JIMI HENDRIX DOES NOT BELONG IN VOLUME TWO

Robbie Robertson's book on Music Legends Icons and  Rebels , is about innovators, originals, those who changed everything.  It contains 27 names of people  who "changed the way we listen to music" "broke boundaries" and so on.  But when he talks of  Stevie Wonder's sonic adventurism and extension of electronic music, he sounds like he is occupying a universe in which Jimi Hendrix didn't come first.  I have heard Pete Townshend describe Hendrix as more important (to musicians) than the Beatles. In cultural terms, Hendrix went to Britain where British musicians were popularizing black American music, and the took it back. Alexis Koerner and Gil Evans have spoken of Hendrix in similar terms.

Hendrix  would belong in this book even if it had only 7 names.  If it referred strictly to rock musicians, he would belong in the top 3, along with Dylan and the Beatles. They led, and everyone else followed.

http://www.amazon.ca/Legends-Icons-Rebels-Music-Changed/dp/1770495711

Cherokee Missed: PBS American Masters Documentary on Jimi Hendrix Less-than- Definitive.

Re: American Masters | Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin' | PBS Video

"The definitive film about the legendary rock musician, Jimi Hendrix."

 

I just viewed the new ( and much overdue) American Masters documentary about Jimi Hendrix. It was a good film, and contained a lot of new footage & interviews with friends and fellow musicians. But it had the same oversight that most docs and biopics of the man do: it overlooked his aboriginal ancestry, and the crucial influence that spending a part of his childhood with his Cherokee Indian grandmother in Vancouver had on his outlook, composing and playing. It isn't just that his first album contained an ode to the American Indian (I Don't Live Today), his second album a signature ballad that he referred to as an "Indian thing" (Little Wing) or that these references run throughout his music (Voodoo Chile, Cherokee Mist). What he gets from his indigenous background is an entire naturalist metaphysic that informs both his playing and his composing and the deep organic connection between them.

 

 

I also thought that interviewing some blues, jazz and classical musicians (BB King, JOhn McLaughlin/Gil Evans/ miles Davis, Nigel Kennedy) would have brought to light the truly universal aspects of Hendrix's music in a way that still is a little under-appreciated. That mixture of African-American, aboriginal and Whitebread Seattle was the perfect crucible for everything that was current in American popular music and culture up to that time. John McLaughlin simply referred to Hendrix's music as "contemporary music".--as perfect synthesis of blues, jazz R&B and rock as you'll ever find, bound together in part by the sounds of nature.

 

And why did the film seem to treat his manager, Michael Jeffrey, so kindly? Drummer Buddy Miles has said that "Jimi would still be alive if it weren't for that son of a bitch". Rumours have swirled that Hendrix had his acid spiked deliberately by Jeffrey in order to sabotage the Band of Gypsys ( his all-black band). I even read that Jeffrey had Hendrix kidnapped so that Jeffrey could "save" him, and then leverage that gratitude into a renewed (all-white ) Experience. A truly definitive film would have examined the blame usually attributed to Jeffrey for Hendrix's condition at the time of his death. It also would have hired a musical consultant like Charles Schaar Murray (whose book about Hendrix--Crosstown Traffic" --examined the soul, jazz and blues elements separately and in depth.) And I would have added interviews of blues , classical and blues musicians. Most importantly of all, I would have mentioned that crucial period in his childhood when his grandmother inculcated inhim an appreciation of his Cherokee ancestry. After that, he could never think the blues--or any other kind of music--in a narrowly ethnic fashion. In fact in my more cynical moments, I suspect that the reason it took so unforgivably long to make an American Masters Documentary about Hendrix is that somebody was waiting for Noel Redding, Buddy Miles, Mitch Mitchell et al to all die first , so they could make a more sanitized version!

Overall, the film was satisfactory, but still a great missed opportunity to live up to its promise: to show in greater depth than hitherto seen an appreciation of why Jimi Hendrix meant so much to the American music tradition

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All-Chick Super Group Would Rock--and Possibly Be a Monster as Well

I daydream a lot, and one of the ideas I have had is the idea of an all-female hard rock heavy metal band.  Imagine Jennifer Batten on lead guitar, Julie Slick on bass, and either Meytal Cohen or Roxy Petrucci on drums. I am limiting this list to people of very broadly compatible styles. Add a compelling female singing voice and/or keyboardist (there are of course, many) , and it aint hard to picture them on the cover of Rolling Stone. ( Or maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal in this post-feminist era. I just think the music would be good!)

Other combinations are possible: Paz Lechantin or Gail Greenwood on bass--maybe even Melissa Auf De Mar on bass and vocals and MEG WHITE on drums if you want a more mainstream pop/blues/rock appeal.  Or Big Kat on guitar.

But I  like the Batten-Slick-Petrucci combination for heavy metal rocking.


SUGGESTED NAMES: Four Day Creep
                                        Silas Marner
                                        Ampersand
                                        The Crazy Diamonds
                                         Pussy Galore
                                        Maiden Voyage
                                         Plan B  (Alternative to men --  B is for Batten)
                                        Precious Metal
                                        Bastion (refers to male bastion, but also alludes to Jennifer batten's name)
                                        Gladiolus
                                        Frankie *    
                                       
                                        Hypatia
                                        Sperm Bank Holiday
                                        Madame Ovary
                                        Lady Egg
                                         Lawdy Mama
                                         Bear Feat
                                         Game Seven (works if 7 musicians)

                                        Madame President
                                        The Lady Bugs
                                        Sound Advice
                                         PBS/MJB/BMW/ or BMF!
                                       


(*an allusion to Frankie &; Johnnie)

At last! Rolling Stone Corrects its Guitar List

David Fricke's 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time was not only controversial--it was wrong. I mean, there is  room for subjective differences of opinion, but to put Pete Townshend at #50 (!), Eddie Van Halen at #70 (!!) , and to insult the memory of Albert King by leaving him off the list entirely (!!!) ---that was unacceptable. That's why I went to all the trouble of making my own list, which, though subjected to several valid criticisms,was a huge improvement over Rolling Stone's  Fricke-list.

The authors of Rolling Stone's second list  in its December 8, 2011 issue were much more knowledgeable about  guitar and more focused on contemporary rock: "The panel of experts recruited to vote for their favourite guitar players included musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Van Halen (who was voted No. 8), Brian May and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, along with a selection of Rolling Stone's senior writers and editors."       Here were the top 20 results: (I put Fricke's ranking in brackets).

1. Jimi Hendrix (1)

2. Eric Clapton (4)

3. Jimmy Page (9)

4. Keith Richards (8)

5. Jeff Beck (14)

6. B.B. King (3)

7. Chuck Berry (6)

8. Eddie Van Halen (70)

9. Duane Allman (2)

10. Pete Townshend (50)

11.George Harrison (21) 

12. Stevie Ray Vaughn (7) 

13. Albert King (---) 

14. David Gilmour (14) 

15. Freddy King (25) 

16. Derek Trucks (81) 

17. Neil Young (37) 

18. Les Paul (46) 

19. James Burton (20) 

20. Carlos Santana (15)

This is a fair representation of the most influential and innovative guitarists in rock:  closer to mine that to Rolling Stone's 2003 list. I agree that Pete Townshend and Van Halen both deserved much higher rankings than Fricke gave to them, but I would still place Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn ahead of both them and Keith Richards. Why? Their distinctive stylings were both more innovative  and arguably more influential among guitarists in the blues-rock tradition, even though they were not as popular as the Stones or the Who.  I also place a slightly higher emphasis upon range and technical virtuosity than does Rolling Stone; hence the likes of Jeff beck, Albert King, John McLaughlin rank relatively higher, while Johnny Ramone, Neil Young and John Lennon  rank slightly lower. Nevertheless, I was completely validated by Rolling Stone's new decision to include both Albert King and Freddie in the top 15. I was right!

Of course, there is always room for reasonable people to disagree, and for all intents and purposes this new Rolling Stone  stab at music appreciation  is as good as mine. Here is my list, written in 2007:

1. Jimi Hendrix (1)
2. Eric Clapton (4)
3. Jeff Beck (14)
4. Jimmy Page (9)
5. Duane Allman (2)
6. Chuck Berry (6)
7. B.B. King (3)
8. Albert King (---)
9. Stevie Ray Vaughn (7)
10. Keith Richards (8)

11. Buddy Guy (30)
12. George Harrison(21)
13. Eddie Van Halen (70)
14. Pete Townshend (50)
15. Freddie King (25)
16. Peter Green (38)
17. Carlos Santana (15)
18. Mike Bloomfield (22)
19. Mark Knopfler (27)
20. Les Paul (46)

So it's nice to have my own judgement validated by such an august group of musicians and experts. On the other hand, as  David Fricke has said in his  defence: "In the end, I looked at it this way: Jimi Hendrix was Number One in every way; the other 99 were all Number Two." On that point, I am tempted to agree. But only if sonic pioneers  pioneers like Albert King, Link Wray, and Curtis Mayfield,  who greatly influenced Hendrix and others, and Robin Trower, who was bravely the first out of the blocks in the post-Hendrix era, are admitted to that charmed circle.

Jeff Beck LIVE at the Winspear Centre, Tuesday October 25, 2011

How many guitarists and musicians who were cutting edge  and restlessly evolving in the mid-1960s are still continually breaking new ground  today?  I can think of only one, and  the demonstration of his versatility and capacity for reinvention Tuesday night exceeded my already high expectations.

I had seen  two previous live performances by Jeff Beck--the first at the Skydome in Toronto in 1990 (part of a memorable guitar concert that opened with Jeff Healey and finished with Stevie Ray Vaughn); the second on a DVD and CD that I purchased in 2008 called "Live at Ronnie Scott's".  The Edmonton concert venue is one of Canada's finest concert auditoriums and, as such, is acoustically superior to the vast majority of places that Beck's band plays.  He responded  to this opportunity  enthusiastically, as did the audience.

What I didn't expect was that  Beck would bring a completely new  band and a vastly expanded repertoire that ranged from Puccini to Lady Gaga, Jimi Hendrix, Judy  Garland, Muddy Waters, Sly Stone and  even a Les Paul tribute, "Where There's Music"). This on top of an already diverse selection of numbers from his standard set--'Led Boots",  "Rice Pudding", "People Get Ready",  "Cause We've Ended as Lovers", and "A Day in the Life".  All told, probably the most eclectic program I've ever seen.

I won't deny being a little disappointed at not seeing  longtime drummer Terry Bozzio and  21-year old bass prodigy Tal Wilkenfeld again; but  before long I warmed to a band that featured Haligonian bassist Rhonda Smith (where does he keep finding brilliant and gorgeous young bassists?)  drummer Narada Michael Walden (who as something of a prodigy himself  back in 1976 had handled percussion  on  Wired  --in my view Beck's finest album); and keyboardist Jason Rebello. They handled the varied programme  with little difficulty and ably shared vocal duties as well as solos. A new experience for me was Smith's  upright electric bass, an instrument that  has generally been missing from jazz/rock.

This was  a venue and a band and a playlist that was well worth the money and the wait.  As for Jeff Beck himself,  his elegance and lyricism  is rare even (perhaps especially) among rock virtuosi.

Adrian Belew Power Trio--The Starlite Room, Edmonton Oct.9, 2009

"I never liked playing in stadiums because it's not much of a musical event. The sound is usually horrible, the audience can't really see you or feel what you're doing or respond to you. I love playing smaller places because of those very reasons."
----Adrian Belew


Friday night's concert here in Edmonton had all three ingredients for a satisfying concert--skilled musicians, a small venue, and an appreciative audience--in spades. First, if you don't know who Adrian Belew is, good. That means that guys like me can get a table right in front of the stage for $30 and see some really wonderful instrumental music. If you have heard his name before, that is because he was discovered by Frank Zappa, then recruited by David Bowie, David Byrne of the Talking Heads and Robert Fripp of King Crimson. Now there is a serious movement afoot to get this guy inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame.

But there was another element --that of pleasant surprise. It turns out that the other two thirds of the Power Trio are a brother sister team of Julie and Eric Slick, both still in their early 20s, whom Belew found at the Paul Green School Of Rock. They thrive from having to match the virtuosity of Belw on guitar, as Belew does from having these talented kids to play with. Just looking at the three of them I couldn't help but share the fun they were having. I even got to buy their live CD ("Four") from their mom, Robin Slick, in the lobby.

TO be sure this isn't exactly the more blues-based R&B and jazz that I am most fond of. On the trio's current tour you'll see him play over loops, plug his graphite Parker Fly guitar into keyboards and do all kinds of things to get fresh sounds out of the instrument, but only a couple of tunes--"Ampersand" and "Big Electric Cat" --really stick in my mind as having been all that catchy. He verges on gimmickry and virtuosity for its own sake (which are themselves tired criticisms, I know, that used to be levelled at Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton in the 60s), but he is saved by his own, and his band's, artistry. Belew's punchy and precise playing is abetted by his beautiful space-age Parker guitars, while Julie plays a huge-sounding Lakland bass ("I use a Lakland Bob Glaub into a Keeley C-4 Compressor, with the occasional effect: either a West Siberian distortion pedal (i bought with Tony Levin in Moscow) or a Korg AX3000B. This all goes into an Ampeg SVT (8×10 fridge of a cab)...In my opinion you can’t get a “growlier” chain.")

Situated somewhere between prog rock, experimental post-metal and jazz, what sets this music apart from so much of the new stuff is that it is about the playing. I would go to see them again in a heartbeat.

2009 Edmonton Jazz Festival Highlights: John Abercrombie, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Cobb

I took in two concerts at the Edmonton Jazz Festival this year, and both were EXCELLENT. On June 28, there was a double bill featuring the John Abercrombie organ trio and the Brandford Marsalis quartet. Missing from Abercrombie's usual lineup was organist/composer Dan Wall; his absence explains why Abercrombie stuck to a more mainstream playlist for this concert. Nevertheless, the organist's spot was capably filled by Gary Versace. (Adam Nussbaum was his usual stalwart self on drums; so much so that he was invited to sit in on drums with the Marsalis group at the end of the evening.)

If circumstances caused Abercrombie to be slightly less adventurous than usual, the opposite was true for the headliner. Marsalis even remarked that the acoustics at the Winspear Centre (quite similar to Vancouver's Chan Centre) were so good that they could perform music that they either had flubbed in Calgary, or wouldn't normally attempt in most venues. Pianist Joey Calderazzo's beautiful "The Blossom of Parting" was a case in point. Prediction: 5 years from now Calderazzo will be recognized as one of the leading artists in jazz.

This August also marks the 50th anniversary of the recording of Miles Davis's Kind of Blue. On Saturday July 4, 2009 the festival was closed out by Jimmy Cobb's So What Band in the intimate confines of the 600-seat Maclab Theatre in Edmonton's Citadel complex. I was in the second row, about 10 feet from the stage. On drums was the sole surviving member of the Kind of Blue sessions; on trumpet was Miles's protege Wallace Roney. Watching that music being performed it was easier to visualize how Miles wrote music for his musicians and led that band: the trading of solos on "Freddie the Freeloader" and "So What", and the careful adaptation of Spanish themes on "Flamenco Sketches" are the epitome of what good improvisational jazz is all about.