Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

Do you ever have people say that your band is too loud? They come to hear you play and they had something in their head about how loud jazz is supposed to be and then they can't handle it? This probably doesn't happen in your career now because people have heard you enough that they know what you play.

Do you ever feel frustrated because lots of people who would normally like jazz ignore the content of your music because it is played with a rock sound? And so a whole segment of the population who would like your playing ignore it because they have such a set idea about how loud music is supposed to be?


I am asking this because this has been my experience lately. I try to get the volume as low as it can go but at a certain point, when playing jazz/rock it can't get any quieter. So people who like jazz come to hear me play and it is too loud for them and they don't like it. It is like a whole segment of the audience is cut off because they can't handle higher volume music so the audience for the band all of a sudden becomes 1/12 of what it could be. And they ignore the content of the music because it needs to played at a certain volume.

This really makes me frustrated. People shouldn't have to tolerate ear splitting sounds or horrible music that makes them deaf but lots of people are so---I guess lame is the right word.

Anyway--I don't mean to just vent---I am just looking for some encouragement---maybe someone at your level deals with this frustration too.

Thanks Scott

[Scott Henderson]

I agree that you need a certain amount of volume to get the tone and vibe of a rock sound, but it doesn't need to be overbearing. I can get a great tone from my rig at a pretty low volume, but sometimes overly loud music is the fault of the room. Many club owners are idiots and have no acoustic treatment in their clubs, which actually amplifies the music - it's OK for acoustic jazz but terrible for my kind of music.

If people's ears are hurting at your show because your band is super loud or the club's acoustics suck, all you can do is warn people to bring their ear plugs.

As far as the jazz purists who won't listen to music that's louder than dinner conversation, they don't belong at your shows anyway.

[dizzy]

Thanks Scott

Yeah-when I think about it allot of it is room acoustics. The sound bounces around everywhere and there is nothing that absorbs it.