Exposure to Jimi's music (as well as Sly Stone's) changed the way Miles Davis approached his music. Miles bringing in guitarists like Sonny Sharrock and Pete Cosey are directly resultant from Miles' love of Jimi's playing. Had Jimi lived longer, it may well have been him on some of those sessions as he and Miles had become friendly and began to discuss projects they could do together. Unfortunately Jimi passed on before they could do more than hang out and play a few times. Regardless, to have that kind of influence on a musician and bandleader the caliber of Miles suggests to me that the genius tag is aptly applied to Hendrix. Maybe he wasn't the most technically accurate or smoothest player in his day but he was certainly amongst the most innovative.