Widely recognized as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century, Jimi Hendrix pioneered the explosive possibilities of the electric guitar. Hendrix's innovative style of combining fuzz, feedback and controlled distortion created a new musical form. In celebration of Jimi Hendrix's musical influences, Experience Hendrix and Seattle's Experience Music Project have joined together in unveiling the single largest gathering of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia items every displayed.

On June 13, 2003, exactly six years following the initial groundbreaking on the hulking 140,000 square foot museum, and 3 years following its Grand Opening, EMP has swung open its doors to a completely revamped and significantly larger exhibit featuring a bevy of historically significant Jimi Hendrix artifacts. Located on the museum's third floor, the new Hendrix Gallery has greatly expanded its focus in comparison to its earlier form.

"Jimi Hendrix wasn't just this incredible musician who appeared on the music scene one day," explains Janie Hendrix. "He was there because of his hard work and dedication to his craft. He had a history and a life. This new exhibit shows the vital importance that the environment he grew up in had on the formation of his musical career. Understanding his life, from birth to adolescence to adulthood, helps people better understand what made Jimi who he was."

EMP's Senior Curator Jim Fricke adds, "One of the myths that we tried to dispel was that Jimi just sort of burst full blown onto the scene in London. While there was this great appreciation for the Blues in London at that time which helped, we try to point out that he grew up in Seattle and he listened to lots of great Seattle musicians and he learned to play here. He was a great guitar player when he left Seattle and he got better and he learned lots of important lessons on the road that helped prepare the way."

It's that well traveled road that finally comes to life in the new exhibit. Divided into ten key components, Hendrix's life receives the full treatment this time around explains Fricke. "This time Jimi dies. That was one aspect of the story that we didn't present the first time around." While the new exhibit acknowledges Hendrix's passing and subsequently paints the picture that is his incredible legacy; it's the emphasis on Hendrix's early life that really helps to humanize Jimi's existence.

Presented in chronological format, the exhibit starts off with the section "West Coast Seattle Boy," a somewhat autobiographical presentation rooted on an unrecorded song of the same name. "West Coast Seattle Boy" presents the Hendrix family history both visually and aurally plus the music and artistic roots of Jimi Hendrix - including numerous color drawings and paintings Jimi made when still a young boy. "This is the one key area that really comes to life in the new exhibit, acknowledges Fricke. "Through the support of Janie and Experience Hendrix we've really been able to enhance this one section - the beginnings of the story-to talk about Jimi's family and his grandparents, not only his parents and place that within the context that shows the family had a performance tradition."

EMP acknowledges that challenges abound when preparing an exhibit of this magnitude. On one hand most visitors have heard at least one song by Jimi before coming to the museum; on the other hand a large portion of the museum's audience wasn't alive yet while Hendrix was still performance. "It's always kind of difficult to use inanimate objects to create a connection between a visitor and an artist," says Fricke. "All of those hand-written materials tend to really do that. To see Jimi's paintings and drawings and to read the letters he wrote to his grandmother really humanizes him and I think that this will really give visitors a real personal connection to him. I think that's the one thing that I think we've been most successful at when I walked into the new gallery. It really feels kind of personal. You're getting a view into this person and the person behind the music. It's not just about what he did, but I think its important that people to see that and know that. We wanted to avoid putting Jimi on this pedestal that the impact on the visitor was like 'oh my goodness, I could never do anything like that.' You really want to leave inspired and I think seeing behind the rock star helps people get some inspiration about what Jimi was there to accomplish."

The next few sections of the exhibit "R&B Roots," "The Village" and "Swinging London" explore Hendrix's musical apprenticeship through the early 1960s. From meeting his longtime friend Billy Cox while in the 101st Airborne, to performing with the likes of the Isley Brothers, Little Richard, and Curtis Knight, through to discovery in New York city by Chas Chandler and his arrival on the British music scene in September 1966.

Hendrix's hard work during this period is perhaps the most telling of his future stardom. "Although he was this fantastically talented individual; he also worked really hard," says Fricke. "In many ways he kind of came up through that apprenticeship system that's really gone today. There are certain aspects of musicianship that are kind of fading away today. You still see it to some extent in Blues and in some areas of Jazz where you develop a bit of a musical personality and then go out of the road and learn from you elders."

"That was one of the things that we try to emphasize. For most people they're like 'Hey, Jimi played with Little Richard? The Isley Brothers?' And in the same way that we wanted to place him within the Northwest music tradition because I think there are things that he learned here that I think really resonate in his playing."

By the time visitors get to "Swinging London" they really understand Jimi's passion for music. A telling tale of Hendrix's musical fervor is the Saville Stratocaster, which he hand-painted and then destroyed onstage during his show at London's Saville Theatre on June 4, 1967. Prior to the show, Hendrix wrote on the back of the guitar -

May this be love or confusion.
Born out of frustration wracked feelings
of not being able to make true physical love
to the universal gypsy queen
of true, free expressed music.
My darling guitar . please rest in peace.
Amen.

As Fricke explains, "The Saville guitar is my favorite instrument, or ex-musical instrument. For some reason, that performance really was sort of a farewell for him. Here was this place that he finally achieved the stardom that he envisioned and now he's off to America. If you look at the paint job that he did on that guitar compared to what was done on the Monterey guitar . on the Monterey guitar its almost like it was whipped out, 'Oh yeah, I did this last week, I better do it again.' But the Saville guitar really looks like it had significant meaning. It includes song lyrics and stuff and looks like it really is meaningful."

"Smash Hits" explores Hendrix's transition from his early days in London to that of the world's top touring musician. "Smash Hits" looks at his superstar days with exhibit highlights such as the Stratocaster guitar he played at Monterey International Pop Festival and the Woodstock Art & Music Fair; stage costumes worn at the Isle Of Wight and Maui; and the silver-looped hat that can be seen on the cover of Smash Hits. The displays also include Mitch Mitchell's drum kit and Noel Redding's bass guitar and amp.

"For the vast majority of our visitors, the Woodstock Stratocaster is the item they want to see," says Fricke. "Although there wasn't very many people left at Woodstock when he performed, they've all seen his performance of "The Star Spangled Banner" and its been identified as a significant moment of the 20th century. So to see that guitar is really important to many people. The Monterey guitar is similar to that. We live in a media based society, so people are really excited to see items that they've seen on TV."

The "Band Of Gypsys" and "Songwriter" exhibits present an extensive study of Hendrix's all- around music experimentation and prowess as lyricist. Because he was unable to read or write music, it is nothing short of remarkable that Jimi Hendrix's meteoric rise in the music took place in just four short years. "We're able to do a much better job with portraying the Band Of Gypsys period," says Fricke. "Both using footage that Experience Hendrix made available to us to help create a better film, and also with the handwritten lyrics to 'Machine Gun.'"

The gallery's next section "Electric Lady Studios," includes the original mixing console from Studio A at Hendrix's New York City based studio. One of the Gallery's most interactive features is the mixing station that allows users to access original mater tape recordings and remix the music themselves. "For the very first time," elaborates Fricke, "we're giving visitors a chance to interact with Jimi's music. We have this interactive display that provides fans the opportunity to interact with Jimi's music. Eddie Kramer and John McDermott helped prepare special mixes of two songs for the interactive displays. They bounced the 16 track masters down to 8 discrete tracks that really serve to give you a real insight into how Jimi worked in the studio. It gives you the chance to solo some of their tracks and to hear some of the banter in the studio."

The mixing station, which combines "Electric Lady Studios" and "Fuzz, Feedback, And Wah- Wah," is undoubtedly inspired by the popularity of the 1997 documentary At Last The Beginning . The Making Of Electric Ladyland which featured several segments with Chas Chandler and Eddie Kramer working with Jimi's master tapes in the studio. Fans responded very positively to those sequences and now for the first time, they have the opportunity to remix the music themselves in this display.

"The new interactive mixing exhibits really give fans the opportunity to experience what it was like being in the studio with Jimi," explains Janie Hendrix. "You even feel like you're in the studio. With Jimi's mixing board only a few feet away, the large photos of Jimi all around you, the headphones on your ears, and with the music playing, fans can now experience a lot of the magic that happened in the studio."

Completing the exhibits is the new section "Legacy" which explores the extent to which Hendrix has touches the lives of millions of fans, musicians and others; and details the underlying legacy that he left behind. This section is highlighted by Hendrix's own diary from early 1968, jewelry, letters he wrote to fans and a new documentary film prepared for the gallery. "With the inclusion of all the different record covers on the wall, including a lot of international ones," explains Fricke, "it's another recognition of Jimi's international reach and how his music continues to reach beyond his time. They provide a real visual pervasiveness of that music. Together along with the new film that show's lots of different music genres and musicians that are acknowledging Jimi's last influence and legacy, it sums up the displays quite well."

The new Hendrix Gallery is sure to please casual fans and ardent hardcore followers; and whether you visited the original gallery or not, you're sure to spot plenty of new items that will peak your interest. "We have many elements in the exhibits that are sure to excite the fans," adds Fricke. "We tried to create a more spacious environment so that people would feel more comfortable taking their time examining the artifacts. There is enough detail in here to accommodate that person who spends 5 minutes in the gallery, and it's going to excite the person who comes in and spends 5 hours."

HENDRIX GALLERY GRAND OPENING

In marking the re-opening of the Hendrix Gallery, EMP hosted an invitation only event for its Members on Friday, June 13th. The event held from 7 p.m. to midnight provided the many corporate sponsors and long standing EMP members unfettered access to the museum and in particular the new Hendrix Gallery.

Immediately after the doors opened to the roughly 1,000 people in attendance, just about everyone made an immediate trek to the Gallery and before long a lengthy line formed as fans waited. Eyes were gleaming in anticipation and early feedback was overwhelmingly positive. "This is so incredibly cool," said one 16 year old as he and his friend interacted with the mixing booth on display in the "Fuzz, Feedback, And Wah-Wah" section. Although EMP's is best known for its music artifacts it has been widely regarded in the technology fields for its interactive displays, multimedia showcases, interactive video kiosks, and the ever popular MEG units (AKA Museum Exhibit Guide), an interactive backpack jam packed with hours of audio documentaries that correspond to various artifacts on display throughout the museum.

"We're extremely proud of this exhibit," says Bob Santelli, EMP's President & CEO. "This exhibit could not have happened without the cooperation, generosity and friendship of the Hendrix family." The friendship between EMP and Experience Hendrix has helped to take the Hendrix Gallery to the next level.

"This has been a long time putting this together but now its now more conducive to Jimi's life," explains Janie Hendrix. "This project is really honed from EMP's experiences over the past three years, our Surround Sound Exhibit at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, and last year's Backstage exhibition at the Cite de la Musique in France."

"I'm really proud to have been part of the team that helped put together what I think is a fitting and hopefully inspiring tribute to rock's greatest guitarist," explains Jim Fricke, adding that Hendrix was more than just a great guitarist, he also "happened to be a pretty good singer, songwriter, performer and all of those other things. I am also very happy to have been able to play a role in uniting Paul Allen's vision to put something like this together here in Seattle with Al Hendrix's dream to share the materials that he saved to share with the world and the pretty amazing accomplishments of his son with all Jimi's fans."

In addition to the evening providing an opportunity for fans to experience the new Gallery first hand, the Hendrix inspired "Sky Church" came to life all night long as a variety of local bands took to the stage to play tribute to Hendrix. Closing out the evening of performances was a series of songs performed by the Michael Williams Band. During their set, former Earth Wind & Fire guitarist, Sheldon Reynolds joined the group on stage for "Red House" which Reynolds brought to life with a little Hendrix-inspired fiery guitar playing of his own.

Experience Music Project is located at 325 5th Avenue North in Seattle, Washington directly beneath that Space Needle at Seattle Center. The Hendrix Gallery is open during EMP's regular hours of operation (May 23-September 1: Sunday-Thursday 9am to 6pm, Friday- Saturday 9am to 9pm). For more information about the museum or notification of early closures, be sure to visit EMP online at http://www.emplive.com.

Story & Interviews by Steven C. Pesant

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