This first Evans venture for a then-major label (RCA Victor) may have been intended by the producers as a hook to popularise Gil, but nevertheless its studio sessions were preceded by a concert presentation of his Hendrix material for the then New York Jazz Repertory Company. And it all works, even though most of the arranging by various band members is fairly anonymous in a generic jazz-rock manner. The space given to the soloists – Sanborn, Peterson, Harper and Johnson's tuba on ‘Voodoo Chile’ – is the chief justification for the exercise, though the guitarists are rather over-the-top and Peterson's two vocals (on ‘Crosstown Traffic’ and briefly on ‘Little Wing’) mainly remind you that Hendrix was a very effective singer. The best track is ‘Up From The Skies’, one of two charts by the bandleader himself, partly because it's the only piece with a swing rather than rock feel and because of the subtleties of Evans' scoring (oddly, the mix seems better on the alternate take than the original one). Licensed from Sony, the contents replicate the 2001 RCA reissue, including four alternate takes as well as ‘Little Wing’, recorded for the 1975 follow-up There Comes A Time