Representative Albums: "Tore Down House," "Thick," "Tribal Tech with Gary Willis"
Biography
One of the finest fusion (as opposed to crossover) guitarists of the 1980s and '90s, Scott Henderson's explosive playing is often teamed up with electric bassist Gary Willis in their group Tribal Tech. Originally most influenced by rock, Henderson (who grew up in West Palm Beach, FL) played in local funk and rock bands. In 1980, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the Guitar Institute of Technology, studying with Joe Diorio. After graduating, he became a teacher himself at GIT. Henderson played with Jeff Berlin and Jean-Luc Ponty, and in 1985 toured with the original version of Chick Corea's Elektric Band. During 1987-1989, he worked on and off with Joe Zawinul's Syndicate, later focusing on Tribal Tech as his main band. As a leader, Scott Henderson has recorded for Passport, Relativity, Bluemoon, Atlantic, and Zebra. Starting with 1994's Dog Party, the guitarist made a transition from the world of jazz to the blues world, where his blues-rock fusion became the primary focus of his music career. But unlike many of his blues-rock contemporaries, his music was filled with the sort of odd time signatures and unique touches that are cornerstones of his jazz work. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
Scott Henderson began playing guitar at an early age. A native of South Florida, his formative musical years were spent listening to rock, blues, funk and soul, while his interest in jazz developed later on, thanks to the music of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and others. He still professes to being a blues player at heart.
Scott formed Tribal Tech with bass player Gary Willis in 1984. Under the direction of Henderson and Willis, Tribal Tech became one of the most highly-regarded fusion bands of the 1990s. He toured and recorded with the band up until their dissolution following the 2000 album Rocket Science, and during that time brought himself to the forefront of modern jazz/fusion guitar playing. In 1991 he was named '#1 Jazz Guitarist' by Guitar World magazine, and in January 1992 he was voted best jazz guitarist in Guitar Player magazine's Annual Reader's Poll.
Recent Recordings
Scott Henderson has more recently moved back to his blues roots, releasing the critically acclaimed blues album Dog Party in 1994, Tore Down House (1997). He recorded Well To The Bone (2003) with bass player, John Humphrey, and Kirk Covington on drums. His latest solo release Scott Henderson Live (2005) follows in this vein, and his work has also moved into funk/jazz fusion. He has repeatedly stated that he is enjoying playing in bands which do not have keyboard players, as it allows him to branch out more and properly explore the guitar's full potential as an instrument.
Henderson has also appeared recently as a guest artist on a number of recordings including Scott Kinsey's 2006 CD Kinesthetics, Amber Whitlock's The Colours Of Life, and Rob Whitlock's Sketchin' and Sketchin' 2.
