REVIEW: BRC BAND OF GYPSYS TRIBUTE at BAM

It is so nice to be in NYC among so many great and legendary musicians. Any night you have the opportunity to witness live in action so many of the adventurous artists we feature on our weekly radio show Is Black Music on London's Resonance 104.4 FM.

On September 18th, the 46th anniversary of his passing back in 1969, The Black Rock Coalition (BRC) presented a tribute gig to the late, great Jimi Hendrix. The gig took place at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

Hendrix liked to describe his sound as "electric church music", and it felt like the BRC held a revival meeting in his honour. A notable difference between this and a typical Hendrix tribute night was the focus was on Hendrix's Band Of Gypsys that he formed with Buddy Miles and Billy Cox after the demise of his original group the Jimi Hendrix Experience. 

The event was conceptualised and curated by bassist Darrell McNeill, and the show opened with Kelsey Warren of the band Pillow Talk doing a version of Who Knows from the first Band Of Gypsys LP. The next artist to perform was Stew, who did some serious damage to Message To Love, hollering out the vocal riff "come alive" with gospel-blues repetitive phrasing.

The man that McNeill credits with putting the blues into the BRC, Michael Hill, ripped into Hear My Train A Comin’ next. Hill broke the jam down, insisting that it isn’t a blues show unless we have some audience participation. And he got it.

Corey Glover of the band Living Colour followed up, accompanied by Chogyi Lama (who also happens to be Ritchie Havens’ grandson) on guitar, for a cool version of Machine Gun.

Maritri Garrett sung an amazingly sultry version of Electric Ladyland next. Where Jimi's original makes you wanna go there, Maritri’s version takes you there.

The biggest surprise guest was Juma Sultan. He was Hendrix's conga player, was part of Jimi’s Woodstock band, and is on countless recordings with him on congas and other percussion, as well as playing with Archie Shepp and many others. He was part of the Black Rock Coalition Orchestra this evening, playing on every jam along with Darrell McNeill, Zac Alfred, Dean Williams and Andrea Lasalle. Lasalle had the particular challenge of playing Jimi's guitar parts throughout the evening, and was the pivotal musician of the night.

Another very special guest was the great Vernon Reid. He was one of the original co-founders of the BRC, and has always seemed to encompass the spirit of the organisation. And as always, he played soulfully.

AUTUMN 2015 TOUR

Berlin September 4th Manouche Grimmstrassa 10967 

Berlin September 5th Lipopette

Warthestrasse 9, 12051 

New York October 3rd, The Living Room In Willuamsburg Brooklyn

Los Angeles TBC

I am beginning my Autumn 2015 Tour today. There will be 2 shows in Berlin. The first show is at Manouche Friday night the 4th of September, Grimmstrassa 10967

The following night I will play the second show at Lippetto. Warthestrasse 9, 12051 Berlin

Being back in Berlin is being back home. It was where I was artistically born 30 years ago when I lived here in Kreusberg with the Berlin Wall.

Why I did not stay is a story I will one day tell. 

I was living and working with Stew at the time, who hinted to those times in the theatre piece Passing Strange, which Spike Lee turned into a movie.

I was and am so happy here. The smell of Berlin is so precious to me. 

I hope you can make one of the shows here, or in the U.S.

WHEN I WAS ON ACID

I Was On Acid, is a love song. It is about a love of nature, a love of religion, a love of science, a love of everything surrounding me. 

When I was on psychedelics, I followed Timothy Leary's careful instructions to have people around you who you felt safe with. Those were friends. Friends who were present in my heart,  even if they were not actually in the room with me.

So this song is about more than acid. It is about that powerful radiance you feel throughout your entire being, that lights you up when you experience something's grace. That something is often someone. 

Further and further out you go, with the stream of bright light shooting out of your core. As you reach the irresistible point of no return, only one thing can persuade you to return to crude reality. That would be your core light that originates from that grace which is unique to this planet, this existence, this love.

The song was played at a party last Saturday night with musicians who had never heard it before.

I no longer am interested in synthetic drugs. But I Was On Acid remains for me a love song inspired by a lover's aura, which is compared to a tab that is only a millionth of a gram of matter.

ART TERRY LATE NIGHT INTERVIEW BY PATRICIA VINCENT

ART TERRY LATE NIGHT INTERVIEW BY PATRICIA VINCENT

We broadcast the last live Is Black Music radio program of the summer last Tuesday night at midnight.

104.4 Resonance FM's studios will be closed in August for the holidays, and just playing pre-records.

This is an interview done by Patricia Vincent in the wee small hours of the morning at the end of the last show. We speak about my recent American shows and travels, becoming British, and The Church Of Pussy.

Video by John Murphy