August 20, 1968 – Hendrix Plays The Mosque

Times Dispatch music review the next day:

He calls it the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and like it or not, that’s what it is.
Hendrix is a soft-spoken Negro. He plays his innovative style of music with two English boys, and While the sound is white, what Hendrix himself does is alternately intellectual or frenzied.
He was dressed for last night’s Mosque concert in bellbottom cerise pants. He also wore an exotically embroidered vest over a black shirt, two belts — one wide and gold — and three ornate rings. His carefully clipped hair stands high and round like a topiary tree.
Hendrix, who taught himself guitar by listening to old rhythm and blues artists, has put that style of music aside.
Instead, he has originated a music of his own, using amplifiers and electronics as a part of it.
The result is a lot of noise and harsh sound, but listen carefully and there are some startling musical effects emerging.
Such as when he uses the shrill sound of feedback as a key note in his harmony, or when the overtones that swell over and beneath his music become an intrinsic part of it.
Intricate Figures
Other than that, his musical understanding is shown in the intricate figures he weaves on the guitar, often holding the instrument tight against his chest, as if he were a human resonator. At other times he is strictly a sensational showman, as when he swings the guitar between his legs, or lifts it high and seems to chomp on it like an ear of corn. All time he keeps playing, never losing the thread holding the song together.
Between shows the 24·year-old sensation of Europe and the United States, was a warm, but shy person, tired from the hectic grind of one-night stands, on an eight-week tour, but happy to make his music and have it appreciated.
Traveling in the same musical package is a group known as The Eire Apparent, a group of terribly young and strangely dressed young men – one looked as if he had borrowed his Aunt Fanny‘s hat – who display a good deal of talent; and a three man group called The Soft Machine that features a topless drummer, a leather-jacketed organist and a guitarist, complete with Stetson hat, who looked like Cat Ballou, as he slumped over his guitar.
It was almost impossible to bear the music out front, as it was so amplified. But backstage, where the resonance wasn’t as strong, the music the two lesser—known groups made was much more palatable. Too bad they can’t give up those umbilical cords that tie them to their sound boxes, or at-least hear how they negate their own efforts with the amplification.
When the amplifiers are lowered, and the music emerges a bit more, one realizes that Hendrix is playing blues and protest songs, as much as he is fiery, possessing ones.
He dedicated “I Don‘t Live Today” to “all the self-appointed soldiers in St. Petersburg, Chicago, Vietnam and, or yes, the American Indian.” The song ends in a special effect like a catcall. His “Red House Blues” displayed his original harmonic technique around the old jazz form, but his version a squalling, wailing blues — the lament is there, but it is shriller. In fact, if the music is representative of Hendrix’ own soul, then his soul seems to be a shrieking and demanding a place in the sun.

Solar Eclipse Viewing Party on Brown’s Island Announced

From press release:

Richmond Riverfront Partners to Host Solar Eclipse Viewing Party on Brown’s Island

RICHMOND, Va.— It’s almost here! On Monday, August 21, Richmonders will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view the solar eclipse making its way across North America. The National Park Service in Richmond, American Civil War Museum, James River Park System, and Venture Richmond invite the public to experience this event on Brown’s Island from 1-4 pm. Staff from these riverfront partners will distribute 600 free pairs of NASA-approved Rainbow Symphony solar eclipse viewing eyeglasses beginning at 1 pm, and pop-up tents on site will feature information on the eclipse as well as upcoming programs along the riverfront. Additionally, a limited-edition National Park Service Junior Ranger solar eclipse booklet and badge will be available to 200 children between ages 5 and 14.

“We’re so excited to partner with our friends along the riverfront for this unique event,” said Andrea DeKoter, Chief of Interpretation for Richmond National Battlefield Park and Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. “I invite the public to join us for a fun – and safe – viewing of the solar eclipse.”

For more information, please contact the Richmond National Battlefield Park at (804) 226-1981, or visit us online at www.nps.gov/rich or www.Facebook.com/RichmondNPS.

Urban Lit Fest ’17

One thing easy to love about Richmond is its rich, independent, literary life. There is a wide spectrum, from this neighborhood and all over, well-known and not so-well-known.

Tomorrow, help celebrate that at the Main Richmond Public Library downtown for Urban Lit Fest ’17. The Richmond Public Library will be hosting their second annual celebration of Richmond’s independent authors.

Meet 50 authors, find the latest, greatest locally grown urban fiction, poetry, and memoir. Enjoy readings, discussions, and find out how to “make it” as a self-published author.

Workshop Schedule:
http://4la.co/1CKXF4
10:30 Live Streaming Strategies for Authors
11:30 Self-Love and Walking in Your Purpose
12:30-1:00 Panel Discussion
1:00 Books are a Business
2:00 How to Turn Your Book into a Best Seller
3:00 The Poet Tree Workshop
4:00 What is Urban Fiction?
4:00 Introduction to Self-E

Workshops are free and open to the public. Registration not required but space is limited.