Scott Henderson

Scott Henderson (born August 26, 1954) is an American jazz fusion and blues guitarist best known for his work with the band Tribal Tech.

Born in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, Scott Henderson began playing guitar at an early age. 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.

After graduating from Florida Atlantic University, Henderson moved to Los Angeles and began his career in earnest, first playing in various cover bands, but soon Henderson was recording with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Jeff Berlin and "Players", and Weather Report's Joe Zawinul. Henderson first began receiving serious attention as the original guitarist for the Chick Corea Elektric Band together with Carlos Rios, but he stayed only 3 months. He actually disliked working with Chick Corea because of his views on Scientology.

Henderson 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 1980s.During the band's initial run until their dissolution following the 2000 album Rocket Science, Henderson 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.

Tribal Tech reunited and released an album entitled X in 2011, but in June 2014, Henderson posted on his message board that the band would again be dissolving.

Henderson has more recently moved back to his blues roots, releasing the blues album Dog Party in 1994, and Tore Down House (1997). He recorded Well To The Bone (2003) alongside bass player, John Humphrey, and Kirk Covington on drums with Shrapnel Records. His latest solo release Vibe Station (2015) with Alan Hertz on drums and Travis Carlton on bass, moved into the funk/jazz fusion vein. 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 formed a side project with Victor Wooten (of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) and Steve Smith (of Vital Information) called "Vital Tech Tones", releasing two albums, in 1998 and 2000. In 2012, Henderson collaborated with bassist Jeff Berlin and drummer Dennis Chambers to release the album HBC, which the trio supported with an international tour. In 2016, Henderson formed a new trio with French musicians Archibald Ligonnière on drums and Romain Labaye on bass.

Henderson has also appeared as a guest artist on a number of recordings.

Henderson teaches at the Guitar Institute of Technology, which is part of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California.He has released four instructional guitar videos.

Solo

• Dog Party (1994)
• Tore Down House (1997)
• Well to the Bone (2002)
• Live! (2005)
• Vibe Station (2015)
• People Mover (2019)

With Tribal Tech

• Spears (1985)
• Dr. Hee (1987)
• Nomad (1990)
• Tribal Tech (1991)
• Illicit (1992)
• Face First (1993)
• Reality Check (1995)
• Thick (1999)
• Rocket Science (2000)
• X (2011)

Band Projects

• Players (1987)
• Vital Tech Tones (1998)
• VTT2 (2000)
• HBC (2012)

Compilations

• Tribal Tech: Primal Tracks (1994)
• Solo Albums: Collection (2007)

Other

• Champion (Jeff Berlin - 1985)
• Fables (Jean-Luc Ponty - 1985)
• The Chick Corea Elektric Band (Chick Corea Elektric Band - 1986)
• The Immigrants (Zawinul Syndicate - 1988)
• Black Water (Zawinul Syndicate - 1989)
• Forbidden Zone (Tom Coster - 1994)
• I've Known Rivers (Billy Childs - 1995)
• Vienna Nights (Zawinul Syndicate - 2004)
• Manic Voodoo Lady (Elvis Schoenberg and the Orchestre Surreal - 2009)
• Stories by the Bridge (Alberto Milani - 2011)