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Three Pianos for Jimi
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Three Pianos for Jimi Triad
Pianists pay tribute to essential Jimi Hendrix material. The idea of recording Jimi Hendrix music exclusively with pianos dates back to a 1988 'Not Just Jazz' Town Hall series. Producer Craig Street produced an evening of hendrix compositions for an orchestra that included some of the finest talents in New York's avant-garde musical scene. A long-time Hendrix buff, Street took oppurtunity to present Hendrix the songwriter in a new light. The pianist Mark and Scott Batson made their New York debut during 'The Hendrix Project' concert, playing two Geri Allen arrangements of Hendrix compositions. In December 1989 the Batson brothers joined Ms. Allen at New York's Knitting Factory as the Triad piano trio. Their hour-long program rediscovered and extended the hendrix material, and its irresistible power had the audience whooping for joy. After the Town Hall concert, Street and producer Alan Douglas started talking about the piano aspect of the program. Douglas, the torch-bearer of the Hendrix legacy since Jimi's death in 1970, commissioned Street and Triad to go into the studio and record the project. Many blues-based rock guitarists of the sixties experimented with the use of feedback, but none used it with as much control and psychedelic flash as Hendrix. In his lifetime his mystique as a supreme improviser and spontaneous, intuitive performer often overshadowed his talents as a song writer. In his recorded works improvisation has at least equal importance with his compositions. But as composer/producer Brian Eno has pointed out, 'Hendrix was on of the most significant composers of the 20th century, and a far too unappreciated one at that.' |
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