The Blues Silence a D.J. Who Knew Them Well.

Violence and heartbreak have long shaped the music that makes this city synonymous with the blues. But when the police were alerted to the slaying of Dee Henderson, a disc jockey whose soft voice piloted ''Cap'n Pete's Blues Cruise'' on the city's volunteer radio station, WEVL, for 26 years, the death seemed more like the lyrics of the Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters songs he so loved than his friends and fans could stand. The silencing of Mr. Henderson, 72, a man whose gentle demeanor was far removed from the raucous Beale Street nightclubs where legions of blues players got their breaks, came during an especially violent period for the city. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]