The Kennedy Experience
For years now, violinist Kennedy--the self-proclaimed bad boy of the string set--has tried to set classical music on its ear. No, not like the Kronos Quartet--peppering great performances of eclectic, underheard New Music works with an encore ofHendrix or Raymond Scott--but with punk attitude and a name change, and by selling a ton of albums (at least in the case of hisFour Seasons). His technique is debatable, but you really can't blame a guy for turning a ton of people into new classical-music fans. WithThe Kennedy Experience, the violinist puts aside theElgar,Beethoven, andBrahms(at least for an hour) and focuses on the work of (you guessed it)Jimi Hendrix. With his Kennedy Experience octet, the chamber ensemble performs guitar-rock classics such as "Little Wing," "Fire," and, of course, "Purple Haze." These are extended jams--opener "Third Stone from the Sun" is 14 minutes long--but the playing is fine, with plenty of improvisation. Kennedy transcribed Hendrix's more complex tunes into parts for winds and cellos, while he and his string section (two guitarists and two cellists) go free-form. Loose and jazzy, it's an impressive--though far from classical--effort, with none of the typical clichés found in rock tribute albums.--Jason Verlinde