Sisters bassist wins honors

The bass may not have the glamour of playing a horn, or the guitar or carrying the vocals, but it may be the most important instrument in any ensemble.

Jared Henderson took up the bass as a youngster because his dad, Sisters school band director Jody Henderson, wanted to be sure there was a good bassist available for the school bands.

"My dad chose me to play bass because it's an important instrument in the band," Jared said. And, he noted, "there's not many good ones."

Henderson soon discovered that he really liked the role the instrument plays. While a horn player gets in on a tune about 30 percent of the time, playing melody and solos, the bass player has lots of action.

"As a bass player you're playing all the time," he said. "You're always in the game."

Henderson has evolved into a standout player and he is starting to win significant recognition for his talent.

Henderson was named best rhythm section player at the Reno Jazz Festival last month, chosen from among players representing some 200 schools.

"I was really surprised," Henderson said. "The award usually goes to somebody from a really big school or one of the (prestigious) Seattle schools."

Henderson was also selected at REno to play in an all-star band in front of a crowd of 8,000 people, mostly jazz musicians.

"It was one of the greatest and most intense experiences of my life," he said.

Such an honor would be a major accomplishment for any high school junior, but this month Henderson managed to top it with another honor.

He was selected as the only bass player in the United States to be included in the five-week Berklee College of Music Summer Jazz Workshop in Boston.

Berklee College of Music is one of the most prestigious music colleges in the world.

"I was really honored (by) that," Henderson said. "I was really surprised, actually, that I got in."

Henderson applied for the camp at the recommendation of jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, whom he met while auditioning for an honors band at the Monterey Jazz Festival.

Henderson heads back to Boston on July 12. He is excited to partake of the "phenomenal" teaching on offer at the camp and he's looking forward to meeting musicians in the Boston and New York jazz scenes.

Jazz is Henderson's great love in music because of the freedom the genre offers. He loves to bring elements of a variety of musical cultures and styles into his playing.

"That's what jazz is to me," he said. "A huge mixture of people coming together."

Henderson is glad that his dad steered him toward the bass.

"I think it's given me a lot of opportunities," he said. "From age 10, I started playing professional gigs. Not that I should have been, but I was there, so I got the shot."

Henderson is not likely to rest on the laurels he has earned this year.

(I'm) never really satisfied with my playing," he said.

"I am constantly working on making the music an extension of who I am as a person. This ongoing process allows me to connect to other people in ways that are much far deeper than any thing I've ever experienced."

Henderson credited his parents, Jody and Sarina, for his success.

"I couldn't have gotten anywhere without them," he said. "It is by their tremendous efforts only that I have been so successful."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

• Email: editor@nuggetnews.com
• Phone: 5415499941