Telluride Jazz Celebration: Guitarist Jimmy Herring
[Click "Play" button to hear Susan's conversation with Jimmy Herring]
Telluride Jazz, May 5-7. Sideman out front: Jimmy Herring
Fusion guitarists that claim the middle ground generally skew one way or the other: former Telluride Jazz Celebration headliner John Scofield, for example, has deep roots in jazz, and Carlos Santana is a rocker at heart. Jimmy is a rarity: he stakes his claim where jazz harmonies and rhythmic concepts and the edgy power of classic rock come together, improvising with an intensity that underlines his roots.
Jimmy's formidable chops have been used to great advantage by outfits ranging from Widespread Panic to the Dead, Phil Lesh and Friends (a Dead offshoot), Project Z, the Allman Brothers, Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit, Jazz is Dead and others.