Scott Henderson Discussion

[mylaa]

very nice interview w/ DC on allaboutjazz. here is what he had to say about our man:
AAJ: I had the pleasure of seeing you with Henderson and Jeff Berlin several years ago, billed as HBC. Henderson would seem so tightly focused on his axe that he would have to be assuming, expecting, counting on his rhythm section to be there, as opposed to telling you what to play.

DC: Scott is another free soul. I swear, man, In all the times I played with him I never heard him repeat. Scofield is the same way. They just don't repeat.

AAJ: Yeah, its special to hear and watch the truly great ones get in their limitless zones. I saw Henderson again very recently. Incredible non-stop chord changes. Mind boggling. A lot of guitarists can play fast but they can't go two minutes without leaning on a crutch.

DC: Yes, very true.

[Scott Henderson]

That's really nice of Dennis to say that. He has such a positive attitude when he plays - he saw me get kinda dark sometimes when I didn't think I played well. He said to me once "Who cares about mistakes? You're one of the most creative guitarists I've ever played with. The only one who doesn't know it is you." He helped me to not be so self-conscious and just play and have fun.

When I first started playing with Dennis I told him "I gotta warn you - my rhythmic sophistication ends with Kool and the Gang." He laughed, and I remember some of the funniest moments when Jeff and I were playing ostinato figures behind his drum solos - afterwards we'd look back at Dennis like "were we right?" and he'd be smiling and shaking his head no. His vocabulary is beyond belief - way over my head!