<p> With blues as his launch pad, Jimi Hendrix set forth into unexplored outer reaches of sound. The journey was made possible by the amplification of Marshall stacks and his understanding for molding distortion into blues-rock. On the documentary <em>Jimi Plays Berkeley</em>, shot on Memorial Day weekend 1970, Hendrix's soaring flights are tethered to the ground by a bassist and drummer who sometimes strain to hold on to him. </p> <p>Of course, the footage includes Hendrix playing with his teeth (in short bursts of showmanship) and making love to his guitar as if to a voluptuous courtesan, yet often his face is thoughtful and alert, as if listening for his next move. A product of its time, <em>Jimi Plays Berkeley</em> includes comments from the crowd waiting outside the hall (“Far out”) and a glimpse of the stupid side of the '60s in the form of a protest against the <em>Woodstock</em> film because of its $3.50 ticket price. “The people made the movie,” one of the sign wavers insists. Yeah, whatever. </p> <p><em>Jimi Plays Berkeley </em>also includes scenes of big campus demonstrations, complete with rioters and riot police, as if to connect Hendrix's performance with the larger events in the surrounding world. As it turned out, Hendrix's music has endured and the larger events have become historical footnotes. The new Blu-ray is digitally restored from 16mm and includes scenes omitted from the original release. </p>
