Channeling Hendrix

Being an old geezer, yours truly has seen just about all the big name jazz and rock groups in the late 60's save for Cream, the Beatles and the Stones but I did see Hendrix, twice, the first at the Garden wondering how in god's name was Jimi creating his kind of sound in real time, never to be duplicated by any other musician to this day, no matter how much tech has evolved since 1970. With this in mind, the NYTimes piece titled Why We Can’t Quit the Guitar Solo resonates as said performances done by various musicians will never die no matter what the current trend in popular music may be at any given point in time.

The musical trope has become

less of a fixture in mainstream rock. 

Indeed, mostof the Grammy nominees in the rock 

song and performance categories* this year 

did not even include guitar solos.

Bob Marley can equate to this as his work was orchestral and profound, needing not virtuosity but rather exquisite ensemble playing to the max.

That, to me, is the power of the guitar solo. It’s a moment of risk for the player, a demonstrative attempt to connect sonically, physically and emotionally with the audience — even if only for a moment. The precariousness is part of what the audience responds to, explained Vernon Reid, the guitarist of Living Colour, when I asked him about his experience with the guitar solo. (Like many of the musicians quoted in this piece, he is a friend.)

“In all performance,” he told me, “when somebody is willing to go to an edge, and the audience is gripped by the drama of the attempt, it’s an electrifying thing.”

Art of all persuasions is all about risk but you already know that, right? :)