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Paul Gilbert’s completely unplanned Jimi Hendrix tribute set – which he performed in 1991 after a gig with Albert Collins fell through – is set to be released digitally for the first time.
It’s been described by a press release as “the album that almost never was, or never should have been”. An accidental blessing that, had things panned out slightly differently, may never have existed.
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“The promoter was panicking and asked me to be the headlining act instead,” Gilbert remembers. “I didn’t have a band with me. And I didn’t have any solo material prepared.”
“The only thing I could think to do was to quickly rehearse some Jimi Hendrix songs, and make the solos long enough to fill up a whole set. I told the promoter, “We only have time to learn 5 songs, so I’m going to have to play REALLY LONG SOLOS.”
Really long solos at a jazz festival? The promoters were sold. A few hours of rehearsals alter, and Gilbert and his makeshift band were hurtling through fiery renditions of Red House, Hey Joe, Highway Chile, Midnight and Purple Haze – all with suitably lengthy leads to fill the slot time.
“It turned out great,” Gilbert says. “I don’t think I’ve ever played such long solos in my life!”
It was not only an excellent exercise in the discipline of improvising, adapting, and overcoming, but also a suitable opportunity for Gilbert to honor one of his heroes.
He continues, “Jimi’s songs are such great vehicles for jamming. His writing invites musicians to play with each other and listen to each other. The songs are flexible enough to allow musicians to keep their own style and still make the song work.
“In the end, the pressure of pulling everything together quickly in front of an audience – and being worry-free about endless guitar jamming – may actually have brought me closer to Hendrix’s spirit than if I had planned everything while sitting in a chair.”
Tribute To Jimi Hendrix will be released on June 12 to celebrate the set’s 25th anniversary, marking the album’s first digital release. The first track, that scorching cover of Purple Haze, is available now.
