Jimi Hendrix has been gone for half a century, but somehow, the stream of previously unreleased material keeps coming. This latest package evolved from an ill-fated mess of a film project called Rainbow Bridge, which was a well-deserved box office bomb.
For the film, Jimi Hendrix and his Experience bandmates, drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox (who had played with Hendrix in Band of Gypsys, replacing original Experience bassist Noel Redding), performed two July 1970 outdoor concert sets on the Hawaiian island of Maui for an audience of only about 400 people.
Related: Read out review of Hendrix live at the Fillmore East
But Mitchell’s drums were improperly recorded and had to be overdubbed in the studio for the mere 17 minutes of the show that were used in Rainbow Bridge. And none of the music turned up on the film’s soundtrack album.
Now, thanks to today’s studio technology, the original hour-and-40-minute concert recording has been enhanced and has been released on a two-CD set called Live in Maui. It comes packaged with a 32-page booklet and a Blu-ray that includes all existing footage of the concert performances, plus a documentary about Rainbow Bridge called Music, Money, Madness: Jimi Hendrix Live in Maui.
Listen to “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” from this historic concert
Granted, it can seem as if there are already 10 million or so Hendrix concerts on record, but this one—which includes “Foxey Lady,” “Stone Free,” “Purple Haze,” “Fire,” “Spanish Castle Magic” and 14 other numbers—is generally quite good and features 5.1 surround sound. The video, unfortunately, cuts frequently to still images and an onscreen message indicating that all cameras have been shut off, but the audio never stops, and neither do Hendrix’s guitar pyrotechnics.
Watch the Experience perform “Foxey Lady” at Maui
Watch the trailer for the Maui film
A top editor at leading consumer and trade magazines for more than 40 years, Jeff has interviewed dozens of musical luminaries, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tommy James, Tom Waits, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan.
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