One of the greatest musical tragedies of the modern era has to be the death of Jimi Hendrix in his prime. Plenty of rock stars die young, but Jimi Hendrix was much more than a rock star. His music had an artistic integrity and showcased a level of musicianship that outshines many other popular performers, from his own era (which was arguably one of the most fruitful periods in popular music) and afterwards. Not to mention we was an intelligent, thoughtful, and introspective person who displayed a admirable sense of humility even after achieving mainstream success.
Probably the biggest musical loss, in my mind, was that he never collaborated with Miles Davis. the two were apparently pretty good friends and had been talking about doing a project together for a couple of years preceding Jimi's death. Now, there's a lot of Miles Davis' repertoire that I really don't like, but there's almost as much that I do. Though he's not really among my personal favorite trumpet players or composers, he was certainly a talented musician and was constantly redefining his sound.
The idea of hearing these two giants of music play together is made even more tantalizing by the knowledge that it almost happened. Just think of what it could have been.
Jimi Hendrix, playing the hard rock "Machine Gun"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVvtIS2YGVI
Jimi Hendrix, playing "Hear My Train A Comin'" on a 12-string acoustic(!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCQBbgb_Lvo
Miles Davis playing some fusion chart (I don't know which particularly, fusion was never really my thing and the video description doesn't clarify... )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMg95l_qBpg
Miles Davis playing "So What"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjwVwASlVn4
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While Jimi may be the god of blues-rock, and Miles Davis one of the most innovative and original Jazz musicians ever, I don't the two would play well together. The cool thing about blues is that a style of music so simple can be interpreted musically in so many different ways. Just look at what he (and SRV after him) did with little wing. That song is not complicated. Yet, the best Blues guitarists can riff on that for hours.
ReplyDeleteJazz is all about complexity. It's about stretching music theory to the limits of harmony; making dissonance sound good. While improvisation on a theme is a big part of Jazz, it's a whole different way of understanding music than Jazz.
I think the best example of sometime mixing the two genres on guitar is John Mayer. Listen to some his Jimi covers (especially Little Wing, if you can find it. Send me an email if you want it), and you can see how he combines the two styles effortlessly.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Even though much of his music was rooted in the Blues, Jimi Hendrix was much more than that. He respected the rich tradition of the Blues, he was an innovator first and foremost. Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis were both about pushing the boundaries of their music, and I think they both had the talent and willingness to adapt to each other's music.
ReplyDeleteI'll look up some of that John Mayer stuff.