The album was called an "atmospheric marvel" by one reviewer and Ann Powers of The New York Times wrote: Henry has "found the sound that completes his verbal approach."
Scar, released in 2001, featured jazz musicians Marc Ribot, Brian Blade, Brad Mehldau and saxophonist Ornette Coleman on "Richard Pryor Addresses a Tearful Nation." According to AllMusic's Thom Jurek, the album is a "triumph not only for Henry—who has set a new watermark for himself—but for American popular music, which so desperately needed something else to make it sing again."
2003's self-produced Tiny Voices album was Henry's first recording on Epitaph's Anti- label. AllMusic's Jurek described this album as "the sound of....electric guitars in an abandoned yet fully furnished Tiki bar in Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles."
Henry's wife talked him into letting her send Madonna, who is her sister, a demo of his song "Stop," which was reworked and recorded as "Don't Tell Me" (from Madonna's 2000 album Music). Henry's own tango music-tinged version of the song appeared on Scar and was featured in an episode of The Sopranos. Henry and his sister-in-law recorded a duet, "Guilty by Association," on the charity album , and collaborated on the songs "Jump" on Confessions on a Dance Floor, "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" on Hard Candy, and "Falling Free" on MDNA.
In the early 2000s, Henry was an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.
In 2007, Henry released Civilians, which was described as "a rich, acoustic affair that returns us to Henry's rootsier sounds". The final track on the album, "God Only Knows," was used in a "TCM Remembers 2008" TV commercial. Bonnie Raitt's 2012 album Slipstream, which Henry produced, contained versions of two songs from Civilians.
In 2009, Henry released his ninth solo record, Blood from Stars which incorporates orchestral blues with guitarist Marc Ribot, pianist Jason Moran and his son, Levon Henry, on saxophone. The album focuses on facets of blues with a sprinkling of jazz, rock and pop and traces the rugged history of American storytelling."
In May 2011, Henry released the album Reverie with simple acoustic instrumention on guitar, upright bass, piano and drums. "When you listen to Reverie, especially on headphones, you can hear traffic in the background or a neighbor calling her dog. It's not always a pristine recording environment. Henry not only left the windows open at his basement studio, but also put microphones on them." "But there was this singer-songwriter environment, this post-Dylan fallout, of people who think that pages of your diary set to music are songs, and that the more 'honest' songs are, the better they are. And that's the greatest misconception of American popular music: that if you're being honest, you're being entertaining."
In June 2014, Henry released his thirteenth album, Invisible Hour. It was recorded at his LA home studio, The Garfield House, in 2013 with his regular band of musicians (Jay Bellerose, Jennifer Condos, Levon Henry, Greg Leisz, John Smith, and David Piltch). Guests providing backing vocals on the album included The Milk Carton Kids and Lisa Hannigan. Paste magazine described it as "11 impossibly beautiful songs" and "Joe Henry's masterpiece".
In October 2017, Henry released Thrum.
In June 2019, Henry recorded what was intended to be demos of 13 new songs. Those demos became his 15th studio album, "The Gospel According To Water", which was released on November 15, 2019. "COME NOVEMBER, Announcing a new album: The Gospel According To Water", the announcement, as it was published by Joe Henry on September 26, 2019 in his official Twitter accountAn unusual video, which was created to accompany the song “Bloom” - the first offering from the new album, was presented by Joe Henry on October 10, 2019, "with love and squalor". See " 'Bloom' music video out now" (retrieved October 19, 2019) The album's tracks, as they were gradually presented by Joe Henry's friends (retrieved December 21, 2019)An elaborated interview with Joe Henry, unfolding the creative and personal process behind "The Gospel According To Water" - Joe Henry Shares a Romantic 'Gospel' In the Wake of Cancer Diagnosis, as published on November 6, 2019 in Billboard website (retrieved November 11, 2019)
In 2013, Henry and his brother David released a biography of Richard Pryor, titled Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him.
Joe Henry and his family moved out of their home (and his long-time recording space), The Garfield House, in early 2015.
In May 2019 Joe Henry revealed that a few months earlier he was diagnosed with stage four prostate cancer. He further advised that he has responded well to the treatment he has received, and that his prognosis for now is very encouraging.Thus, during a special performance he played at Largo (followed by an interview with The LA Times). "He came to the conclusion that 'it would be disingenuous not to say anything' in public about his situation, and so he booked the Largo show — in part to share his experience with others who are going through the same thing or who have loved ones who are." Joe Henry reveals cancer diagnosis at Largo concert: ‘This is my journey’, an article published on May 13, 2019 in the Los Angeles Times website (retrieved October 20, 2019)
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