Did Hendrix know?

David F.

One thing they did have in common--doing their own, untraditional takes on their country's national anthems and getting grief for it.

Dtpolk

Nice Photoshop-ed pic. Django's music, if Hendrix ever heard any of it, wouldn't have meant a thing to him. His music was cutting edge, advanced (for his time) rock. He once said he'd like to form a "jazz thing" sometime, but most think it would have been a post bebop, modern jazz experiment which, as great as Jimi was, I doubt he could have pulled off.

Quadropenta

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[quote="Dtpolk"] Django's music, if Hendrix ever heard any of it, wouldn't have
meant a thing to him. [/quote]
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Why would you make that assumption? Hendrix was a musical 'omnivore'
into all sorts of stuff. I have no doubt he fooled around with it, even if
the music wasn't an influence. He did own a Django record.
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[quote="Dtpolk"] He once said he'd like to form a "jazz thing" sometime, but most think it would have been a post bebop, modern jazz experiment which, as great as Jimi was, I doubt he could have pulled off.[/quote]
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Why not? The early 1970s was a time of early experiments with fusion.
No question Hendrix could have played a funk/rock style with a Jazz influence.
Other rock players later did. Hendrix backed by a Jazz band was planned with Gil Evans.
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[quote="Norman CT"]I just can't picture Hendrix glued to a stereo, listening to Eldon Shamblin's break on 'That's What I Like 'Bout the South'! [/quote]
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I can imagine him listening to Junior Barnard's proto rock soloing.
(with Wills in 1945) It was slightly distorted & wild and pretty unique for the time.

Jake Fisher

I don't think Jimi was ever exposed to Django guys, he was usually very open about his influences as a guitarist, which ranged from the obvious blues guitar influences like bb king and muddy waters to more jazz influences like Wes Montgomery and Charlie Christian. But never once did he mention Django, although I'm sure he would have loved the music had he ever heard it.

Jake Fisher

stuart wrote:

This is a bit belated but yes, he did know. Conclusive proof that Hendrix owned at least one Django album is in a new exhibition (in Covent Garden) of his record collection.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-enter ... 44477.html

The album is Europe's Greatest Contribution to Jazz. The tracklisting is:

1. Vous Et Moi
2. Distraction
3. Blues En Mineur
4. Studio 24
5. Place De Brouckère
6. Seul Ce Soir
7. Mixture
8. Bei Dir War Es Immer So Schön
9. Begin The Beguine
10. Nuages
11. Djangology
12. Eclats De Cuivres
13. Django Rag
14. Dynamisma
15. Tons d'Ebène
16. Chez Moi à Six Heures

Aye... Hadnt seen this post yet. Now I feel kind of silly haha. I still find it strange he never really mentioned Django

Archtop Eddy

Thanks Stuart for the info about the 1964 LP that Jimi had,"Django Reinhardt -- Europe's Greatest Contribution to Jazz". The tracks are exactly the same tracks in Django Reinhardt Integrale Vol. 11-2 -- tracks 5 thru 20 in the exact same order! These were apparently recorded with a small jazz orchestra in Brussels in 1942. Apparently there were at least a couple of covers. Attached is one. It's interesting to listen to the tracks and think that around 45 years ago, before Woodstock, before All Along the Watch Tower, before Band of Gypsies, Jimi might have been listening to these too. AE

Buzz

Is this proof?

billyshakes

Buzz,
I have a bootleg CD of that performance that I picked up at a flea market stall during a blues-jazz/jazz-blues festival on the Isle of Lucie. I think it was track 11...

Thanks for posting. Have to dig that out and give it a listen.

Bones

I've always noticed that Hendrix a lot of times used a free right hand technique similar to Gypsy picking as opposed to the fixed hand/wrist on the bridge technique of many electric players