Scott Henderson Discussion

[TopDog]

Scott,

Thanks so much for doing Guitar Wank with Bruce and Troy. It's a gold mind of musical information and entertainment.

I'm very happy to hear you have so much praise for Donald Fagen, I'm a huge fan of his as well as of Steely Dan. He's a huge talent, his harmony and arrangements are killing. And his lyrics and melodies are genius. Do you have any particularly favorite tunes or albums? What do you key into about his music, specifically?

His last one Sunken Condos, is a real sleeper. IMO opinion this is great record, some people dissed it. Albeit the production may be different than his previews works but nonetheless it's golden.

Lastly, did you ever meet him or play with him? If not would you play (live or recording) with him given the opportunity?

Thanks for taking the time to communicate with all of us here and on GW.

[Scott Henderson]

On every Donald Fagen or Steely Dan album there are compositions that I love, so it would be really hard to pick favorites. Same with Weather Report or the Beatles - just too many great tunes.

Like Paul McCartney, Fagen uses simple melodies and colors them with brilliant, modern harmony. Pretty much the same with Weather Report - easy to remember melodies with sophisticated harmony.

That's getting harder and harder to do, since just about every simple melody there is has been used by somebody. That's why composition is so difficult for me - when I finally do hit on something which is melodic and doesn't sound familiar, I feel like I struck gold.

Some people put Donald Fagen down because his music is so arranged, but I see his music as sophisticated pop, not jazz, even though there are always great solos. In my opinion some of the best guitar solos in pop music are on Steely Dan albums. I'd be happy to work with him on tour or in the studio if he called me.

[Kevin Thomas]

Sometimes his music is too much arrangée FOR MY TASTE, but tastes are like opinions an assholes, aren't they?
Anyway he's à great composer, and I agree about guitar solos (the one on Kid Charlemagne is a master pièce)

[peter_heijnen]

Scott, i'd love to hear you play My Old School!

[TaeKwonDonut]

I talked to Donald in NYC a week or so ago.. he said he was interested but heard you wanted 10K a week for a pop gig and couldn't swing it since he was only charging $329 a ticket for orchestra.