The original guitarist of the Chick Corea Elektric Band says that some great Blues guitarists actually “play for themselves” rather than the audience.
He has just arrived in Mumbai en route from Rome and he has only one word to describe his first 24-hour tryst Mumbai — “Amazing!” That apart, celebrated fusion and blues guitarist Scott Henderson says that he loves to be engrossed in his own “little world”.
“If you are talking about Britney Spears here, I am sorry. I am not into that music (Pop and Rock) at all. So, I don’t exactly know what is happening in the pop scene. I am too much into my own little world (Jazz and Blues) to comment about that. But I surely know that India is a powerhouse of talent. In fact, we were talking about it last night...the kind of music that Sandeep (Chowta) makes, that you call Bollywood, has an amazing mass appeal. Simply because of the sound that catches your ears — it’s the melody that keeps you grooving. It’s the same thing with me… at my concerts, I have a lot of people coming in because somebody has told them that I sound good. Now that is what I call music — when people just listen to you because they like listening to you and not because it’s fashionable,” says Scott.
The original guitarist of the Chick Corea Elektric Band says that some great Blues guitarists actually “play for themselves” rather than the audience. “You have to connect with the audience. You can move your fingers on the strings (of a Jazz guitar) very fast and look out for that ‘wow’ reaction from the audience but then, you are not playing for them (the audience). You are creating music for your own. For my concert in Mumbai, I have not got any specific music notes made out. I am going to go on stage and play for Mumbai. It’s me playing for Mumbai and Mumbai coming in to listen to me playing. Music should be that way. That’s more like me,” he adds, as his Trio fellow band members John Humphrey (base guitarist) and Alan Hertz (drummer) nod in agreement. After his term with Chick Corea, Scott formed Tribal Tech with bass player Gary Willis in 1984 that eventually went on to become one of the most highly regarded fusion bands of the 1990s.
Ask him who has influenced him most as a musician and he has three names to offer — violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, bassist Jeff Berlin and Players, and Weather Report’s Joe Zawinul...and of course, Jimmy Hendrix.
Adds Scott, “I have been hearing about India for a long time now and I have been longing to come here. Coming here and jamming for the Mumbai audience is definitely an experience worth taking back home. I want to go around Mumbai in the mean time and see it more,” he adds.
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