The Last Side Man is the untold story of jazz great Haywood Henry — a master reedman who stood beside legends, shaped the sound of swing, and helped build Harlem’s golden age one note at a time.
Haywood Henry is the author of The Last Side Man, a powerful autobiography that tells the story of his life and career as a respected jazz tenor saxophonist. Written in his own voice, the book offers a firsthand account of his journey from early-20th-century Birmingham to Harlem’s golden age of jazz.
More than a memoir, it captures the sound, struggle, and spirit of an era through the eyes of a working musician. By telling his own story, Henry preserves both his legacy and the history of the sidemen who helped shape American music from behind the spotlight.
The Last Side Man tells the remarkable story of Haywood Henry, a master reed player whose career spanned more than five decades at the heart of American jazz. From the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, to the legendary Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, Henry’s journey traces the rise of swing, the battle of the big bands, and the birth of modern jazz.
Performing alongside some of the most celebrated names in music, Henry built his reputation not as a headliner, but as a trusted and essential sideman — the kind of musician who held the sound together. Through firsthand accounts of Broadway stages, Harlem jam sessions, and life on the road, this book offers a rare inside look at the craft, discipline, and resilience required to survive in the music business.
The book trailer brings The Last Side Man to life, tracing the rhythm of a man who stood beside legends and built a career on craft, discipline, and heart.
Welcome to From the Author’s Desk — a space where stories continue beyond the pages of The Last Side Man.
We know the stars. Duke Ellington. Count Basie. Cab Calloway. Their names roll off the tongue. Their stories are told and retold. Their faces appear in documentaries and history books. But there’s another kind of legend in jazz history.
In The Last Side Man, Haywood Henry tells his own story. The book is not a third-person account or outside biography. It is Henry’s autobiography, a firsthand account of his life as a master reed player, whose journey from Birmingham, Alabama, to Harlem, New York, mirrors one of the most important movements in American history.
The Savoy Ballroom, which opened on Lenox Avenue in Harlem in 1926, was not just a venue. It was a proving ground. A nightly contest. A place where mediocrity had nowhere to hide, because the dancers on that floor could feel every wrong note through the soles of their shoes. In The Last Side Man, Haywood Henry writes about what it meant to take the stage there.
