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Scott Henderson is possibly the best guitarist alive. Although he came up through the ranks as a jazz fusion guitarist, "Tore Down House", his second CD of blues oriented material, features Henderson sounding like what Stevie Ray Vaughn might have sounded like if he had gone to Berklee. No other jazz guitarist comes to mind that can play real, convincing blues licks the way Henderson does. All the tunes except one were written by Henderson, including the humorous, tongue in cheek lyrics which are belted out by Thelma Houston. Houston sings her ass off! Each song contains a gem of a solo from Henderson, who evokes Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn and maybe a little Eric Johnson in each one. The only complaint is that sometimes the writing gets a little too cute and fancy for the blues, but guitar aficionados will surely overlook that point as Henderson's solos alone are enough to turn this CD into a guitar classic.

RATING: **** (four stars)

MARK TOWNS