Many people have contended that the career of the artist now known as Kennedy has been one of imposing a rock-style image on to the classical repertoire. Jimi Hendrix, the archetypal rock musician of his generation, would seem an obvious candidate to be emulated. Yet what impresses here is the extent to which Kennedy has absorbed not just Hendrix’s style but also his musicianship, penetrating beyond the image to the core of his achievement.
More than three decades after they appeared, tracks such as Fire and Purple Haze continue to impress as much by their durability as songs as by their virtuosity. The Kennedy Experience captures the energy, if not the directness, of the former, while using the latter’s immortal opening chords as the springboard for an increasingly manic jam – exciting yet calculated in much the same degree as the original. Little Wing, Hendrix’s most poignant number, inspires Kennedy to his most perceptive realization. Over a lilting backing, the melody is presented simply and affectingly, with restrained decoration, making the added intensity of the reprise all the more telling. Third Stone from the Sun and 1983 … depart more noticeably from the originals, allowing the band room for relatively free improvisation; the latter’s refrain is essentially all that remains of the original, in keeping with the increasing freedom – some would say indiscipline – of Hendrix’s approach to his material. Drifting opens in moody introspection; Kennedy gives the melody to the oboe, proceeding to move in and out of the texture in a way that mirrors the intangibility of this high point from Hendrix’s never-completed solo album.
I’m not sure this disc will encourage those unfamiliar with Hendrix to investigate the originals, which Hendrix devotees will continue to swear by in any case. In its own right, however, it stands as an often impressive achievement, vindicating Kennedy’s creative rethinking of some powerful and often extreme music.'