Scott Henderson tonight!

DLM

I'm excited! It's his trio with Larry Carlton's son Travis on bass.

thomasross20

Post your review with pics etc!

Aidanspaghetti

Ah fuck, must check if he's playing here.... Gig review? One of my favs

bingefeller

Cool.  Try to get gear pics.

DLM

@bingefeller @aidanspaghetti @thomasross20

 

I’m sure I’m not qualified to review a Henderson gig. I’ve no idea what notes he’s playing, I just love the way he sounds!

 

He played at the jazz club in the basement of the Bayerischer Hof, a really swanky hotel, so I felt totally out of place. The disdain with which the cloakroom attendant handled my shabby army surplus coat was really pretty funny. 0.3l of Löwenbräu was €5.90, which is pricier than the Oktoberfest! Service at the table, though. And a comfy chair to sit in with a great view of the stage.

 

The attendance was disgrace. “A small but mighty crowd”, Scott called it. He and his band played their posteriors off regardless. On the one hand, there’s just so much nightlife here, people are spoiled for choice. On the other hand, when you think of how many people are into Hendrix, Beck and SRV, and perhaps wonder what they’d sound like if they’d got a bit jazzier… Come on! My band plays to larger crowds in this city! OK, not for €30 admission, but still.

 

Alan Hertz on drums and Travis Carlton on bass were in beast mode the whole time, no wimpy jazz rhythm section here. There were two shortish sets of several longish pieces with a break “for everyone to get drunk” as Scott put it. Tunes were by Weather Report, Miles Davis, from the new Groove Station CD, and Dog Party as an encore.

 

No pics I’m afraid. I thought about it, but decided not to bother. Trying to digitally document concerts I’ve attended has detracted from the experience in the past. Plus, Scott gets any videos of his playing that he doesn’t like taken down from YouTube. Several people were filming anyway, so perhaps something will pop up.

 

His rig is really well chronicled online in Rig Rundowns or whatever, so I didn’t think snapping a shot of his board would help anyone. I’m too stupid to use effects, anyway, so have little interest in them. His basic kit hasn’t changed since I last saw him 10 years ago. He had the same basic set up already then: his Suhr signature > EWS Subtle Volume Control > Pedalboard > CAA OD100/Marshall 4x12 + valve combo for effects.

 

Anyone who’s not actually watched him live will have their mind immediately frazzled by his use of the EWS pedal to constantly adjust his levels.

bingefeller

Sounds cool. I must look for a bootleg on Dimeadozen. Do you know what Miles Davis tunes he played?

DLM

:looks sheepish:

Sorry, no. Apart from Dog Party, I only know because that's how he introduced the songs. I don't really listen to this sort of music enough to get a hang of what the tunes are called. I'm a smelly metalhead, really, but I have an appreciation for great music of all kinds, especially in a live setting.

randomhandclaps

I had a couple of lessons with Scott Henderson years back and not only is he amazing but he also taught me the best lesson ever surrounding playing through key changes in that although knowledge is good (and obviously needed), conviction and feel will hide a multitude of sins.  It changed the way I thought about complex changes from "Oh shit, here it comes!" to focusing about where I wanted to be on the other side of the change.

I know there are loads of non-mainstream guitarists you could say this about but it kind of saddens me that when Scott dies most of the world will not realise what a guitar phenomenon they have lost.  In my Uni days I was (somewhat forcibly) into fusion a lot but now (along with so much instrumental guitar) it kind of bores me.  Scott's playing never does though as there is still a rock/blues/country hook through it all and nowadays Tribal Tech is about the only fusion stuff I willingly put on.

xSkarloey

Cheers @randonhandclaps, that's really heartening advice about changes.

I'd never heard any Scott Henderson until I got interested in Ibanez distortion pedals. A quick google brought his name up as a SD9 user. One thing lead to another and I watched a fair few YT vids of him in action. Such a soulful player. There's a vid of him doing Miles Davis's All Blues. Maybe that's what he played when you saw him.

DLM

^^ Wowed @randomhandclaps. Especially for getting lessons with the man. That's the main thing I like about Henderson, I think. His playing is ballsier than pretty much anyone's. All the metal guys included. He really tears the guitar a new one. No fear!

And what you say about his eventual legacy frames what I was getting at when I was talking about attendance at the show. My feeling is: If you live within an accessible distance of the venue and you like live distorted guitar, why weren't you there?! I was so chewed off earlier this year when I found out about his gig then after the fact.

What sort of places does he play in Blighty? One pokey little show in London and that's yer lot?

bingefeller

Found bootleg on Dime:

Scott Henderson Trio 
2015-10-15 
Muenchen - Hotel Bayerischer Hof 

setlist: 

01. Intro 
02. All Blues (Miles Davis) 
03. Sphinx 
04. Calhoun 
05. Black Market (J. Zawinul) 
06. intro set 2 
07. Equinox (John Coltrane) 
08. Vibe Station 
09. Festival Of Ghosts 
10. bass solo/drum solo (Travis Carlton/Alan Hertz) 
11. Mysterious Traveller 
12. Dolemite 
13. Hole Diggin' 

Aidanspaghetti

Thanks a lot! Sound like y had a good un.... Definitely will catch him on the next European leg hopefully..

DLM

Wowed @Bingefeller

Yeah, that looks about right. The internet is amazing!

thomasross20

Lol, love your description of the venue and the cloakroom attendant haha ... Really set the scene! (Makes me envious I'm not there in Germany)

How many people do you reckon were there? Was there an advertising problem? 

I agree about not taking pics at gigs - really depends how I'm feeling but often best to just enjoy it. I never knew the main man got videos pulled from YouTube.... ???

@randomhandclaps - wow... I'd love to know what else he taught you!!

DLM

@thomasross20 If there were 30 people in the audience I'd be surprised. The venue would have held double that whilst maintaining the classy feel with service at the tables throughout the show, etc. And there times that for a packed house. Dunno what fire regs would have permitted.

The show was advertised the usual way for that sort of gig, there probably isn't the budget to put more into it and get posters up all over town.

Spend a bit of time looking at the Q&As on Scott's official forum, Tiggs, there's masses of really useful knowledge there on all sorts of subjects related to his career. That's how I know about his attitude towards bootleggers, he's been into it in depth.

thomasross20

Will try to check that out for sure! 

I watched a Greg Howe guitar workshop online and was surprised that there were only about 10 people in attendance!