Scott Henderson

Guitar god Scott Henderson is a fusion fanatic's dream, by virtue of his wild yet fluid and even melodic riffs. Bassist Gary Willis lacks Henderson's range compositionally and as a player, but still manages to keep the proceedings grooving. Backed by the keys of David Goldblatt, Joey Heredia's drums and the percussion of Brad Dutz, the two form a powerful musical bond as Tribal Tech. Unlike their previous album, TT's new disc features more melodies (the best ones, "Peru" and "Signal Path" are by Henderson), the softening effect of Goldblatt's key soloing and a tighter tune structure and production all around. There's still lots and lots of improvising, but on the less memorable Willis tunes, it seems to go on interminably.

Well to the Bone is Scott Henderson's third outing as a leader apart from his group, Tribal Tech, the band he co-founded with electric bassist Gary Willis in the mid-'80s. As one of the finest fusion guitarists of his generation, Scott Henderson returns to his blues roots with a program of ten songs that feature multi-layered tracks of guitar and a few that pay tribute to the blues-rock of the '60s and the '70s. Henderson's six-string virtuosity is accompanied by Kirk Covington on drums and John Humphrey on bass.

Real jazz-fusion - spontaneous, risk-taking and improvisatory is exactly what the electric guitarist passionately and enthusiastically embraces on Spears, his debut album. Drawing on such influences as Return to Forever, John McLaughlin and Weather Report, the hard-edged guitarist set the uncompromising tone for his career and that of his band Tribal Tech.

This double-CD features consistently ferocious electric guitar from Scott Henderson. Recorded live at La Ve Lee (a small club near Los Angeles), the extended program has Henderson mostly in the spotlight with electric bassist John Humphrey offering strong support and drummer Kirk Covington sometimes contributing rockish vocals that are as much shouting as they are singing. Henderson plays some jazz on Wayne Shorter's "Fee Fi Fo Fum," digs into blues now and then, and displays some country roots on "Hillbilly in the Band" but mostly plays high-intensity fusion, tearing into the pieces and showing that he could hold his own with any rock/fusion guitarist. Invigorating playing.