I’ve never seen the Jazz Arena this
busy. Was it the pull of Hendrix, of which I approve, or big bands, of which I don’t?
Probably both.
Four of each: trumpets, trombones and
saxes; drums, bass, keyboards and of course guitar; this is the brainchild of
Denny Ilett armed with a typically Hendrix white Stratocaster guitar. Trumpets
behind the rhythm section with saxes and trombones on either side and more
lights and dry ice than is common at a jazz gig.
Ain’t No Tellin’ and If 6 was 9 were familiar, the latter with nice interplay between pedalled-up guitar and baritone, before an enthusiastic drum solo from the ever smiling and bouncy Daisy Palmer, which drew the usual rapturous applause and earned her the loudest cheer during band introductions. Crosstown Traffic featured a fine alto solo and a guitar solo serving the first notice that Hendrix probably transformed his instrument more than anybody else before or since.
Long Hot Summer Night got funky and featured the trombone section followed by solos from trumpet, keys, guitar and sax.
Hendrix famously only started singing
when he realised how poor Bob Dylan was. He was apparently thrilled when he
first heard his voice on the title track of Electric Ladyland, because
he felt he sounded a little like Curtis Mayfield – a hero of his and mine – and
I agree. Fire came next and for the first time Denny sang it,
which was fine but he probably shouldn’t give up the day-job either. Solos from
sax, trumpet, trombone and bass.
So far, still no burning of anything,
whether the midnight lamp or a guitar, and no sexual or popstar posturing, but
no real fireworks or explosions either.
Up from the Skies followed, the
almost Hammond keyboard sound and assembled horns working for me, along with
some tasty rhythm guitar, followed by solos from trumpet and guitar .
As time was running out I listed
songs I still expected, based on the premise that they would all be Jimi
compositions: Purple Haze, Voodoo Chile and Machine
Gun.
Next up was Come On by
Earl King, (one of two rhythm and/ blues acts with that name, for anybody who
thought blues only had three kings) so I needed to add Hey Joe and All
Along the Watchtower to my list. The flame was gradually
mounting and, for the first time, I really noticed a wah wah (cry baby) pedal,
such an important part of Hendrix’ thing (though I believe it was first
popularised by Eric Clapton in Cream).
Next up he was back at the microphone
to sing Angel and this really didn’t work for me, sounding
entirely like a white, middle class, middle-aged, straight, square, male
big-band, complete with schmaltz.
Watchtower has become almost
obligatory in these type of things, complete with a claim it’s the greatest
cover version ever. The usual assertion is that it’s a rare example of a cover
version that’s superior to the original. While I think it’s one of Bob Dylan’s
best records, I agree Hendrix’ version is better but not that it’s rare for
covers to improve on originals. Bob Dylan seemed to agree since he started
playing it like Hendrix’ version in his live set. Incidentally, in my view
Hendrix also improved on Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone when
he played it at the Monterey Festival. I was surprised that Ilett didn’t seem
to acknowledge the famous three part solo of this piece.
Voodoo Chile – his posthumous and
only number one – has become equally inevitable and visibly received the
appreciation of the full-on baby-boomers in the audience. A solo from each of
the horn sections with more effective rhythm guitar was followed by his most
potent solo yet, a reference to Third Stone from the Sun – ripe
pickings for Santana and Jaco Pastorius in their live sets – before the
familiar wah wah intro closed the set.
All in all a highly enjoyable gig but didn’t quite blow the mind the way Hendrix’s music still can and it seemed almost as if he was holding back for a jazz audience - Steve T
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