Recordings

A tribute to rock icon Jimi Hendrix (down to the flaming-instrument imagery on the cover), this collection of six pieces, totaling 55 minutes of music, is an ear-opening, inventive suite of contrasting compositions created by violinist Nigel Kennedy (who now prefers to go by just his last name), from six famous Hendrix works, including “Purple Haze” and “Third Stone From the Sun.” They are eerie, witty, down-home and lively by turns and specialize in passionate, intense performances. Kennedy shares the soloist’s spotlight democratically with his seven colleagues, and the results are democratically incandescent. Such a successful fusion of classical, jazz and rock elements could give eclecticism a good name.