VARIOUS ARTISTS
Blue Haze: Songs of Jimi Hendrix (Ruf Records)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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To me, Jimi Hendrix's "Angel" is one of those songs that always makes me dread the ending, simply because that means the song's over and I'd be perfectly happy with a 90-minute version of it. So it's only fitting that the artist covering "Angel" on this tribute CD is one of my very favorite musicians, Eric Bibb, and his version of the song, performed exclusively on a delicately-miked piano, is just as heartbreakingly beautiful as the original. Bernard Allison's version of "Hear My Train Comin'" is good, too-a well-done, subtle, solo steel-string version of the blues song. These two songs are worth picking up the disc for, but the 14 other songs are fairly unmemorable electric blues renditions that near-completely obscure the depth of the originals.

© 2001 - Holly Day