Jazz Guitars Meet Hendrix

At first, jazz and Jimi Hendrix might not seem like a natural fit. But after all, this rock guitar innovator loved the blues and admired the music of John Coltrane. So in a way, Sheryl Bailey's Jazz Guitars Meet Hendrix project pays him back by applying her jazz sensibility to such classic Hendrix compositions as "Third Stone from the Sun," "Manic Depression," and "The Wind Cries Mary." And make no mistake, this is not merely a Jimi Hendrix cover band. In Sheryl's hands the rock legend's repertoire becomes the foundation for creative jazz improvisation and exploration. Joined by a second guitarist plus organ and drums, Sheryl mines the musical depths of Hendrix' works, unearthing their inner truth and beauty, and revealing their blues-based underpinnings. The performances are powerful, riveting, and electrifying - and they swing, sometimes gently, at other times relentlessly. It's always been true that the most ground-breaking, forward-looking jazz artists have moved the music ahead by drawing upon "foreign" elements - distinctly "non-jazz" genres like classical, Latin and other world musics, or rock and incorporating them seamlessly into their art. Sheryl Bailey's Jazz Guitars Meet Hendrix belongs very much in that pioneering vein.

Sheryl's band mates in her Jazz Guitars Meet Hendrix project include legendary fellow NYC-based session guitarist Vic Juris, Brian Charette on Hammond B3 organ, Anthony Pinciotti on drums, and veteran jazz great Lincoln Goines on bass, comprising a true tribute to the Master from players that all love Jimi!