Scott Henderson Discussion

[dizzy]

Hey Scott

I always thought it was stupid the way people talked about LA vs New York jazz. But as I think about it there really does seem to be a difference. I guess because I am from California I have always gravitated to players like you, Larry Carlton, Don Mock, Landau etc I don't gravitate as much toward players like Adam Rogers, and Mike Stern. This is just a matter of taste and not quality---obviously all of the players mentioned are excellent. And there are exceptions. But I tend to like players from the west coast.
Do you think there is anything to this distinction? Maybe you don't think about it or don't have an opinion on it and that is fine too. But if you do have any thought on it I would be curious.

Thanks Scott

[Scott Henderson]

I do have an opinion - compared to New York, LA is a big piece of shit. Yes, there are a few good players out here, but very few places for them to play. Jazz musicians aren't making much of a living playing in either place, but LA is a musical graveyard compared to New York, where on any given night you can hear monster players all over the city - that's simply not the case in LA. If it wasn't for my teaching gig at MI and my love for Disneyland, I would've been outa here long ago.

We used to have a club called La Ve Lee, where the cover charge was 5 bucks - I used to play there every Wednesday night, similar to Mike Stern at the 55 bar in NY. Now I play three times a year in LA at the Baked Potato, because the cover charge is high and people don't come if I play there too often, and there's nowhere else in town to play on a regular basis. LA sucks, and the only reason jazz musicians move here is because they want to get into sessions and film work - that's where the money is in this town.