Keyboard shortcuts

Press ← or → to navigate between chapters

Press S or / to search in the book

Press ? to show this help

Press Esc to hide this help

Cory Henry

Brooklyn-born keyboardist, organist, singer and bandleader (b. 1988, per AllMusic bio; confidence: medium on exact date). A church prodigy — playing Hammond organ from age two, appearing at Harlem's Apollo Theater at six — he came up through gospel, then toured with Kenny Garrett at 19 and later worked with Robert Glasper, Bruce Springsteen, The Roots, Frank Ocean, Kirk Franklin and Jon Batiste. He won three Grammy Awards as a core member of Snarky Puppy before striking out as a leader.^[raw/articles/sfjazz-cory-henry-funk-apostles.md]

His band Cory Henry & The Funk Apostles is the most prominent currently-active organ-led fusion act: gospel-inflected R&B, funk, jazz and Afrobeat. Debut album with the band Chapter 1: The Art of Love; his 2025 album Divine Time was performed with the Funk Apostles at SFJAZZ in September 2025. AllMusic calls him "one of the finest Hammond B-3 organ players of his generation."^[raw/articles/sfjazz-cory-henry-funk-apostles.md]

Stylistically he is the bridge between the church/gospel organ lineage and the instrumental funk of the modern-organ-scene; his piano-side idols (Oscar Peterson, Art Tatum) show in a harmonic language far beyond the classic jimmy-smith vocabulary.