Axes on the Air

Guitar great Les Paul was feted last week at a concert held at New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music. The event featured performances by such Paul fans as Eddie Van Halen, Steve Miller, B.B. King, Stanley Jordan and Waylon Jennings. HBO will air highlights in October as a special titled, “Cinemax Sessions: Les Paul--He Changed the Music.” . . . If you’re staying home over Labor Day weekend, tune into Westwood One’s six-hour special, “Jimi Hendrix: Live and Unreleased,” which will air on KLSX-FM for three consecutive nights beginning with a two-hour installment Friday night at 11. Produced by ex-Knack drummer Bruce Gary, it will feature loads of rare club-date recordings, home demos, alternate takes, Hendrix chats, acoustic recordings with guitar-pals like Johnny Winter and a rare airing of Hendrix’s April 25, 1969 concert at the Forum. . . . Deirdre O’Donoughue’s “SNAP” show on KCRW-FM goes to a three-hour slot (8-11 p.m.) starting Monday. . . . And did you ever wonder how the black community feels about Michael Jackson’s extensive facial make-over? The results are in, thanks to a poll commissioned by Radioscope, a syndicated radio program which is airing a Michael Jackson special tonight at 10 on KJLH-FM. Listeners were asked: Do you feel Jackson has turned his back on the black community by intentionally altering his appearance to appeal to a broader, predominately white audience? Radioscope execs say they received 185 responses. 60% said Jackson had not turned his back on the black community, while 40% said he had.