Marking 30 years as a Hollywood institution, Musicians Institute celebrated in spectacular fashion by hosting German guitar-meister Uli Jon Roth and his Sky Academy on Friday, August 25. Presented in MI’s plush 500-seat auditorium, the affair was an outstanding exhibition of musical excellence, featuring the kind of terrifically-talented friends you’d expect a maestro like Uli to have.
Uli's own career has also spanned past three decades, and he's still remembered for his stint in The Scorpions, the Teutonic metal torchbearers with whom he recorded five studio albums. Sure, Uli carries on the metallic legacy of that stint with the Scorps in the Seventies, but his post-Scorpions projects have found him exploring ever-more-creative frontiers of progressive and classical music. One of his boldest ventures has been the establishment of the "Sky Academy," which debuted in 2006 at UCLA’s Freud Theater. Coming this year to Musicians Institute, the Sky Academy featured another all-star lineup of world-class performers, including Paul Gilbert, Stuart Smith, Jeff Scott Soto, and Richie Onori, to name but a few.
In Musician Institute’s plush, 500-seat auditorium, the pre-show buzz was enthusiastic, as MI students, friends, and music-biz figures circulated and schmoozed. At 8 p.m., the lights went down, and after a smooth, symphonic keyboard intro built to a tympani-laden crescendo, the master emerged wearing an elegant red-velvet jacket, his long locks capped by a satin bandana that he wore pirate-style, like a blond Johnny Depp. The audience in the comfortable, intimate theater was welcomed to what became a blend of rock show, jamfest and music seminar, featuring the best players and finest techniques in pieces that combined old school, new school, and experimentation. Playing a sweet custom guitar, which resembled one-half of a Yin-Yang symbol, Uli partnered with expert keyboardist Corvin Bahn on an improvisational composition. The two were then joined by Michael Ehre, Ule Ritgen, and Piero Leporale to play a few songs from the “Fire Wind” album by Electric Sun, the band Uli formed after leaving Scorpions. Accompanied by George Bellas as he led into “We’ll Burn the Sky,” Uli 
made commemorative mention of the author of the song’s lyrics, the late Monika Danneman, who had been a girlfriend of electric legend Jimi Hendrix. It seemed appropriate, then, that the song began with a Hendrix-like opening. And despite the fact that Uli had stated that due to skimpy practice time, the result could turn out “interesting … or terrible,” listeners were gratified to hear that the scarcely-rehearsed composition came out terrific, not terrible at all.
The influence of Jimi Hendrix on Uli Jon Roth’s style was repeatedly evident throughout the show. It was humorous to hear that when Uli sang lead on what was one of Jimi’s biggest hits, the Bob Dylan-penned “All Along the Watchtower,” the man sounded a lot more like Dylan than Hendrix.
After “Watchtower,” the house was treated to a demonstration by Chicago musician/inventor Michael Angelo Batio from Chicago, who introduced an outrageous variation on the “double-necked guitar” concept. A degreed musician with over 20 years’ experience, Batio has developed an electric guitar with two necks. That in itself wouldn’t be too new and startling, except for the fact that instead of being parallel, like on Jimmy Page’s axe, these necks stretch away from the body in opposite directions, and Batio showed how he’s able to play both at the same time! Using a taped track to keep time, Batio displayed amazing dual-hand dexterity by tapping out melodies and harmonies simultaneously. Batio looked fierce and a bit devilish as he played, his features intent beneath his page-cropped black hair. He blazed through novel interpretations of “Purple Haze” and “Smoke on the Water,” at one point turning his music-maker upside down and then continuing to play. After closing his demonstration with “Crazy Train,” Batio bowed out to enthusiastic cheers and fist-pumping.
Following a brief break, Uli returned with Stuart Smith for an acoustic classical foray, beginning with some Bach. Uli and Corvin then worked out with a few students for a Vivaldi excerpt entitled “Tuona E Fulmina,” in an excellent exhibition of how he and others have learned to interpret time-honored classics using today’s electric instruments. Next, student Greg Vaughan showed off the fruits of his education in an original work called “Sky Brothers.” After that came Chicago-based guitarist George 
Bellas, who treated the crowd to a slow jam in B-minor, followed by “Fly to the Rainbow” and then the old Scorpions song, “In Trance,” with noted vocalist Jeff Scott Soto at the microphone, doing a pretty fair job of filling Klaus Meine’s shoes.
More homage to Hendrix was soon forthcoming. “Foxy Lady” was enhanced by the addition of the ever-ebullient Paul Gilbert on guitar, after which came “Highway Child” and “Purple Haze.” The next song, in keeping with the Sixties vibe, was Cream’s “White Room,” on which Don Dokken was scheduled to sing. Since Dokken was absent due to health reasons, Rob Pagliari filled in, most admirably. Next was an exquisite rendition of “Little Wing,” and then “Spoonful,” with Pagliari playing six-string bass. The set closed with a blazing bunch of blues, with players combining the fundamental patterns of the format with the most creative patterns they could come up with. The workout began with “Mercury Blues,” which featured Johnny Hiland doing the fancy picking while Uli sat it out.
The Academy’s “third act” commenced with a song written by Yngwie Malmsteen, “Sails of Charon,” which was tastily intoned by Mark Boals. More old Scorpions music was played, and the crowd was also regaled with Deep Purple’s “Child in Time,” featuring Michael Batio jamming on a single-necked axe for a change. Finally, the Friday night portion of Uli Jon Roth’s 2007 Sky Academy closed with a jamfest called the “Johnny B. Goode Guitar Extravaganza,” wherein the talents of Roth, Hiland, Batio, Bellas, and more were all paraded, individually and collectively, for the fortunate Musicians Institute audience. The presentation had lasted about four and a half hours, and Uli was on stage and playing for most of that time, what a trouper. Deriving energy and inspiration from musical expression, Uli delights in inviting fellow musicians to join him in exploring the frontiers of tone and technique. With his Sky Academy program, borders and barriers are erased, bringing friends and fans of all countries and persuasions together, via the international language of music.
