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.
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