The Gil Evans Orchestra - Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix (Fivefour/Cherry Red)

The sudden death of Jimi Hendrix robbed the world of a young man who was just starting to discover his full potential as an artist. One can speculate what he would have done—and his archives do show a man at a creative crossroads—but we don’t know exactly what could have been. One thing that was certain to happen, though, was a collaboration between Hendrix and legendary jazz leader Gil Evans; the two had met in September 1970 to discuss recording together, and Hendrix was set to meet with Evans on his return from London.

What could have been must be regulated to speculation—it most certainly would have been an interesting and excellent meeting of minds. Evans wanted to set Hendrix’s music to a tender, gentle, lush orchestra, not unlike his work with Miles Davis. Denied of the chance to work with Hendrix, Evans kept the idea in the back of his mind, and in 1973, gathered the musicians he had intended to use on his Hendrix sessions, and used this group to pay tribute to the dead rocker.

It’s an interesting match-up, to be sure. Sometimes the results are downright funky and wild—“Voodoo Chile” is transformed into a jazz-funk workout that would have fit on the soundtrack to Shaft. “Gypsy Eyes” becomes a joyous big-band swing number,while the medley of “Castles Made of Sand” and “Foxy Lady” split the difference between big-band swing and easy listening cocktail jazz. Only two songs feature vocals;“Crosstown Traffic” and “Little Wing,” both sung by trumpeter “Hannibal” Peterson, and though he has a okay voice, hearing vocals on these songs feels out of place.

What makes The Gil Evans Orchestra Plays the Music of Jimi Hendrix such a delight is that, ultimately, Evans and his orchestra are simply paying tribute to a lost talent. They’re not trying to radically change or rework Hendrix’s music, they’re simply taking his music in directions previously unconsidered and unexplored, and I’m sure Hendrix would have approved.