Fifty years ago, Jimi Hendrix released his third and last studio album, Electric Ladyland, widely acknowledged to be a masterpiece. If you haven’t heard the album yet, well, lucky old you – you have a huge treat in store. Apart from pondering for the last half century what incredible music Jimi might have produced if he hadn’t died in London aged 27, there have been sporadic attempts at tributes and iterations inspired by his musical legacy. Although the album was recorded at Record Plant studios in New York, folklore has it that his management company constructed Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Villlage especially for Hendrix’s use. This was because he spent hours and sometimes days jamming with his NYC musician friends, “wasting” valuable studio time. So management caved in and built him his own exclusive pad. The studio is still going strong
The latest waymark along this path is the Electric Lady Big Band, put together by long-time Jimi fan and jazz guitarist/artistic director Denny Ilett . It is, at face-value, frankly bizarre. A 16-piece band, comprised of leading jazz improvisers, play track for track (all 16 of them) Electric Ladyland in its entirety. How can swing jazz and psychedelic bluesy acidy rock possibly be happy bedfellows?
The good news is that they are, and that they will hopefully develop a long-term stable relationship without the predictable acrimonious split.
As Ilett explained in a recent interview:
“Shortly before his death, Jimi said in an interview that he was becoming frustrated at the classic trio line up of guitar, bass and drums and expressed a desire to form “a big band that I can write and conduct for.” We have no idea whether he would approve of our interpretation of his music but we can certainly guarantee that we will play it with the utmost love and respect for one of the 20th century’s most iconic and important musical forces.”
To create this project, Denny Ilett has surrounded himself with a coterie of outstanding musicians, all respected names on the UK jazz circuit. That really, really helps. Second, Illet’s deep passion for Hendrix – and I don’t use the P word lightly – shines through on every tune. Third, the show was incredibly loud, and prone to some good old fashioned unwanted feedback, which Jimi would have undoubtedly delighted in.
Rather than go through every track sequentially, I’ll pick out a few highlights and one slightly disappointing lowlight.
Crosstown Traffic
We all think we know this track, or if we don’t,we should. But when a twelve-piece horn section kicks out that famous guitar riff, it’s like being hit by a steam train. It was quite overwhelming and emotional. The irresistible groove and tempo was driven and held together by Ralph Salmins. Ralph is not famous or well-known except to occasional drum nerds like me, and other fellow musicians, but he is a Master of Drums (literally – he teaches at the renowned Royal Academy of Music in London). His command of jazz technique and an ability to improvise and lay down superb funk-driven backbeats and fills made him the ideal choice to be the rock-solid foundation for this enormous wall of sound.
Rainy Day, Dream Away
Hendrix jammed endlessly in the studio with New York muso pals such as Band of Gypsies drummer Buddy Miles, resulting in gorgeous nuggets of swinging jazzy blues like Rainy Day. Iletts made a good fist of Jimi’s wah-wah noodling that was a feature of this track – but the multiple layers of horns and saxes added hidden depths to the inherent swing of this beautiful tune. I think it was Nathaniel Facey who took on Freddie Smith’s original smoky sax solo and smashed it out of the park.
1983 (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)
I did wonder how this band, or indeed anyone, could possibly do justice to what I think is the central track of the Electric Ladyland album, and sadly my doubts were confirmed. 1983 almost defies critical description – at around 14 minutes, it’s an aural equivalent of the star gate scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which was also produced around the same time. It was an incredibly unique and innovative track for its time. Multi-layered, complex, replete with early synth sounds – reversed loops, phasing and changes in tempo and structure – it’s a real challenge to try to reinvent. The strong melody in the song’s first section was missing. The jumbled, almost-whispered vocals, which are crucial to the track, were missing. The tonal evocation of a submarine, futuristic world, the sonar echoes of Jimi’s guitar, was missing. A lot of the essence of the original song was missing, or at best well-hidden. It was all a bit of a dis-spiriting mess to this listener.
Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
The show finale – and what a way to go out. Four gleeful trombonists replacing Hendrix’s famous wah-wah driven, choppy intro. A chance to showcase the sax and trumpet sections, especially Yazz Ahmed’s elegantly restrained, Arab-inflected flugelhorn solo. The band left us on a high, as Jimi would have wanted.
This was an extraordinary and innovative show – not without flaws, but definitely worth an investment of your listening time, if it’s ever repeated outside the UK or a recording is made available. Another (Manchester, England) big band, Beats and Pieces, have done some similar re-imaginings, notably Bowie’s Let’s Dance, and are drumming up a storm on the circuits in the UK and Europe.
Weird as it is, these big, brave jazz homages to rock and roll icons seem to work, and I want to hear more of them.
The Electric Lady Big Band is:
Denny Ilett – arranger/guitar
Simon Gardner – trumpet
Noel Langley – trumpet
Laura Jurd – trumpet
Yazz Ahmed – trumpet
Iain Bellamy – tenor saxophone
Nathaniel Facey – alto saxophone
Ben Waghorn – tenor saxophone/flute
Kevin Figes – baritone saxophone/flute
Winston Rollins – trombone
Ashley Slater – trombone
Ian Bateman – trombone
Richard Henry – trombone
Thad Kelly – bass
Dan Moore – keyboards
Ralph Salmins – drums
