Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

Lately I have been recording jazz tunes at home to backing tracks. I find it is a great way for me to improve on the tune.
On your jazz recordings like Chelsea bridge and footprints and your short version of Stella you are always able to make your style work on the tune. I have heard you do this over the years with giant steps and several other tunes. Your solos sound connected to the tune at hand.
For me it has been difficult to make what I play work idiomatically over standards. When I critically listen to what I have done it feels like I might as well not be playing the jazz tune at hand.
Do you choose jazz tunes that naturally lay out for your style? Or I guess my main question is, how do you make your playing which is modern, work so well over these old tunes.
My question is kind of hard to put into words but I think you get the gist of it.
Thanks Scott

[Scott Henderson]

It's not an easy question to answer since I'm not consciously thinking about my style of playing when I decide which standard to play. I pick the song simply because I like it.

There are always opportunities to play my personal stuff over whatever standard I choose. I could say that about every jazz guitarist who has a personal voice. Great players like Phil DeGruy take great liberty with the harmony, almost to the point of re-writing the tune. Others like me throw a few alternate harmony choices in there, but it's more about the playing style, like bending notes or doing non-traditional things which make it sound more modern than what we're used to hearing from mainstream players.

I love playing standards and it's always fun make them sound like me - but I've never seen it as a career. There are many amazing players out there who've dedicated themselves to keep that music alive and growing. My calling is to write original music, so standards are just a hobby for me.

[dizzy]

Thanks Scott
You have a really unique voice on your own music and on standards. I am glad you work more on your own tunes because then we get to hear your compositions.