Guitar Legend Scott Henderson To Release New Album “Karnevel!”, Announces Forthcoming European Tour
Guitar Legend Scott Henderson will be releasing his highly anticipated new album “Karnevel!” on February 2, 2024! In support of the release, Scott will be touring Europe and China (dates and venues listed below). “Karnevel!” is an even more variety-packed set than anything Scott has done before. The harmony tunes are more complex, but the blues influence is still there, no matter how harmonically twisted it gets. There are tunes which are completely rock-driven, especially in the solos.
Says Scott, “I’d have to say the whole concept of the solos on this album is to try to get to places I’ve never been. There’s even a solo guitar piece, something I’ve never done on an album before.
Scott wrote most of the music for “Karnevel!” during the Covid break. He was working a lot on playing solo guitar, and some of the tunes on this album came directly from improvising harmony ideas in real time, rather than the more technical “stop-time” approach.
The album was recorded live in the studio with Romain Labaye on bass and Archibald Ligonnière on drums, the same musicians on “People Mover.” After the live session, Scott spent quite a bit of time layering additional guitar tracks. “I’m happy that I’ve come up with quite a few sounds I’ve never used before. The pacing of an album is very important to me, and I’m really proud of how this album came out in regard to the changing of tempos and keys between songs. It’s also an album with ‘bookends,’ like season 2 of ‘Breaking Bad.’ Well, I should let the music speak for itself, so I’ll stop here.”
Born in 1954, Scott Henderson emerged in the 1980s with his legendary band Tribal Tech and has since become one of the top guitar players/composers in jazz fusion. Scott has toured and recorded with Chick Corea, Weather Report’s Joe Zawinul, Jean-Luc Ponty, and many others. In 2019, he won both Best Guitarist and Best Electric/Jazz-Rock/Contemporary Group in Jazz Times Readers Poll. He was also voted #4 best composer, under a short list which included Wayne Shorter and Pat Metheny.
As a bandleader, Scott has toured in over 70 countries and released over 20 albums. Throughout his career, he’s won numerous Best Guitarist awards in Guitar Player and Guitar World magazines, and been on the cover of many international guitar magazines.
“People Mover” was voted best fusion album of 2019 by Jazz Times magazine, and demonstrates Scott’s striking ability to combine elements of jazz, rock, funk and blues in an authentic, seamless and musical way. After 35 years as a bandleader, Scott is a musician who’s playing and composing continues to grow.
Scott’s message for his listeners is the one they already know – keep an open mind. Great music exists in every genre, and only the foolish are close-minded. That especially goes for jazz musicians, who should know better. Let’s get rid of that – those snobs already know who they are.