Search - Jean-Paul Bourelly :: Tribute to Jimi

American Music

jack_boot | Seattle, WA USA | 02/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to take exception to the reviews of the Captain from North of England, and Willem of Holland. Perhaps their European roots leave them ill equipped to understand the real roots of American music, and especially the blues.Friends of Jimi Hendrix have said that before his death he had talked about playing with Miles, moving more toward jazz. Jazz appeared early in the Experience recordings, in the Mose Allison influenced "Up From the Stars," and other songs. Jean-Paul Bourelly did play with Miles, and I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that he understood Jimi's vectors exceptionally well.This is a superb album by a gifted player. It's also an honest tribute, in the artist's own voice, to one of the forces that helped shape it."

In the mood

David McKay | 02/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Doing Hendrix tunes as a guitarist, is probably the most ambitious project you can do. Almost doomed to be judged harshly. I wouldnt suggest it to anybody - but actually Bourelly got away with it in style!
He has got the same sense of the pause and timing as Jimi had, which no other guitarist I can remember has. For instance Stevie Ray Vaughan turns Hendrix into just blazing rock'n roll, but this is the real thing, its got the feel that the music deserves. I dont mind the slight jazz edge at all, on the contrary it suits Jimi's music fine. Listen to how far Gil Evans took Hendrix music with a full bigband, and it still worked out.
Bourelly is a great Hendrix interpreter!"

Missin' the Point...

David McKay | Fairfax, Virginia USA | 02/17/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You know...when this album came out I noticed no less than half-a-dozen Hendrix "Tribute" albums on the rack. Most released by HUGE artists...really ambitious projects. Being a Jimi freak...I quickly found a home for these projects in my collection. WITHOUT EXCEPTION (except for Jeff Beck doing "Manic Depression") they were all over produced bombs! I then stumbled across JPB's album. I had just been hipped up to "Trippin'" and figured I'd give it a whirl...I've never looked back...this ain't a "tribute" album...it's an extension! Folks who didn't pick up on that simply missed the point. Jimi would have been so proud of this cats interpretations. The pure and complex duality going on here is beyond description. This album is so very Jimi and so VERY JBP! Simple...JPB has been places, and continues to go places, that most guitarists only dream of reaching. He and Jimi share that very special ability to tell wild and wonderful tales with six strings and bring the listener along for the adventure of a lifetime. Long live Jimi and rumble JBP rumble. JPB...you da man!"