Scott Henderson Discussion

[Thanasis]

Hi Scott,

On the latest podcast I heard you talk about those hand outs that you made for the workshop.

Are these exclusively made for the people who attend or could we buy them?

[Chickentonight]

I'd be very interested in these also and I bet lot of other too.

[TaeKwonDonut]

There was only one line on those handouts -
"Atlantis"

[Scott Henderson]

There are some examples from Atlantis on the handout. I used to teach a composition class at MI and the handout would only be valuable in a classroom situation - it's not self-explanatory.

[Chickentonight]

https://www.allmusic.com/album/atlantis-mw0000188652

I bet Scott agrees with this reviewer...

[Scott Henderson]

Solid proof that there are music critics who know very little about music. When I was playing with Joe, a guy came up to him and said "I'm the reviewer who gave Mr. Gone a one star review in Down Beat". Joe said "you were an idiot then and you're an idiot now".

In this day and age, I believe if a critic has nothing good to say about an album, he shouldn't review it. Unlike movies, there's no risk to buyers since we can listen on Spotify and decide for ourselves if we like it enough to buy it - we don't need a dipshit like Scott Yanow to decide for us.

[Chickentonight]

Maybe do some more written instructional material, composing etc ?.I'd be first one to buy it.

[Scott Henderson]

I talked about it with Adam from MyMusicMasterclass. The problem is that I wouldn't be comfortable teaching from my own tunes - I'm not that great a composer. I'd need to use examples from all my favorite composers, and that would bring up copyright issues, etc. I can get away with it in a classroom situation, but not in a commercial video or book.

[Scott Henderson]

I wrote my own review of Atlantis on allmusic.com - I don't know if they'll print it since I came down pretty hard on their reviewer, but it felt good to write it.

It's hard to believe that Scott Yanos was paid for such a thoughtless review of Atlantis. It's absolutely essential listening for any fan of jazz composition, or composition in general. As the guitarist for Joe Zawinul for 4 years, I learned that Wayne brought these songs to Weather Report but Joe refused them because they weren't "loose" enough to fit the style of the band. That in no way means they aren't great songs. Perhaps the reviewer lacks the patience to give this music a second listen, and doesn't realize that sometimes complex melodies need to be heard more than once to be truly appreciated by the listener.

I'd suggest that Scott Yanos listen to Stella by Starlight if he needs a fix of catchy. A professional music reviewer should know that melodies by great composers don't need to be simple to be great and musically valid, and even though they may be more challenging to listen to, it's a challenge that a true jazz fan would have no problem with. This has become one of my favorite records. The melodic statements in every song are lyrical and beautiful, and the harmonies represent some of Wayne's best writing. Saying this album isn't essential is like saying the best writing of Bartok and Scriabin isn't essential - it's a ridiculous statement and so is his review of this album.

Scott Henderson

[Alessandro_Iglesias]

We need more artists like you, been active and present online, posting its views against those morons who think that they can write any bullshit and that it will be OK.

In my country, around 2005, I think, I stopped buying a guitar magazine because its contest about the best guitar in the world put John Suhr's in 2nd, and a brazilian brand in 1st. Brazilian readers may remember what I'm saying, and which brand was favored, but, at that time, there was no Internet page to retaliate that shit, like the ones on facebook, for instance, so, my move was to never buy that crap again.

[Thanasis]

Thanks for the reply Scott.
I probably misunderstood the nature of the hand outs, but it sounded very interesting and as I can't attend any of the clinics I thought I'd ask.

For the masterclass writing lesson, excuse me, but I can't see why it shouldn't be about your compositions. It would be great to see your view and how you do it, plus your compositions are great. The key is to do all of the work yourself of course, so it might also be interesting to show people how to do the work and learn from compositions the right way, much like how you did it and came up with this great stuff, or how you paint, etc etc...

I did composition for three years in uni and aside the really interesting stuff, we had to learn how to write good essays about the great composers that we are never going to be like them if we spend valuable time writing essays about them. Bum.

I hate essays and especially the ones in the form of reviews, written by ill informed idiots saying bad things about the most beautiful people on the planet.

[Scott Henderson]

I just sent my review of Atlantis to directly to Scott Yanos so he knows I think he's a moron.

Thanks for the compliment Thanasis, but a real composition class isn't complete without the study of music by our greatest composers. Harmony isn't protected by copyright but melody is, and after putting Chelsea Bridge on Vibe Station, I don't want to deal with song licensing again.

I've done covers on albums before, but labels handled all the paperwork - I have to say that it's a bigger pain in the ass than I thought it would be. No more covers for me when it comes to public release.

I just want to add that a composition class isn't a must. The best way to learn is to transcribe compositions. A good start is the Real Book, where many great songs are already written out to learn from. Even some of the more complex tunes by Wayne, Joe, Jaco, Herbie and others are transcribed in later versions of the Real Book. That being said, it's even more rewarding to transcribe the music yourself.

I took a composition class in college, and I can say that it did absolutely nothing for me. Everything I know about writing came from transcribing composers, and not just from the jazz world, but from classical, rock, pop, and film composers.

[Chickentonight]

Great review Scott.

I listened the album once, knew instantly that it is high quallity music, but it's quite challenging. Have to listen it more to digest it. Usually when I don't quite get it at first but get anyway impressed it's a sign of great record.

As for the book, couldn't you just use small bits of chord changes and melodies in the book when handling other peoples tunes? Then you wouldn't have think about copyrights. It would be shame if your knowledge about composition would not be properly documented.

[Scott Henderson]

I felt the same way when I first heard Atlantis - I knew it was great music but I also knew it would take a little time to get to know it. After 3 or 4 listens, the songs became clearer to me and I started hearing the harmony. It became my favorite album of that year. Same with Birds Of Fire - at that time I didn't really get it since it was more dissonant that the rock music I was listening to at the time. But again, repeated listens made me a huge fan and opened my ears up to different kinds of music. That's why I'm surprised that a pro reviewer couldn't get Atlantis - I can only attribute that to laziness, or just the inability to recognize great music.

As for the book/ video, it would be important to hear the examples by the original artists, and know who they are. I wouldn't have time to ask each artist for permission since there are over 50 clips, but I have to admit that I don't know how long a clip can be before I get into copyright trouble. I might already be there just by mentioning their names....

[RonaldJanson]

Thanks For sharing