Hendrix tribute speculates on microtonal experiments

It would, of course, be futile to speculate about how Jimi Hendrix would have evolved had he lived past the age of 27. But given his wide-ranging tastes and rumors of planned collaborations with the likes of Miles Davis and Gil Evans, it seems safe to assume that he would have at least crossed paths with the jazz-rock fusioneers of the 1970s.

One possible outcome of such an alternative history was suggested at the Painted Bride on Saturday night. Guitarist David "Fuze" Fiuczynski played an eclectic set of radically rearranged songs by the late guitar wizard and others, from what vocalist Freedom Bremner referred to as "the Hendrix diaspora." That included a few high-octane numbers from the catalog of Bremner and Fuze's long-running funk-jazz-rock band Screaming Headless Torsos.

Avoiding the most obvious tunes, Fuze tackled songs like "Third Stone From the Sun," "If 6 Was 9," and "Stepping Stone" with a mixture of blazing rock, Asian, and Middle Eastern inflections, heavy soul, reggae grooves, and blues rave-ups, ably anchored by multifaceted drummer Kenwood Dennard.

Both bassist Justin Schornstein and Turkish-born keyboardist Utar Dundarartun studied microtonal music under Fuze at Berklee College of Music. Microtones are the notes between those represented on the piano keyboard, alien to most Western music but frequently used in the tuning systems of Asian and Middle Eastern musics. Positing a "living Hendrix, age 70, retired, living in Casablanca and going down to the Medina to rock the Casbah," Fuze led his ex-pupils through a stunning series of pieces that showcased the microtonal sound, as the guitarist channeled sitar sounds and Dundarartun conjured a variety of Eastern instruments from his keyboard array.

The concert was conceived by WRTI's J. Michael Harrison, who filled the first half of the show with several short sets also dedicated to Hendrix. University of the Arts grad Missy Danielle opened with a pair of pyrotechnic scat-soul tunes, accompanied by guitarist Kyle Lee. Poet Lamont "Napalm" Dixon followed with a tiresome political tirade involving Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Hendrix's legendary rendition of the national anthem, backed by singer Saria and the over-amped Hendrix stylings of guitarist Rich Tucker. Russian-born violinist Marina Vishnyakova finished with a raucous medley swallowed by its own amplitude, particularly the showy squall of guitarist Frank Velardo.