Band : The Hendrix Files
Album title : Live In Leuven
Label : (own release)
Distributor : (own release)
Release date : November 2008
Release : cd-R

Summer 2005: three Leuven based friends [they are guitarist Charly Verbinnen and drummer Hans Boeye (who are not only members of one of Belgium’s leading Rock cover bands Tumblin’ Dice – more about that elsewhere in this review section – but already paid their dues in earlier collaborations with Blues icon Big Bill, the Fabulous Bluesbreakers and Mardi Gras to name burt a few), and bassist Geert Schurmans (also a member of Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band Foger-T, alongside ex-Scabs’ Frankie Saenen and African Rock’s La Fille D’Ernest)] decide to turn their fascination for the music of Jimi Hendrix into a tribute band, started rehearsing and pretty soon found it was time to fill in the missing link of vocalist. Not long after, singer Phil Bee happenstanced upon the threesome’s Internet add, and decided to react…a first rehearsal of the song “Freedom” made the band complete before the song was over.

And now here’s a funny thing: Phil Bee himself had already done his own Hendrix tribute project named…you’ve already guessed it, right?…The Hendrix Files. He’d actually thought of the name early in the year 2000, and dreamt of making a Jimi Hendrix tribute album. Now at the time Phil happened to be the singer for the internationally touring Dutch Blues band Doctor Rhythm, and in that capacity he had the opportunity to meet and make friends of many musicians, some of which he’d come to know as big a Jimi fan as himself! In May 2000 Phil invited some of these people (rather than some studio musicians) to record an album with him. Among those present: “…the guitarists, Belgium based American Bill  Roseman, Swiss frontman of More Experience marcel Aeby, Dutch Blues wonder boys Richard van Bergen and Stanley Patty, not forgetting Roel Spanjers on Hammond (awesome solo in “Them Changes”), plus a fantastic bunch of bass players and drummers. Even saxophone and Blues harp contibuted…” (from the biography at users.skynet.be/fb259397). By the time the album had backing vocals added (Claudia Bettinaglio) and been mixed, Phil had sent a copy to original Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Noel Redding (whom he’d known through Marcel Aeby – the latter having been in the occasion to play with the man quite frequently over the years), and the man kindly accepted an invitation tocome to the album’s release party (at the Bonbonniere venue in Maastricht, Holland) in April 2002. Another invitee was one of Phil’s other guitar heroes, Jan Akkerman. The release party was hugely successful: with the house packed and sold out long before, people were still standing outside on the off chance of a cancelled ticket. The success of the  evening called for a tour, which was subsequently planned for October of the same year, to coincide with a headliner tour of Steve Lukather (himself also a big Hendrix fan). Redding had already agreed to join the project on tour…but then died in May. For a while it was touch and go, but then Lukather himself tied the knot and the tour indeed took place…to positive effect! (side-note: recordings of the release party ànd the tour still exist somewhere in Phil’s archives, and might just be released some day)

Back to a more recent past! The usual setlist of The Hendrix Files not only consists of the all-time greats, but also some of the less known tunes like “Ain’t No Tellin’”, “Dolly Dagger”, “You Got Me Floatin’”, or “Little Miss Lover”, and that quite deliberately. What with the addition of Hammond B3 organ player Ives Mergaerts, Verbinnen’s own interpretation of Jimi’s play, Phil Bee’s vocal signature (which is quite different from Jimi’s), and the overall direct approach of the band they certainly succeed in giving Jimi’s tunes a rather unique rendition.

The songs on this cd-R are culled from two performances in Leuven during 2006, the first recorded at Bebop Music Club on March 20 (songs are “In From The Storm”, “May This Be Love”, “Freedom”, “Up From The Skies”, and “Stone Free”), the second recordings done at Marktrock on August 13 (“Spannish Castle Magic”, “The Wind Cries Mary”, “Who Knows”, “Purple Haze”, and “Foxy Lady”)! Most of the tracks on these recordings are known enough (unless you’re one of those people who only know their classice by the “popular” music they made), but the younger generation (as well as the many Jimi Hendrix fans of all ages) may very well enjoy themselves by listening to 6 out of the 10 tracks at the address mentioned above! Since this IS a tribute, and that with songs considered the best the original artist had to offer, I can hardly be asked to give this a rating, now can I? I mean, I still prefer the original artist’s recordings, but these àre indeed second-best, and I wouldn’t mind having an evening filled listening to The Hendrix Files in live conditions at all!

Tony.