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JIMI HENDRIX
Axis: Bold As Love

as reviewed by Jack Crompton at Amazon.com, April 30, 2008

If 6 turned out to be 9...

There are few artists that have impacted the course of music history as much as Jimi Hendrix. Coming seemingly out of nowhere, at the precipice of the cultural download of creativity that was experienced in the mid-late sixties, Hendrix transformed himself - and the world - in a moment of time. He created a sound and way of playing the guitar that was totally unique and never done before.

Jimi was with us only a very short time, yet he has left an indelible mark on history that is defined by a totally out-of-the-box approach to music. In many ways, I consider Hendrix an archetype for what the sixties were all about: A contrasting shift in perception and revolt against the status quo.

I have been a student of Jimi’s guitar playing style ever since first hearing him at age 13. And it was this album, in particular the concise two-minute track ‘Little Wing’ that instantaneously demanded my ear and and commanded my awe. Such an exquisite sound, such a novel way of playing with improvised chords, strung together with phrases placed in the spaces... that amazing sense of ‘funky’ timing. Although there has been two generations who have tried to emulate him, he remains an original and there will never be another. It is amazing how much impact he had on the world in those four short years.

This, Jimi’s second studio album, is a delightful mix containing a full spectrum of tunes that showcase Hendrix’s creativity at his best. It reveals Hendrix to have an uncanny command of studio recording as well as original creative ideas. He wasn’t just a great artist and performer but was an experimental studio technician as well. This album took the art of recording to another level with ‘If 6 was 9’, ‘Golden Rose’, ‘Castles Made of Sand’ and the multi-layered title song, ‘Bold As Love’. It’s closing searing phased guitar solo put on display sounds and techniques that were far ahead of their time.

More importantly, ‘Axis’ reveals the mind of a masterful creator. He is sorely missed.

PS: Jimi’s life and death reveal remarkable synchronicity in numerology. Read more.

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