This archival mother lode gathers the four complete sets of music Jimi Hendrix and his then-new Band of Gypsys played at the Fillmore East in New York on December 31, 1969 and January 1, 1970. So...there's some guitar. Lots and lots of guitar, some of it initially released on the Band of Gypsys album but presented here in clearer fidelity. There are mind expanding, status-quo-smashing guitar ad-libs, machine-gun precise rhythm guitar riffs, and passages that start out in a mood of hazy reflection, only to swell into fits of heavy, snarling agitation. Where there's guitar there are stoptime guitar breaks, the fireworks-erupting moments rockers have used since the Chuck Berry days to kickstart the soloing. Hendrix was a master of these. To encounter him at peak, cue up the four (!) versions of "Them Changes," (the Buddy Miles tune that's curiously identified here as simply "Changes"). Zoom right to the end of verses, usually around the 2:00 mark. The set 1 break finds him dancing, with balletic precision, in the upper register. For set 2, he hangs expressively on a single note. Set 3 finds Hendrix in high-drama mode, pitchbending like a manic bluesman. Just before the break in set 4, he deviates from the riff in a way that sounds, at first, like a mistake; when the band stops, what follows is two measures of stone-cold diabolical genius. Studying the breaks is, of course, only one way to geek out on Hendrix. You can make like the School of Rock kids do and analyze the beginnings, endings and tempos of multiple versions of "Power Of Soul," "Machine Gun" and others. Of course, you can also just listen in chronological order, and marvel at this incendiary trio's ability to vary the tones and shades and energies of the music during what was clearly an intense, endurance-test run of shows. © Tom Moon / Qobuz

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Band of Gypsys was the only live recording authorized by Jimi Hendrix before his death. It was recorded and released in order to get Hendrix out from under a contractual obligation that had been hanging over his head for a couple years. Helping him out were longtime friends Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on the drums because the Experience had broken up in June of 1969, following a show in Denver. This rhythm section was vastly different from the Experience. Buddy Miles was an earthy, funky drummer in direct contrast to the busy, jazzy leanings of Mitch Mitchell. Noel Redding was not really a bass player at all but a converted guitar player who was hired in large part because Hendrix liked his hair! These new surroundings pushed Hendrix to new creative heights. Along with this new rhythm section, Hendrix took these shows as an opportunity to showcase much of the new material he had been working on. The music was a seamless melding of rock, funk, and R&B, and tunes like "Message to Love" and "Power to Love" showed a new lyrical direction as well. Although he could be an erratic live performer, for these shows, Hendrix was on -- perhaps his finest performances. His playing was focused and precise. In fact, for most of the set, Hendrix stood motionless, a far cry from the stage antics that helped establish his reputation as a performer. Equipment problems had plagued him in past live shows as well, but everything was perfect for the Fillmore shows. His absolute mastery of his guitar and effects is even more amazing considering that this was the first time he used the Fuzz Face, wah-wah pedal, Univibe, and Octavia pedals on-stage together. The guitar tones he gets on "Who Knows" and "Power to Love" are powerful and intense, but nowhere is his absolute control more evident than on "Machine Gun," where Hendrix conjures bombs, guns, and other sounds of war from his guitar, all within the context of a coherent musical statement. The solo on "Machine Gun" totally rewrote the book on what a man could do with an electric guitar and is arguably the most groundbreaking and devastating guitar solo ever. These live versions of "Message to Love" and "Power to Love" are far better than the jigsaw puzzle studio versions that were released posthumously. Two Buddy Miles compositions are also included, but the show belongs to Jimi all the way. Band of Gypsys is not only an important part of the Hendrix legacy, but one of the greatest live albums ever. © Sean Westergaard /TiVo

As we slowly approach the fiftieth anniversary of his passing (on September 18, 1970), the release of a “new” Jimi Hendrix’ album is still a noteworthy event. The last part of a trilogy including Valleys Of Neptune (2010) and People, Hell and Angels (2013), Both Sides Of The Sky contains thirteen titles recorded between January 28, 1968 and February 3, 1970. And, just like the two previous compilations, it is mostly comprised of alternatives takes or very rare tracks already present in the massive “official” discography of the left-handed guitarist. The idea is thus not to only aim for the adepts of the Hendrixian cult, but to create a new following with first-rate material. It is even what is the most remarkable here: the sound is incredibly modern, as if the musician had passed away only last week after having recorded these few tracks.Even with what could be considered as first drafts—like the instrumental Jungle, Sweet Angel or Cherokee Mist—or these umpteenth versions of Hear My Train A Comin’ or Stepping Stone deserve attentive listening. But what will please the most demanding fans are those few gems that we lost hope of hearing someday. Especially with two additional tracks out of the sessions from September 30, 1970 at the Record Plant Studio in New York with his friends Stephen Stills: an ultra-powerful Woodstock, which precedes by many months the recording of this great classic by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and a surprising $20 Fine. Among the other cherries on top of this cake lovingly cooked by Janie Hendrix and the producer Eddie Kramer, you will find other meetings at the top of blues or R&B, with Johnny Winter, The Things I Used To Do, Lonnie Youngblood, Georgia Blues, and a few testimonies of the intense and much too ephemeral Band Of Gypsy, Power Of Soul, Lover Man and most of all the magnificent recreation of the timeless Mannish Boy from Muddy Waters. In the end, Both Sides Of The Sky will become one of the unmissable albums from the Voodoo Child, which will be recommended to everyone, from the expert to the merely curious (but who won’t stay that way for long…). © Jean-Pierre Sabouret/Qobuz

An ill-fated movie gave birth to a much more memorable concert. Coming to screens in 1972, the feature film Rainbow Bridge (which was hugely influenced by Easy Rider) awkwardly detailed the adventures of a New York model on her way to Hawaii. Badly filmed and using non-professional actors who barely knew their lines, this strange piece of cinematography partly owes its existence to Michael Jeffrey, Jimi Hendrix’s manager, who produced a large part of it when he was given the soundtrack rights (which was meant to contain new tracks from Voodoo Child). The filming took place in 1970. It was disjointed and chaotic. The only interesting thing about it is the finale, when an audience gathers together on Haleakala volcano to watch a Jimi Hendrix Experience performance. It comes in the form of a montage that lasts just over 15 minutes (17 minutes, to be precise). Even before it was exploited, Rainbow Bridge was ridiculed. It flopped at the box office. It was an absolute Z movie. Almost fifty years after this dismal failure, the documentary Music, Money, Madness... Jimi Hendrix in Maui takes another look at the birth of the project. It’s a great opportunity to rediscover their performance on July 30th 1970, the year before the film was shot, a small part of which was later used at the end of the film. The band performed the setlist twice in pretty strange conditions – the audience was 400 people strong and were placed in front of the stage according to their star signs. Although they had ‘Experience’ in the name, this wasn’t the original band since Billy Cox (who played on Band of Gypsys) plays bass while Mitch Mitchell gets back behind the drums after a few months away from the guitar hero. There was a very strong wind which made the recording (and the concert itself) difficult because of all the blowy noises in the mics on stage. The rest of the equipment used for the event was poor quality. Despite these technical conditions, the band gave a masterful performance. The new documentary presents the perfect opportunity to restore the performance’s credability, thanks to a double live album that comes with the film, even if they did cheat a little. In 1971, Mitch Mitchell re-recorded all his drums parts at the Electric Lady studio in one take with the help of his faithful sound engineer Eddie Kramer, who was behind the work’s restoration here. It’s also an occasion for fans to finally discover live tracks that would appear on his posthumous albums such as Dolly Dagger and Ezy Ryder, alongside the unmissable Voodoo Child (Slight Return), Fire, Purple Haze and Spanish Castle Magic. This concert marked one of the last magical moments on stage for the singer who died less than two months later. Throughout the twenty tracks lasting over 1h40m, Jimi comes across as inspired and ready to grab all that life has to offer. And though the wind was picking up on Maui, the real storm came from the speakers. © Chief Brody/Qobuz

West Coast Seattle Boy is an amazing chronological, career-spanning collection of Hendrix material, but it's far from a greatest-hits or career overview and is probably not intended for the casual Hendrix fan. It's more of an examination of Jimi's musical and artistic growth as a professional musician following his discharge from the Army. Disc one is a fantastic compilation of Jimi's appearances on record as a sideman with the likes of the Isley Brothers, Don Covay, and Little Richard. While the tunes are great, the actual Jimi quotient is pretty low. The Isley Brothers give him a couple hot breaks during his two stints with them and Jimi plays tremolo guitar on their lengthy ballad "Have You Ever Been Disappointed" and Little Richard's "I Don't Know What You Got But It's Got Me." Jimi does manage to peek through on a couple cuts, though. Rosa Lee Brooks' great "Utee" has a hot little solo and you can hear ideas that would later be reworked into "Little Wing" on the Icemen's "(My Girl) She's a Fox." The vast majority of these tracks are difficult to impossible to find, so it's great to have them all in one place.Disc two starts with some fascinating alternate mixes or takes of several tunes from Are You Experienced? in perfect sound. But these aren't actually "lost mixes" that Chas Chandler had stashed away all these years; they're recent remixes by Eddie Kramer (the original engineer for most Hendrix recordings) using the original multi-track recordings for the first time. Remember, Are You Experienced? was recorded on a four-track and there were multiple bounces down to two tracks to make room for overdubs. Using the original multi-tracks results in a clarity to the instruments we've never heard before. The take of "Are You Experienced?" is just the original instrumental basic track (and structure for the song), but we get to hear the backwards guitar solo from the LP version played as it was originally before being flipped around on the tape. "May This Be Love" has a double-tracked lead vocal on this version, and the guitars are mixed differently. "Can You See Me" is actually a Chandler mix: an unused mono mix. "Little One," "Mr. Bad Luck," and "Cat Talking to Me" have been available in collector's circles for many years, although the sound here is definitely an improvement. "Castles Made of Sand" is just Jimi and Mitch Mitchell doing a slightly uptempo and more aggressive instrumental take. Then starts a really interesting run of self-recorded demos that Jimi made in hotel rooms and apartments. His old friend Paul Caruso helps with harmonica and vocals on a cover of the Band's "Tears of Rage" as well as his emerging new composition "Hear My Train a Comin'." The rest are just Jimi and are pretty interesting not just to see where an elaborate studio creation like "1983" began but also to hear Jimi really singing without the self-consciousness that could sometimes affect him. In fact, this particular version of "Angel" is one of Jimi's sweetest vocal performances. "1983" and "Angel" had been previously available as part of Voodoo Child: The Illustrated Legend of Jimi Hendrix (a graphic novel with CD), but these others are surfacing for the first time. "Calling Devil's Children" is another that's been floating around for a while, but "New Rising Sun" might be the jewel of the set. Briefly released in heavily edited form on the ill-conceived and atrocious Voodoo Soup compilation, it's a really cool studio collaboration between Jimi and Eddie Kramer that's like a cross between "And the Gods Made Love" from Electric Ladyland and "Little Wing."Disc three starts with a handful of studio outtakes where Jimi starts incorporating some other players and instruments. "Hear My Freedom" probably isn't much more than a studio jam with Buddy Miles and (probably) Lee Michaels on organ joining the Experience, but it's a hot one. Percussionist Rocky Dzidzornu joins on a couple tracks, "Messenger" has some cool uncredited piano (possibly Eddie), while Traffic's Chris Wood plays sax on their take of "Hound Dog" ("Hound Dog Blues"). The L.A. Forum tracks have been released before but this is the first official release of the unedited jam with Larry Young. It appeared in edited form (about half as long) on the Nine to the Universe album, but serious collectors have heard this unedited take. This is another set highlight as it shows Jimi really stretching out and improvising with a jazz master, even though it's just a loose jam. "Mastermind" is actually a Larry Lee tune that sounds much better in this studio version than it did when they tried it at Woodstock. "Message to Love" is basically the Crash Landing version, but this is a mix that Jimi did with Eddie Kramer without the edits and overdubs that plagued Crash Landing. Collectors have also heard the entirety of the legendary Fillmore East shows with Band of Gypsys, but here we get the first official release of three of Jimi's early hits from the second New Year's Eve 1969 show (including a lengthy and blistering "Stone Free"). "Burning Desire" was part of the Loose Ends compilation and an edited version of the goof-off track "Peter Gunn/Catastrophe" was on War Heroes, but "Lonely Avenue" makes its first appearance on this set. Much like "Message to Love," the version of "In from the Storm" here is a mix that Jimi did with Eddie that has much more prominent backing vocals than the Cry of Love/First Rays version. "Freedom" is another Cry of Love/First Rays tune, but this is a different, longer instrumental take. "All God's Children" is another high-quality studio instrumental with Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, while this "Red House" came from the well-known 1970 Berkeley shows. Disc four closes with a couple other set highlights. "Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)" was a live-in-the-studio track that was included on both Rainbow Bridge and First Rays, but that tune actually flowed right out of an unreleased instrumental called "Bolero" in the original studio take. This is a restoration of that original medley. The CD ends with another apartment demo: an unreleased track called "Suddenly November Morning." It's interesting because while it sounds like a finished composition, at the end it turns into "Drifting." "Drifting" was ultimately revisited and released on The Cry of Love and First Rays, but "Suddenly November Morning" was not realized further. As the liner notes point out, it's a sad reminder of the lost potential resulting from Jimi's untimely death.The DVD is also excellent. It's 90 minutes of Jimi in Jimi's own words along with some great performance footage. What isn't Jimi's voice on tape is from Jimi's own words from letters and journals, voiced by Bootsy Collins. Actually, William Collins is probably more appropriate since there isn't a trace of Bootsy's persona present. In fact, Mr. Collins did an excellent job of getting inside Jimi's words, and his speaking voice even has a similar soft-spoken quality. In addition to footage of Jimi, there are lots of photos, letters, and handwritten lyrics on display. The box packaging also has dozens of great photographs. West Coast Seattle Boy is an in-depth examination of Jimi Hendrix for those that want to dig deeper than his album tracks and is quite a boon, even to longtime collectors.© Sean Westergaard /TiVo