Guitarist’s Invigorating Style : * The musician will play with the quartet Tribal Tech, which is known as a major Southern California jazz-fusion ensemble.

Wiry, fluid expositions, usually delivered with an intensity that makes you sit up straight--that’s what listeners have come to expect from invigorating guitarist Scott Henderson.

Henderson, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla., is most often heard playing scintillating original material with Tribal Tech, the contemporary band he and bassist Gary Willis lead.

The quartet has been together for 10 years and has made six albums for Mesa Bluemoon Records. Tribal Tech, known as a major Southern California jazz-fusion ensemble, is close to gaining the top-tier national prominence accorded groups led by Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, two ground-breaking artists with whom Henderson has played and recorded.

But there’s another side to Henderson unknown to many of his fans: the guitarist’s proclivity for playing jazz and pop standards. “They’re great,” he said of such tunes as Wayne Shorter’s “Speak No Evil” and Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are.”

Henderson performs these classics and others when he conducts classes with up-and-coming guitarists at Hollywood’s Musicians’ Institute. He’ll do the same types of tunes five consecutive Thursdays, beginning this week, when he steps out with a quartet at La Ve Lee in Studio City.

The idea for these performances resulted from a conversation between Henderson and Tribal Tech keyboardist Scott Kinsey, who also teaches at the institute.

“Scott and I were saying how all of our strictly jazz playing occurred at school, and we didn’t get an opportunity to play this music with other players, and wouldn’t that be fun,” Henderson said. “And when we played one night a couple of months ago, we decided to do it as often as we could.”

The foursome at La Ve Lee also includes acoustic bassist Tom Warrington and former Tribal Tech drummer Kirk Covington. Henderson said spontaneity rules, with tunes called right on the bandstand, jam-session style. He said he favors modern material by the likes of Shorter and Miles Davis, which allow for a loose approach. The same manner is often employed on more traditional tunes such as “All the Things You Are.”

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“We see those as vehicles for improvisation, and who knows where they’ll go?” the guitarist said.

He believes that some of the greatest rewards in performing music come from extemporaneous experiments. “When you start from nothing, with no chart, no tune, nothing but you and your fellow musicians making it up by ear, and come up with a nice piece of music, that’s the ultimate,” he said. “It’s a very creative way to express yourself.”

As much as he plans to enjoy these relaxed evenings at La Ve Lee, Henderson made it clear that playing jazz standards is not his raison d’etre. “I don’t want to put anyone down that does it, but I don’t consider this a serious part of my career,” he said. “I’m a writer, and I play original music with Tribal Tech. Our band plays everything from rock to jazz to funk, and I enjoy playing all those styles.”

There are many people who feel that Henderson is one of the premier guitarists in modern music. Olivier Vabois, who books the music at Le Ve Lee, is one.

“Scott’s a supernatural guitar player. He’s just got it. Everything--the fusion, the modern playing--is extremely good. You can feel it,” Vabois said.

Henderson, who lives in Highland Park, picked up guitar as a youngster in West Palm Beach and knew by the time he was in junior high school that he wanted to be a full-time musician. He grew up listening to Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, then discovered jazzmen Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock while in college at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He moved to Los Angeles in 1980, and has worked with Corea, Zawinul and Jean-Luc Ponty, among others.

Asked why he continues to find music rewarding, Henderson was momentarily at a loss for words. “It’s a hard question,” he began. Then he said: “Bad music makes you feel terrible; good music makes you feel really great. It’s a strange creature, and maybe that’s what’s drawn me to it.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: Scott Henderson’s quartet at La Ve Lee, 12514 Ventura Blvd., Studio City.

Hours: 9 and 11 p.m. Thursday and Jan. 6, 13, 20 and 27.

Price: $10; two-drink minimum.

Call: (818) 980-8158.