Scott Sharrard's American Songbook VOL 5, Band of Gypsys Live at the Colony Woodstock.

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“September 18th, 2020 marks the 50th year since the passing of my favorite musical artist of all time, Jimi Hendrix. I consider the “Band of Gypsys” album to be his master class in literally everything that can be done with an electric guitar. This live album was cut at the Fillmore East with Billy Cox and the last great Buddy Miles, who I also got to play with as a teenager, we even played a number of songs off this album way back then. Most of the finals takes on the album were from their show on New Years Eve, 1969. Jimi would pass away in 1970.

This was yet another tumultuous era in our countries history when it was ripping itself apart. We felt like it was the right time to perform this album front to back. Our concert was an unannounced live music event at one of our favorite venues, The Colony, in Woodstock New York. The state of NY still only allows “incidental” music events. Nonetheless we had an enthusiastic crowd that observed all the health standards and social distancing rules and we rang out these notes for a group of enthusiastic and loving people over labor day weekend. We didn’t rehearse any of the music. We just did a quick warm up set of my music, took a break, and came on and let it rip. No edits. No redos.

A huge thank you to my amazing band and team. Brett Bass on Bass and Eric Kalb on drums brought the heat that this trio record requires, and our telepathic interplay that we have developed over the last couple years helped make this high wire act dance the way that it should. Charlie Martinez, my partner in all my production and audio projects, showed up with a mobile rig and captured and mixed it all. Chris Pizzolo was there to film us with a steady hand in a cinema verite style and also edited this video and helped us to promote it. Finally, our special guest on vocals, Jackson Speller, the grandson of our mentor the late great Bill Sims, joined us for the last couple tracks. This young man gives us the promise for the future and reminds us that we need to listen more than talk to our youth. He is a singular talent and gives me hope for the future of music and also for the future of our country.

This album, and reportedly the track “Machine Gun” were the inspiration for Miles Davis to go electric, change his sound and his band, and start using a wah wah pedal on his trumpet (ironically, the wah wah pedal was invented for a trumpet player named Clyde McCoy to imitate his plunger mute through a mic!). Its a record that also changed my life forever as a very young man. I remember getting a CD copy of this when i was about 13 years old. It had to be ordered from Japan and cost a fortune for a CD back then, $50. I was such a Hendrix fan that I ordered it from my local record shop in the mall and waited almost a month. When it arrived everything on it was in Japanese. It literally wasn’t even manufactured in the USA at the time. I will never forget the first moments after it came on, and especially “the note” on “Machine Gun” that Hendrix holds out and lets cry for what feels like a millennium. That one note changed my life forever.

We humbly submit our trio version of this seminal record. I have resisted playing Hendrix music live for many years, after all to me it is the holy grail. But the message and power of this album felt like the right catalyst to get us to return to the stage in such a conflicted time in our history. My band had not played together or seen each other for 6 months on this night. We had no idea we were playing this show the day after Buddy Miles birthday. And we also had no idea it would be aired and released for the first time on the anniversary of Jimi's passing. It's all by chance, and through the power of love, that these events lined up. This night was a small beacon in the storm for our band and circle of friends and family in 2020. With our livelihoods taken away, our health always at risk, and the national conversation in a state of existential crisis, we hope the teachings of Jimi will translate through our interpretation and into your living room. “With the power of soul, anything is possible”-Jimi Hendrix “Power of Love”

Scott Sharrard
September 18th 2020