Scott Henderson Discussion

[erix66]

Hi Scott,
I’ve always loved when you were part of the Zawinul Syndicate. I was wondering how it was working with Joe in the studio for the Immigrants and Black Water Records. Really love those records. Especially The Immigrants! Did Joe come in with the tracks? Or were toy guys all writing together as a unit? Would have loved to see Joe Live! Any funny stories come to mind from those sessions? Lol
Anyways Thanks so much for your music !!! Can’t wait for your next record !!
Cheers
Eric E

[Scott Henderson]

Joe was very inspiring to work for but also intimidating - he was used to hearing Wayne Shorter play every night, so that's an impossible act to follow. He brought in all the music, but he was willing to take suggestions from us about the music, unlike some other completely non-democratic bandleaders I've worked with. He knew exactly what he wanted and he wasn't shy about asking for it. If I played something stupid, he had no problem telling me it was stupid, but he did it in a funny way, so I never got angry about it.

One of the stories I remember most is recording Little Rootie Tootie on the Black Water album. It's basically rhythm changes, and Joe left me alone with the engineer for about an hour to record my solo. I recorded what I thought was a good solo, made all the changes, used some modern jazz vocabulary which I thought fit that style of music, etc. Joe came in and said "erase that shit. If I wanted Charlie Christian I would've dug him up." He said "I don't wanna hear that bebop shit - play blues!" So I did a one-take solo and that's what's on the record.

Tons of stories like that one - too many to count. The main thing I remember about the whole experience was just listening to him play - his sense of harmony, the things he came up with on the spot. I saw him write whole compositions in real time - no other jazz musician in history has done that on even close to the same level as Joe.

[erix66]

Wow so cool! Thx for the stories! I bet it was definitely something to witness Joe’s talents!! Thx again for the Response.
E