Voodoo Child, the publication of the JIMI HENDRIX INFORMATION MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE documenting all things Jimi Hendrix, reviewed my CD Gardens of Gizsh and also mentions the Jazzedelics record, its a pretty nice review - as opposed to the guy at Amazon that said that Jazzedelics was folk music ;-) Doug Perkins – Gardens of Gizsh (Spudley Music) “Manic Depression” Psychedelic BeBop. That’s the phraseology southern California guitarist Doug Perkins uses to describe his project Gardens of Giszsh. Larry Coryell-meets-Steve Vai. Contemporary, constructive, creative, commanding guitar instrumentals (except “Manic Depression”) that demand attention. “This is a collection of songs that hopefully show what are the things that I love the most from both jazz and rock, from lyrical melodies to screaming frenzied solos to odd meter and re-harmonization to soft introspection,” writes a reviewer on CDBaby. “The guitar palette goes from just a little dirty post bop to a full throated roar, and back down to the quiet beauty of a nylon string.” “I still remember the first time I heard Jimi Hendrix – it stopped me in my tracks,” writes guitarist Doug Perkins in the liner notes to Gardens of Gizsh. “All I knew was that I had to learn to make a sound like that.” He continues, “then hearing John Coltrane and feeling it wasn’t the first time, I felt like I had re-found something I had always known but had forgotten,” indicating how his definition of psychedelic embraces both Hendrix and Coltrane. “It’s not tied to one type of music, it’s about playing powerful held notes and the language of improvisation.” And thus, Psychedelic Bebop is born. Regarding Jimi Hendrix and the impact he has had on me, “It’s impossible to not stress more that the deciding factor in me really being a professional guitarist was the day that I heard ‘Purple Haze’ - I literally stopped dead in my tracks. I had no idea that a guitar could sound like that and I didn’t know how he was doing what he was doing, but I knew that I had to learn how to do that,” Perkins comments on his Hendrix influence. “For me Are You Experienced literally defined psychedelia and is the best record of its kind, I have often said that I’d like to teach a college course analyzing it, the interaction of the two parts in the solo in ‘I Don’t Live Today; is similar to what the classical composer Bartok did, it’s way heavier than anything anyone else was doing in the late 60s.” Paying tribute to Hendrix, Perkins offers up his interpretation, the only track with vocals provided by longtime friend Tony Jones. The four-and-one-half minute frenetic-paced arrangement finds Jones putting down the first couple of verses before Perkins steps in with a sense-sational, swirling, psychedelic solo that continues to intensify throughout. And after Jones tells us “manic depression captures your soul,” Perkins closes it out with a guitar crescendo finale. In 2014, Perkins once again teamed with Jones on a project they called Jazzedelics, putting their jazz-rock spin on classic rock tunes (including three Hendrix titles – “Fire”, “Up From The Skies” and reprising “Manic Depression”). Perkins musical explorations also has him reaching beyond recorded music as he’s in the process of writing a book tentatively titled Post Bop Guitar that explains inside / outside soloing and chordal concepts used by people like Herbie Hancock, etc. for the guitarist. (2009) (dougperkinsmusic)
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 22:13:09 +0000
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