Drummer-at-Large: Buddy Miles, flamboyant rock drummer with Jimi ...

by Carlton Jackson

As a kid, I do remember hearing Jimi Hendrix, and recognizing that after Mitch Mitchell did his firmament stint with JH, Buddy Miles was the next to make his mark and to point the compass of all who aspired to drum and to express themselves, as the rhythm told them to. Buddy was the musician that sailed lots of those seas of rhythm, and this inspired legions of drummers to perhaps, match some of his soulful fury... In my varied musician travels, I do remember being on the road with the Jazz keyboardist Tom Grant, and as we are clocking the many miles down the freeway, just trying to get the motor home back to Portland after a long tour, I do remember hearing "Band Of Gypsies" about 5 times in total, as we went through the state of Nebraska, doing what we would do to pass the many miles to traverse this country. Buddy's rock-solid groove passed through all the tunes we heard, and completed the necessary ostanato of groove that would sustain our ferverent interest. I also remember freely hijacking my brother Muntasir's copy of Buddy's hit solo effort "Them Changes", and checking it out many times... that is, only after hearing it come from his bedroom many a day/night... (he would put a speaker outside his bedroom and I would hear the right channel of the album...it's funny to remember that aspect of the story ) He had met Hendrix in Canada when both were acting as sidemen for other artists in the early 1960s. As Hendrix started to include guest artists on his recordings, he invited Miles to participate, and Miles played with him on two tracks on the influential Electric Ladyland album (1968). Later their friendship led to various collaborations, Hendrix producing the Buddy Miles Express release, Electric Church, in 1969. Soon afterwards Miles joined Hendrix in the short-lived group, Band of Gypsys. A notable feature of its line-up was that all the players were black. This was a first for Hendrix and was seen as a move towards reconnecting with his soul roots. Perhaps...

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