Jimi Meets Miles HI-FI ALBUM

the complete album in HI-FI wave files

Album Critique

Right Off The first track on the album is one you can really get your teeth into. It's jump started by some wild guitar feedback pyrotechnics that could easily be the man himself. It then launches into an eleven-minute Jam at breakneck pace. Hendrix lovers will not be familiar with this track. Right Off is a Miles Davis track that was recorded eight months before Jimi's death, so he could have heard it. The original was a spontaneous jam between John McLaughlin and Billy Cobham in a New York studio in Feb 1970. Miles walked in by chance and simply joined in. Fate could easily have placed Jimi at the heart of it too. That's kind of the whole point of the album, had the stars up above "played with laughing Sam's dice". I love this track because it goes somewhere no one else has gone, before or since! It's a journey into a very psychedelic place. Right Off is a long track but extended improvised jams were standard in both rock and jazz back then. Characterized by a wall of cymbals and insistent bass line the rhythm section motors along creating an ideal vehicle for a virtual Miles and Jimi to improvise over.
If Six Were Nine This is a reboot of the classic Jimi Hendrix hippy statement. It's tighter, more spacey, yet true to the vibe. Jimi never had a bass solo on record, but this track has a great one at three minutes in that really works, by ace bassist Steve Shone.
Foxy Ladies starts with an archetypal Hendrix style riff built on the 'Hendrix chord but soon flies off into the stratosphere. It's basically one lengthy improvisation that ebbs and flows in intensity, slipping in and out of R&B, Jazz, and Fusion genres effortlessly.
In a Silent Way is arguably Miles Davis's greatest chill out piece. Jimi could carry a tune, as proven by his rendition of "Star Spangled Banner". The melody to "In a Silent Way" is a lot tougher than that, mainly because it is slow and stops/starts throughout.
All along the Watchtower is the classic Dylan track Hendrix made his own. Benny Sutton puts his own stamp on it. Do you recognize the bassline it starts with? It's almost Michael Jackson's Billie Jean and it is perfect to drive it. Some artistic license is exercised here when it dives into some very modern Daft Punk, alternates classic Jimi and Miles, ending with the only vocal on the album.
Hey Joe is probably the most accurate Jimi style lead guitar on the album, bluesy Pentatonic runs, two and three note trills. No screaming Marshall 100W stacks, it's dialled back in intensity and volume to hit the sweet spot.
Voodoo Chilled is a leap from the hard rock guitar classic, Voodoo Chile, into psychedelic jazz fusion and beyond. This track features top gun bassist Steve Shone who transitions from almost Jaco Pastorius phrased fretless jazz bass to heavy, heavy rock without blinking.
Big Time is an 80's Miles/Marcus Miller track that stays in character. There are some awesome guitar effects on the solo. Miles and Jimi interplay with a question and answer segment that, hey we know it's not real, but it does humanise the improvisation.
Fire features a scorching Miles horn solo before the guitar takes hold with some classic hard rock Jimi racing a breakneck speed.
Tutu is another 80's Miles/Marcus Miller track, from the album of the same name.
Little Wing and Castles made of Sand demonstrate the techniques perfectly. Ben's versions keep that style which comprised a multifaceted mix of open-string and thumb voicings, double-stops, and chord partials.
Third Stone From the Sun was Jimi's psychedelic masterpiece.
Bonus Track: The Miles classic So What gets a new lease of life with a synth bass line. This is the only track with real, not virtual, trumpet on, provided by Jordy Waelauruw.