Born in 1954, Scott Henderson grew up in an era where blues-rock was at it's peak. His formative musical years took place in South Florida where he played the clubs with all kinds of bands playing everything from Led Zepplin to James Brown. As he was learning his instrument, Henderson was influenced by Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, and the great blues guitarists Albert King and Buddy Guy. Even though Henderson claims to be more of a blues-rock player, it was the influence of jazz that led him to the style of playing and composing that he is now famous for.
Scott finished school at Florida Atlantic University, then moved to Los Angeles where he played and recorded with Chick Corea's Elektric Band, with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Jeff Berlin and "Players", and a four year stint with Weather Report's Joe Zawinul.
Henderson formed the band Tribal Tech in 1984 with bassist Gary Willis, and after nine critically acclaimed albums, Henderson has proven himself as a world class player and composer. In 1991, he was named by Guitar World as the #1 Jazz Guitarist, and in January 1992, he was named #1 Jazz Guitarist in Guitar Player's Annual Reader's Poll. His first solo blues album "Dog Party", a welcome retreat to his musical roots, won best blues album of 1994 in Guitar Player. The second blues album for Mesa/Bluemoon Records pairs Henderson with legendary vocalist Thelma Houston. "Tore Down House" was released in April 97, and received four star reviews in Jazz Times, Guitar Player, Guitar, Guitar Shop, and L.A Jazz Scene Magazines. The Tribal Tech album "Rocket Science" was released on ESC Records in November 2000 ...
Back Home, Eric Clapton's first album of new original material in nearly five years, will be released on Reprise/Duck Records on August 30th.
Featuring twelve songs, five of which were penned by Clapton with creative collaborator Simon Climie, Back Home also includes "Love Comes To Everyone" by George Harrison, the Spinners' "Love Don't Love Nobody," a rendition of Stevie Wonder and Syretta Wright's "I'm Going Left," and compositions by Vince Gill, Doyle Bramhall II and others. See below for a complete song listing and writing credits.
Produced by Eric Clapton and Simon Climie, who together also wrote the album's debut single "Revolution," Back Home additionally spotlights an all-star backing band, many of whose members have worked extensively with Clapton over the years. Included are drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Nathan East, guitarists Andy Fairweather Low and Doyle Bramhall II, and keyboardists Billy Preston and Simon Climie.
Among the special guests appearing on Back Home are Steve Winwood (synthesizer), John Mayer (guitar), Robert Randolph (dobro), Chris Stainton (Fender Rhodes), Stephen Marley (percussion), Abraham Laboriel, Jr. (drums), Pino Paladino (bass) and Toby Baker (keyboards). The album also highlights string arrangements by Nick Ingman and performances by the Kick Horns.
"I wanted to make a studio album without quite knowing what it was going to be," remarks Clapton on the creative impetus behind Back Home. Working closely with Climie, Clapton began recording over a year ago, working around his touring schedule and family commitments. "We kind of resigned ourselves to the fact that it was going to take a long time," the multi Grammy(R) Award-winning artist continues, "but when we got stuck or if it wasn't moving fast enough we'd stop and do a Robert Johnson song. That would clear the air and we'd go back and carry on for the new album. As a result, we ended up with a complete Robert Johnson album first, which was released last year as Me And Mr Johnson"...
Joe Beck:
During a career spanning five decades, Joe Beck has recorded with an incredible array of artists including Miles Davis (Joe was his first guitarist)
Gil Evans, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Paul Desmond, Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Larry Coryell, Gene Ammons, Sergio Mendez, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Laura Nyro, Houston Person, Roger Kellaway, Richie Havens, Paul Simon, Joe Farrell, James Brown, Gato Barbieri, and countless others.
Joe has been composing music for TV and film for thirty years and the recording industry (National Academy of Recording Arts And Sciences) has honored him five times with their Most Valuable Player Award. He has also recorded with the Royal Philharmonic orchestra in London, the Milan Philharmonic in Italy, and The Paris String Ensemble in France.
Joe continues to do co-artist albums with a wide range of artists from Mike Mainieri to John Babarian (one of the world's foremost Middle Eastern musicians), to Sabicas (perhaps the greatest of all Flemenco guitarists), and David Sanborn ("Beck /Sanborn" on Columbia) . The most recent being the beautiful Alto Guitar/Vocal duo with Deborah Brown, "I Found My Thrill".
Joe also arranged and produced many records including projects for Frank Sinatra, Gloria Gaynor, and two albums for Esther Phillips including her hit single, "What A Difference A Day Makes". Along the way Joe was signed to contracts with Columbia, Polydor, Verve, Gryphon, CTI, and MGM Records. Since the late '80's he has recorded four albums ("Relaxin'" , "Friends" ,"Back To Beck" , "The Journey") on the DMP label. as well as "Fingerpainting", on the Wavetone label which features Bill Evans on sax, Danny Gottlieb on drums, and Mark Egan on bass.
Tim Reynolds: Born in Weisbaden, Germany, the son of a devoutly religious military man, Tim spent much of his childhood moving-from Alaska to St. Louis and through much of the Bible-belt Midwest.
In a statement by Reynolds, "I come from nowhere mostly. My dad was in the Army so we moved around alot. Germany is where I was born, and after that we lived on a farm in Indiana, then on an army base in Alaska, then to Kansas, then to Missouri, where we lived the longest (thus the nowhere). Then I moved to Virginia, and I was there for 17 years or so. Now I live in New Mexico and this is the best place I could be. I mostly come from space."
As the child of pious, fiercely conservative parents, Reynold's musical introduction began at age 12, playing electric bass before writhing congregations of ecstatic worshippers three times a week (over 1000 times) until his high school graduation. Tiring of the constraints of imposed conservatism, he secretly plunged into jazz and "forbidden" late '60s and early '70s psychedelic rock. At age 18, he left home to join a group of "experimental" musicians. After absorbing much from them and the dozen other bands (from disco to country) that followed, he eventually settled in Charlottesville, Virginia ...
Doug MacDonald Jazz Guitarist Home page.
Doug MacDonald is an unpretentious guitarist whose foreground and background playing deliver equal doses of "beautiful, bell-clear sounds and a sure-footed sense of swing" (Zan Stewart, jazz journalist). That's the nutshell version from a writer known for his economical way of saying a lot.
In his eighth recording, TURN, on Sea Breeze Jazz, MacDonald focuses on his composing/arranging skills and introduces non-traditional instrumentation in the form of a 13-piece ensemble, "The Jazz Winds/Brass Coalition," to showcase his and other writers' music.
This bigger-band work was the next natural step for the veteran player's growth, culminating years of composition studies about which he has become increasingly passionate. In his own liner notes, he refers to the CD repertoire as an effort to "create a body of work that explores a wide spectrum of colors and forms," explaining that "while there exists jazz swing on certain tracks, other pieces travel from tonal to atonal sections with Latin and/or eighth note rhythms-an adventure where the listener will discover new 'turns' of musical form and expression," thus the title tune.
Jazz journalist Jim Santella, in reviewing the CD, calls the title tune "a journey through Jazz's history and toward its future development," adding: "Without growth, anything would become commonplace and ordinary. Doug ensures that jazz has a place to turn to that allows for change without sacrificing tradition." Likewise, critic/columnist Harvey Barkan says that MacDonald "has opened a new window for fresh ideas with an irresistible effervescent feel of swing" ...
Impossible to categorize as a player, Adrian Legg incorporates virtually every genre on his guitar in a virtuosic instrumental style with effects. He brought electric approaches to acoustic playing, creating a modern cross-over amalgamation in the tradition of eclectic folk playing that goes back to the 1960s."
- Guitar by Richard Chapman, 2000 ...