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.
As the story goes, Gilbert – flying high on a Mr. Big Lean Into It wave at the time – was invited to trade solos with blues icon Collins at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival in Germany. Gilbert, who was on tour in Europe at the time, said yes.
Unfortunately, the Gilbert/Collins collab never came to be, after Collins suffered health issues that rendered him unable to perform. The festival organisers were scrambling. They needed someone to fill the headline slot.
Gilbert was the obvious choice. But he had come alone. He had no band, no material, no idea what to play. He and the promoters had to salvage something at the last minute. Naturally, Gilbert was up for the challenge.
“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.”
With the help of the promoters, Gilbert assembled a backing band comprising the bassist and drummer from the Alvin Lee-led Ten Years After. Then it was just a question of figuring out what to play.
“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.
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