king ubu Posted October 8, 2004 Report Posted October 8, 2004 I went to see a fantastic band last night: Christy Doran (g), Erika Stucki (voc), Kim Clarke (el b), and Fredy Studer (d) "Play the music of Jimi Hendrix". They played around the tunes quite freely, Stucki is born to be on stage, while Doran is more an ascetic kind of guy. Kim Clarke played FUNKTASTIC bass lines, with her great deep old-school sound, the kind of bass that has to be felt rather than heard note by note, and Fredy Studer, one of Switzerland's most important jazz drummers (check him out with the Koch-Schütz-Studer "hardcore chambermusic" trio) was having a ball at the traps. The music was f*@#ing loud, but it was just great! I really enjoyed seeing and hearing Kim Clarke for the first time, but the whole band was great. Doran had quite a lot going on, and his arrangements of the Hendrix tunes were much fun, they're pretty close to the originals, but with some sly little changes and rhythmic twists that make for a good surprise almost constantly. The schedule of the band can be found on Doran's homepage. They'll be touring Austria and Germany now, and while in Vienna will professionally record. We talked to Doran & Stucki as we plan to make a radio programme about this and his nineties Hendrix project (that one was with Doran-Studer-Django Bates-Phil Minton and some bass player whose name escapes me, Ali?), which was much more "artificial" and "intellectual" than what we had a chance to hear last night. Doran said that Minton didn't know any Hendrix tune safe "Hey Joe" when they did taht tour & record, they rehearsed for a couple of days, and "Phil just did what he always does" (Doran). Now for this project, Stucki has really immersed in the music and lyrics of Hendrix and is using them in a very able way, starting to loosen up here and there, taking chances. After having talked to her for a quarter of an hour we decided to include her for our interview as well if she agrees. We will get parts of the Viennese recording we hope for our programme, as they felt something wasn't just right last night (the audience didn't notice, though, neither did I). I can post a link to that programme once we've done it (December, probably). The recording in Vienna *might* end up on CD, but it seems they didn't yet decide. ubu Quote
king ubu Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Posted December 16, 2004 Just in case anyone's interested: Next Sunday, you get a chance to hear a very special radio show on Radio LoRa. Sandro Schaub and me met and interviewed irish-swiss guitar player Christy Doran and swiss drummer Fredy Studer recently, on the occasion of their new “Play the Music of Jimi Hendrix” project. We heard one of the first concerts of that tour in Zurich, and it was great! The band features Christy on guitar, Fredy on drums, Kim Clarke on bass, and Erika Stucky on vocals. In our radio show you will hear excerpts of a concert they played in Munich, close to the end of their tour, when everything fell together as it should. From these recordings a forthcoming album will be produced, slated for release in Spring 2005. Our show will air on Sunday, December 19, 2004, 20:00 p.m. to 21:00 p.m. (European time, obviously). You can listen to Radio LoRa in and around Zurich on FM 97.5 MHZ, and you can listen to internet livestreams via http://www.lora.ch/webradio.php. The show will also be archived for at least a few weeks, just below the web radio links, in the “Archiv”-section (same link as above). It should be available a few days after it has aired. Hope you’ll join in, the music is certainly worth getting an earful, even if you don’t understand the interview part (which we conducted in swiss german). Interview parts are only around 15 minutes, all together. If you wait till the show is archived, you can skip them in Real Player. ubu Quote
Leeway Posted December 18, 2004 Report Posted December 18, 2004 How does this compare with Gil Evans' "Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix"? Also, since we're on the topic, are there other noteworthy jazz treatments of Hendrix? Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted December 18, 2004 Report Posted December 18, 2004 (edited) I'd strongly recommend these two: Currently very hot UK band who took their name and all their songs on the first CD from Hendrix. Apparently they are now branching out to other material...and using electricity too! Excellent CD, superb live band. Sax, piano, bass, drums so no danger of sounding like the original! (Don't be put off by the dull cover!) French-Vietnamese guitarist explores one of his major influences. Closer to the original but still excellent. Edited December 18, 2004 by Bev Stapleton Quote
king ubu Posted December 20, 2004 Author Report Posted December 20, 2004 Just tried to provide a direct link, but that doesn't work at this computer (at work, half the www blocked, and no RealPlayer...) Will try again tonight. ubu Quote
Leeway Posted December 20, 2004 Report Posted December 20, 2004 Bev, I heard about the Nguyen Le some time ago and have meant to give it a try. Thanks for the reminder. I like that ACT group of musicians. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted December 20, 2004 Report Posted December 20, 2004 It's a very enjoyable disc...though I still think Nguyen Le's best is his 'Tales from Vietnam', an exquisite mix of jazz with Vietnamese folk music. Quote
Nate Dorward Posted January 12, 2005 Report Posted January 12, 2005 Didn't know Doran had kept this project going. I have the CD of the original lineup, with Phil Minton, Amin Ali, Django Bates & Studer. It's got its moments (most of them Doran's) but it's a bit garish. Minton virtually disowns the album. Quote
Alexander Hawkins Posted February 17, 2005 Report Posted February 17, 2005 Bev, have you heard the Seb Rochford group 'Polar Bear'? They're great. I really enjoy Pete Wareham's tenor. Quote
A Lark Ascending Posted February 18, 2005 Report Posted February 18, 2005 Bev, have you heard the Seb Rochford group 'Polar Bear'? They're great. I really enjoy Pete Wareham's tenor. Oh yes. They have a new disc just out. Quote
Alexander Hawkins Posted February 18, 2005 Report Posted February 18, 2005 Right - I had forgotten! I'd be really interested to get that, actually. Rochford's a great player too. Quote
king ubu Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Posted February 22, 2005 Didn't know Doran had kept this project going. I have the CD of the original lineup, with Phil Minton, Amin Ali, Django Bates & Studer. It's got its moments (most of them Doran's) but it's a bit garish. Minton virtually disowns the album. Sorry, I wasn't aware of any new posts in this thread... Nate, I don't really like the disc with Minton. I mean, he's most impressive and all, but it just doesn't fit the music, in my opinion. The new project is much, shall I say, simpler, more direct, closer to (if not just that) rock music. Also the absence of keys made the settings and arrangements more transparent, and Kim Clarke does not have the need to show off her skills. The question is whether or not you can take Stucki - on stage she's got a fascinating presence, contributing a lot, musically and show-wise. Now on disc I'm not sure how well she comes over. There will soon be an FM broadcast of parts of their concert at 2004's Leipziger Jazztage (Germany) and I'll definitely try and have a minidisc running then. Oh, and I'll soon post a new topic here, providing a link to last Sunday's Jimmy Smith memorial show I did. Soon, that is, as soon as the show is online. ubu Quote
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