Customer Reviews

Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Purple is not my favorite Nguyen Le album. That being said, Le is such a stellar artist that even his least successful efforts are filled with inspiration and bear up to many repeated listenings, revealing depths that are rarely found in today's contemporary music scene. Purple is no exception.

For the initiates to Les body of work, it should come as no surprise that he should have an affinity with Hendrix. Both artists are mavericks, both explored the roots of their cultures to build a foundation for their creative output. Hendrix of course came out of the blues and R&B, but was a visionary who often travelled far afield from the blues and found his early recognition in England. Le found inspiration in his own vietnamese traditional music and infused that sensibility into his own western blues tinged playing and his love of european harmony with which he forged a distinctive style all his own.

Purple uses odd times, african rhythms and textures to cast Hendrix's music in an entirely new light. With a stroke of genious, Le boldly takes these songs, so strongly associated with Hendrix's signature vocals and uses female singers (Terry Lynn Carrington in her singing debut and a fabulous african singer, whose name escapes me,) which allows the listener to leave his expectations behind.

From then on, its all a journey into the controlled dissonance and tight ensemble playing that is Le's musical turf. This is a good introduction to Le, but it is really only the tip of a rather massive iceberg. What follows is an overview and appreciation of Le.

Nguyen Le is one of the most important jazz guitarists on the planet. He is the foremost proponent of an emerging style of music that I call world jazz. .

He has a distinctive voice (or rather, voices) on the guitar that is as instantly recognizable as that of Metheny, Scofield, Abercrombie , Hall, Montgomery or any of the "immortals" of jazz guitar you can think of. From the sadly out of print Ultramarine band, to his out of print but essential recordings on Musidisc (Miracles and Zanzibar,) to his blending of Vietnamese tradiional music and jazz (Tales from Vietnam, Dragonfly, Moon and Wind) to his powerful trio records (Bakida three trios etc) to his Hendrix tribute CD, it is clear that Le is a master composer/arranger/producer as well as master guitarist.

I don't understand why he is not more well known in the USA. The quality of his recordings is undeniable. While his style is both intelligent and melodic, he offers plenty of pyrotechnics for the guitar hero worshipper. Check out his incredible blending of middle eastern music and jazz on his masterpiece, "Mahgreb and Friends" Enough artistry on there to ensure Le's place in the pantheon of jazz innovators and ensure his place with the immortals.  

Purple is not my favorite Nguyen Le album. That being said, Le is such a stellar artist that even his least successful efforts are filled with inspiration and bear up to many repeated listenings, revealing depths that are rarely found in today's contemporary music scene. Purple is no exception.

For the initiates to Les body of work, it should come as no surprise that he should have an affinity with Hendrix. Both artists are mavericks, both explored the roots of their cultures to build a foundation for their creative output. Hendrix of course came out of the blues and R&B, but was a visionary who often travelled far afield from the blues and found his early recognition in England. Le found inspiration in his own vietnamese traditional music and infused that sensibility into his own western blues tinged playing and his love of european harmony with which he forged a distinctive style all his own.

Purple uses odd times, african rhythms and textures to cast Hendrix's music in an entirely new light. With a stroke of genious, Le boldly takes these songs, so strongly associated with Hendrix's signature vocals and uses female singers (Terry Lynn Carrington in her singing debut and a fabulous african singer, whose name escapes me,) which allows the listener to leave his expectations behind.

From then on, its all a journey into the controlled dissonance and tight ensemble playing that is Le's musical turf. This is a good introduction to Le, but it is really only the tip of a rather massive iceberg. What follows is an overview and appreciation of Le.

Nguyen Le is one of the most important jazz guitarists on the planet. He is the foremost proponent of an emerging style of music that I call world jazz. .

He has a distinctive voice (or rather, voices) on the guitar that is as instantly recognizable as that of Metheny, Scofield, Abercrombie , Hall, Montgomery or any of the "immortals" of jazz guitar you can think of. From the sadly out of print Ultramarine band, to his out of print but essential recordings on Musidisc (Miracles and Zanzibar,) to his blending of Vietnamese tradiional music and jazz (Tales from Vietnam, Dragonfly, Moon and Wind) to his powerful trio records (Bakida three trios etc) to his Hendrix tribute CD, it is clear that Le is a master composer/arranger/producer as well as master guitarist.

I don't understand why he is not more well known in the USA. The quality of his recordings is undeniable. While his style is both intelligent and melodic, he offers plenty of pyrotechnics for the guitar hero worshipper. Check out his incredible blending of middle eastern music and jazz on his masterpiece, "Mahgreb and Friends" Enough artistry on there to ensure Le's place in the pantheon of jazz innovators and ensure his place with the immortals.  

It's a tall order to tackle the best Hendrix' tunes and come up with something interesting that makes the listener put the inevitable comparisons aside. But Nguyen Le hits the mark.

What makes it interesting is that even if he occasionly uses a wailing rock sound, Le is not really a "Rock guitarist". He takes us into his own vision and rearranges the tunes into original pieces of work. In fact, the rock/blues purists may be disappointed here, whereas the Jazz/Fusion/World Music audience will probably enjoy it. Once themes are recognized, Le takes us on a journey that reveals unexpected angles on the original compositions.

The arrangements and the playing are superb. Kudos to Terri Lynne Carrington for her drums, vocal and musical contributions. I only take a half star away for Aida Khann's singing in a foreign language on a couple tunes -- it's probably there to emphasize African roots but it also sounds a bit out of place; Jimmy's words would have been fine.

In the universe of Jazz, Fusion and World Music, Nguyen Le has a unique voice. I hope this artist gets the recognition he deserves.

Jimi Hendrix was a musical genius, a musical visionary light years ahead. Perhaps that's why so few have managed to play a really meaningful tribute to him. Of course a lot of guitarists have been influenced by him, playing his songs and/or emulating his sound: Stevie Ray Vaughan, Uli Jon Roth, Frank Marino, Robin Trower to name but a few, but as Trower said recently, Hendrix was really in a class of his own.

What have worked best is when someone takes a personal view on Hendrix' music, like Gil Evans, and like Nguyen Le. He certainly dares to make the songs his own, make surprising arrangements, in some cases "Up From The Skies" and "Third Stone.." changing them completely. And his solos are not at all Hendrix-derivative, rather influenced by the likes of John McLaughlin and Allan Holdsworth (and diverse modern day shredders).

He is helped tremendously by the beautiful and talented drummer Terri Lynne Carrington, who shows that she's not only a fine jazzdrummer, but also a master of funk, soul and rock. And a seductive and jazzy vocalist, putting a completely different, often slightly humorous, "Purple Haze", spin on these classics. And the fleetfingered bassplayer Michel Alibo (replaced by the legendary Meshell Ndgeocello on two tracks).

Ngyuen does not in any way surpass the originals, but he has made an enjoyable and profound album.

Hendrix has loomed so large in myth that his genuine contributions to the craft of playing guitar are usually lost in hazy remembrances of ecstatic solos. It is all the more cause for celebration that Nguyen Le's collaboration here with Terri Lynne Carrington should finally arrive in the US to take its place among one of the most creative re-considerations of just what Jimi Hendrix contributed to music. This is not some jazzbo run through of famous Hendrix pieces or an effort to bend his music to fit a concept. Instead, Le and Carrington have assembled a crack group of jazz, world and rock musicians to de-construct and recast Hendrix in a particularly African light. Meshelle NdegeOcello is just one of the significant contributors to a group project that sought not to duplicate Hendrix's exploratuons but to get inside, rework, and extrapolate upon the themes that he had cultivated in works as familiar as "Purple Haze" and "Voodoo Chile" to some of the more escoteric pieces like "Merman".
What sets this apart is the level of craft of all the participants, ably led by the polyrhythmic drumming of Carrington and the Viet Namese inspired guitar voicings of Le. It is in fact this crossroads of fundamental African-American jazz and exotic Asian textures that seems somehow most evocative of Hendrix's spirit. Le doesn't play like Stevie Ray or any American jazz or blues player. His is a style that is infused with his heritage and has found fertile ground in crossbreeding with other cultures. Somehow that in and of itself is tribute to Hendrix's sense of exploration, of shattering the expectations by turning the crest jewel of creativity so that unimagined facets become known.
So, there is a lot in this disc that will astound you. You will find yourself listening to this again and again, and in the course of such investigations, you'll likely come to regard Hendrix in a new light, and find yourself drawn to the wonders that Le has created throughout his career. The sympatico between Le and Carrington is as subtle, dynamic and profound as it was between Hendrix and Mitchell. This is a great tribute and a great departure point for all things Hendrix.

This album would be a lot better if terry lyne carrington had stuck to playing drums, rather than sing as well.
She sounds like...well, let's not go there.
I think she shouldn't have.
Other wise this dinc could be a real winner.

Punctillious in its hommage to Jimi, yet uninhibitally original in the interpretations, these cool grooves would please the jazz man that Jimi was becoming.

Hendrix was a revolutionary musician whose influence remains incalculable, even nearly 40 years after his death. His lyrics, however, are not why he's remembered.

Which makes it doubly odd that Le, who is himself an enormously-talented and inventive guitar player, should choose to record a tribute to Jimi that all but ignores everything Jimi was known for. Each track is sung (the female vocals being the primary focus) while Le's modern jazz band bootscoots around in the background. Not only does Le strenuously avoid any Hendrixian guitar tones, but the rest of the band avoids any tempos or moods that might remind of Jimi. There are a few African elements here and there (percussion and Zulu singing) but the vast majority is a muscular uptempo jazz reminiscent of John Scofield or David Torn.

In short, the only tenuous link that remains to the music of Jimi Hendrix is the lyrics -- which to my narrow way of thinking puts the emphasis on entirely the wrong syllable.

This CD represent the worst musical rape ever. I think it's ok to play the music of a legend, but then out of the respect and spirit of the music. Le does not understand the meaning of neither music, spirit nor respect.