Guitarist's touring trio wails out for more recognition

By Bill Meredith, Special to The Palm Beach Post Tuesday, October 22, 2002

"Why isn't he more popular?" It was the question overheard more than once during West Palm Beach-born guitarist Scott Henderson's show Sunday at the Carefree Theatre. There's no simple answer, but rather a combination of being labeled "jazz," letting his music do the talking rather than singing, and refusing to sell out to attract the lowest common denominator. Henderson didn't even seek the more accessible "blues" label, getting it through the media after starting his solo career. Henderson's touring trio includes drummer/vocalist Kirk Covington (from his 18-year-old fusion band Tribal Tech) and bassist John Humphrey. And while it might not get them a cup of coffee, they're updating the blues with a modern transfusion similar to the one Miles Davis gave to traditional jazz a quarter-century ago.

Opening with the title track from Dog Party, his 1994 solo debut, Henderson set the tone early: He seemed to have his right hand surgically attached to the whammy-bar of his guitar. The slow instrumental dirge of That Hurts and Covington's playful vocal on Lady P, both from Henderson's new Well To the Bone CD, set up the early fire. Sultan's Boogie, a new Middle Eastern-themed instrumental, showcased the telepathy between Henderson and the equally thunderous Covington. The drummer switched to mallets for an update of Tribal Tech's Jakarta, then alternated between sticks and mallets for the remainder of the song by tucking any unused weapon under either arm or in his mouth. After addressing the half-capacity crowd and inquiring as to why he can't get booked at SunFest, his hometown's premier festival, Henderson asked "Is there anyone here from Pure Hell?" (his local mid-'70s R&B band). An affirmative answer preceded Dat's Da Way It Go, a funky number that featured Humphrey's effects-laden solo. Covington's unaccompanied break looked like it would dismantle the drum set, and led to Henderson's nimble country picking and banjo simulations on Hillbilly in the Band. Henderson's intense guitar synthesizer drove Rituals, another Tribal Tech instrumental, and Hole Diggin' -- his nod to Stevie Ray Vaughan -- furiously closed the set. The encore was Jimi Hendrix's Fire, with Humphrey's bemused look indicating the torching Henderson and Covington gave the manic '60s hit. Unlike Hendrix and Vaughan, though, Henderson remains the unsung guitar hero -- and unlike rocker Eddie Van Halen, he doesn't play down to the level of his bandmates and audience. Despite the fact that he can play any style at least as well as those three, Henderson's jazz pedigree -- especially in the MTV era -- shows the unfortunate divide between greatness and popularity.