Scott Henderson Discussion

[BS]

Since I´m from Norway, I´m wondering if you know any Norwegian jazz? Guitar wise I guess the most well known player internationally is Terje Rypdal. Do you know him?

[Scott Henderson]

Sorry, I haven't heard him, but I recognize the name.

[Matt]

He's kind of a mixture of Hank Marvin and Jeff Beck, great player. Would be interesting to know what you think of this, Scott:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpp7-l_S8GE

[Scott Henderson]

Actually I think you're the first person to ask me to give an opinion about someone's playing who I don't know. Feels kinda uncomfortable, like I'm a judge or something. I'm afraid if I do it, maybe more people will send videos for me to comment on, so I'll pass.

It reminds me of another situation which makes me uncomfortable - when someone asks me to give a quote about their album for the press. Many unknown but great players have asked me to do it, and no matter how much I like their playing, I say no, because if I say yes to some and no to others, I'm a judge again.

[BS]

Matt - it’s funny that you mention that Rypdal is inspired by Jeff Beck. This might be perfectly true, but Jeff Beck has listed Rypdal as an inspiration, so it seems like inspiration might has been going in both directions!

In his teens Rypdal started out as a guitar player in a band called The Vanguards that was more or less a copy of The Shadows , but he drifted towards more experimental music, and in 1970 he played on Jan Garbareks "Africe Pepperbird". If I remember correctly, this was the first record released by ECM and Manfred Eicher.

I think the most interesting aspect of Rypdal is that he kept the Hank Marvik-inspired sound, after moving to a completely different musical context. He was also one of the very first players to use a volume pedal for swells, and the use of a strat, a tape echo and volume swells, gave him a sound that was very original at the moment. Bill Frisell and David Torn have listed him as an inspiration, and the open, airy playing these players are known for is quite reminiscent of Rypdals work. He’s not a very tight and virtuosic player, his strength is his tone and melodic sense.

Rypdal is actually also a well known composer, and has written several symphonies.

His catalogue is big and quite diverse, so it’s hard to recommend records, but I think “Waves” (with Palle Mikkelborg, John Taylor, Sveinung Hovensjø and Jon Christensen) from 1978 is a good record and a nice display of his Bitches Brew influence. (This actually featured a tune called "Per Ulv" to which your youtube video "The return of Per Ulv" is an obvious reference). “Chaser” from 1985 shows him in a power trio format, a completely different setting with the great drummer Audun Kleive and Bjørn Kjellermyr on bass. Both records show his talent for creating melodic and catchy tunes but in completely different musical settings.