TRIBAL TECH

Tribal Tech is a progressive fusion band, originally formed in 1984 by guitarist Scott Henderson and bass player Gary Willis. The band includes Scott Kinsey on keyboard and Kirk Covington on drums, and has produced nine albums that stretch the borders between blues, jazz, and rock. The band is widely regarded for the prodigious talents of its individual members and for its importance to the modern fusion music scene, but has dissolved following the release of 2000's Rocket Science, with the various members pursuing solo careers.

Personnel

Scott Henderson - Guitar
Gary Willis - Bass
Scott Kinsey - Keyboards
Kirk Covington - Drums

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"In a time when the word 'fusion' describes instrumental rock and roll (and 'jazz' is routinely applied to guys like Kenny G and Fourplay), Tribal Tech stands out like a diamond-back in a pile of cotton balls. The original fusion of the early '70s wedded musical complexity to raw energy, in the process becoming jazz's answer to acid rock; Tribal Tech retains most of the idiom's virtues with few of the drawbacks. In contrast to that other stuff masquerading as fusion, Tech's music has an urgency that has always distinguished the great players of jazz and rock..." - The Chicago Reader

After twelve years of working together and eight critically acclaimed albums, Scott Henderson and Gary Willis of Tribal Tech, have proven they are visionary composers, as well as world class players. In recent years, Henderson has been named the #1 Jazz Guitarist, by both Guitar World and Guitar Player's Annual Reader's Polls. Bass Player magazine referred to Willis as "one of the most vital bass voices of the 90's", while Guitar Player's Annual Reader's Poll has listed Willis among the top three bassist in the Jazz Bass category for the last two years in a row. While they've always had the following of loyal jazzers, the band has steadily attracted the attention of rock and rollers, as well, seducing them with their sometimes big, dark wall of sound and their bad boy attitude toward "happy jazz". Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith says that Tribal Tech "kicks ass!". Packed houses in the U.S., Europe and South America show he is obviously not the only one who thinks this.

Rounding out the dynamic foursome is the awesomely talented, turbo-driven Kirk Covington on drums and the improvisationally-gifted Scott Kinsey on keyboards. The coming together of such talented players could only result in the creation of a band like Tribal Tech. A band that grabs you by the throat and won't let go until they've shaken you out of your musical complacency with a roar of energy. 

Discography

Spears (1985)
Dr. Hee (1987)
Nomad (1989)
Tribal Tech (1991)
Illicit (1992)
Face First (1993)
Primal Tracks (UK Release) (compilation) (1994)
Reality Check (1995)
Thick (1999)
Rocket Science (2000)

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This Jazz-Fusion band was formed in 1984 by guitarist Scott Henderson and bassist Gary Willis and released their debut album "Spears" a year later. Subsequently they released numerous Jazz-Fusion albums throughout the late 80's and 90's. After a short hiatus from 1995 to 1999 during which the band members pursued various solo projects they reunited to to record two more albums in 1999 and 2000 and have not released any albums since then.

Their style is hard to describe because they varied it a lot on their various albums. There are strong influences of Free Jazz and Blues, and they're going about their music in a very laid back way. While they have some mellow tracks, the majority of their music is very light and uplifting, and quite funny at times.