Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

I have not listened to allot of 20th century classical music so this list was helpful to me. I thought you might like it too.
I like reading lists of my favorite musician's favorites. After you talked about weather report I listened to them allot more. And also Jimi Page's layering techniques stood out after you mentioned them.
Is there any music that has been particularly inspiring on your I pod lately?

http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/10-great-works-20th-century-pierre-boulezs-90th-birthday/

[Scott Henderson]

My wife holds a doctorate in classical music - she performs and teaches, so I hear classical music every day. Thank goodness nothing in that link is heard at my house. I'm not a fan of many 20th century composers - I think most of them were wankers who were in love with dissonance because they felt they had to be different from everything which came before them. Too bad different is not always good. I've heard some Bartok I like very much, but not much I like from the others. John Williams or Joe Zawinul could out-write those guys in their sleep. Modern composers like Debussy and Ravel are more my style.

I'm inspired by good music in any genre, but I don't usually listen to any one kind of music for very long. My iPhone is always in shuffle mode, so Beyonce might follow Mozart, then Van Halen into Charlie Parker. I love listening to music but as a composer I find it dangerous to listen to any one kind of music for too long because I don't want to be too influenced by it, especially by other guitarists. That being said, I just heard three cuts in a row from Jimi Hendrix's "Blues" album. Mind blowing!

[Scott Henderson]

Thanks a lot dizzy, you got me in trouble with the wife. ha ha

She saw my post, and even though those composers aren't her favorites either, she reminded me that they're very respected, innovative musicians who earned their place in the history of classical music. I have to respect that and not call them wankers, or I'll be eating at Panda Express. She loves Bartok and some of the music of Stravinsky.

A friend of mine asked my opinion of his Avant-garde jazz record - I told him I couldn't tell if the music was being played by real musicians, or little kids banging on instruments. A lot of the classical music of this period is so random sounding that it's easy for me to imagine it being written by little kids. I love Gentle Giant, and some of their music is pretty out there, but to my ears, their outest writing makes more musical sense than anything I heard on that link.

I studied 20th century classical music in college, and had to write some music in that style, sometimes using mathematics and numeric sequences to come up with the notes. I thought it was all bullshit and couldn't wait to get home to my Led Zeppelin records. I'll have the black pepper chicken and Chinese spare ribs.

[ItAllanLover]

SuperLOL

[dizzy]

[fusion58]

[dizzy]

How was dinner Scott? I like the Kung pao chicken. I heard Schonberg liked Chinese food too.

[Scott Henderson]

According to my wife, Stravinsky went through three major periods in his writing, but it was a short conversation cause I was headed to Panda Express. (I went for the string bean chicken.)

I have a lot more respect for the composers who were using their ears and at least a tiny bit of theory to compose with. It's the guys who used math and numbers to come up with notes who I have a hard time listening to.

My 11 year old daughter is at the piano now, playing Mozart - that I can live with!

[larue nickelson]

I teach at a small college in Florida and I always have these guys who can't play so they give up Jazz and go into modern classical music. They write weird stuff by the numbers..some of them have been pretty successful ---they get grants and cushy teaching jobs. The music sounds terrible to me and I remember that they couldn't even play over a 12 bar blues.

All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.
Frank Zappa

(i don't believe that but it is funny)

[Scott Henderson]

That's a great story, and when I hear about grants and benefits given to people with no talent, it always reminds me of this:

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/o1qorx/who-s-not-honoring-me-now----the-macarthur-foundation

[dizzy]

Ha ha ha.

I have a friend who called John Zorn out after a gig and told him he thought the music sucked. John Zorn didn't say anything.

When people like John Zorn get serious awards it gives the public the feeling that all non mainstream music is music they wouldn't like. This does a disservice to the arts because there is so much great jazz that people would like if they gave it a chance.