<P> James Fletcher Henderson was born in Cuthbert, Georgia, in 1897 . He grew up in a middle - class African - American family . His father, Fletcher H. Henderson Sr. (1857--1943), was the principal of the nearby Howard Normal Randolph School from 1880 until 1942 . His home, now known as the Fletcher Henderson House, is a historic site . His mother, a teacher, taught him and his brother Horace to play the piano . He began lessons by the age of six . His father would occasionally lock Fletcher in his room to practice for hours . By age 13, Henderson possessed a keen ability to read music and sense pitch . He pursued the studies with his mother and further engaged himself in lessons on European art . </P> <P> Although a talented musician, Henderson decided to dedicate himself to math and science . At age 18 he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, and changed his name to Fletcher Henderson, giving up James, his grandfather's name . He attended Atlanta University (where he was a member of the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha) and graduated in 1920 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics . After graduation, he moved to New York City with the intention of attending Columbia University for a master's degree in chemistry, but no evidence proves he actually enrolled . He did get a part - time job as a lab assistant in a downtown Manhattan chemistry firm, but this only lasted a year . </P> <P> In New York City, Henderson shared an apartment with a pianist who worked as a musician in a river boat orchestra . When his roommate was too sick to perform, Henderson took his place, which soon gave him a job as a full - time replacement . In the fall of 1920 he found work as a song demonstrator with the Pace and Handy Music Co . Henderson now found that music would be more profitable than chemistry and left his job as a lab chemist to begin a life in music . When Pace left the company to start Black Swan Records, he took Henderson with him to be musical director, a job which lasted from 1921 - 1923 . From 1920 - 1923, he primarily played piano accompaniment for blues singers . Henderson toured with the Black Swan Troubadours featuring Ethel Waters from October 1921 to July 1922 . </P> <P> His activities up to the end of 1923 were mainly recording dates for Black Swan and other labels . His band at this point was only a pick - up unit for recordings, not a regular working band . In January 1924 the recording band became the house band at the Club Alabam at 216 w. 44th st . Despite many erroneous publications otherwise, this 1924 band was Henderson's first working band . </P>

Fletcher henderson began his musical career with black swan records