The Montreux Jazz Festival is arguably the finest music festival in the world. It has always been a dream of mine to attend the festival and hopefully, one day, I will be able to do so. However, with Blu-ray, with its high definition picture and lossless multichannel audio capabilities, we now have the technology that can transport us to a concert venue without us ever having to leave the couch. How successful this experience is in our home depends, in part, on the quality of the video and audio on a given disc, which can vary widely from release to release. The question to be answered today is how successful Eagle Vision’s Carlos Santana Presents Blues at Montreux 2004 is in being able to transport us to Montreux. The short answer, pretty darn good.
Concert
Montreux is more than just jazz as the festival has hosted many pop, rock and blues performers over the years. One night in 2004, Carlos Santana was given the opportunity to present as well as play with three of his favorite blues artists, Bobby Parker, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Buddy Guy.
The blues presented here runs the gamut from raw early blues to Chicago blues to shuffle beat blue such as one of may all time blues numbers “Further On Up the Road.” If this tune doesn’t make you want to get up and dance, you don’t have a pulse. All three featured performers are presented in three separate sets, starting with Bobby Parker and ending with Buddy Guy. All three sets are excellent although I must say that I enjoyed the Buddy Guy set the best. Carlos Santana comes out to jam with the bands near the end of their sets as does Buddy GUy on Clarence Brown’s set and Bobby Parker on Buddy’s Guy’s set . All three sets are packed with at least 10 numbers, with the song lists as follows:
Bobby Parker: Straight Up No Chaser, Break it Up, Breaking Up Somebody’s Home, Nothing But The Blues, So Glad I Found You, I Ain’t Superstitious, It’s Unfair, Going Down Slow, and three featuring Carlos Santana, Chill Out, Mellow Down Easy and Watch Your Step.
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown: Bits And Pieces, Strange Things Happen, I’m Beginning To See The Light, Sunrise Cajun Style, Honey Boy, Further On Up The Road, I’ve Got My Mojo Working (with Buddy Guy and Carlos Santana), Drifter (with Carlos Santana), Grape Jelly (with Carlos Santana) and Okie Dokie Stomp (with Carlos Santana and Niles Rodgers).
Buddy Guy: Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Louise McGhee, Gone Got Old, Hoochie Choocie Man, Fever, Drowning On Dry Land, Stormy Monday (with Carlos Santana), Jam Session I with Carlos Santana and Bobby Parker, So Many Roads So Many Trains (with Carlos Santana and Bobby Parker) and Jam Session II with Carlos Santana, Nile Rodgers and Bobby Parker.
If you are a fan of the blues, you will love this release. Recommended.
Video
It is often said that the best HD is like looking out of a window at a live event. The video on this release fits this description perfectly. This is a great looking release, with exceptional clarity and detail and without even a hint of video noise. Colors are rich and bright and very natural. Blacks are deep and solid. Detail is exceptional, with every skin pore, skin blemish visible as well as each scratch, dent and smudge on the various musical instruments. Clarity is excellent, with the front of your screen transformed into a highly polished piece of glass and the only thing separating you from the concert venue. Excellent stuff!
Audio
With the one exception noted below, this is an exceptional audio presentation. What struck me most about the audio here is the sound design and in particular, the use of the surrounds. The surrounds are used only for room acoustics and the audience, rather than for instrument placement. All the music comes from the front three speakers with the surrounds filling your room with crowd noise as well as room reflections and reverb. In the opinion of this writer, this is how live concerts should be presented in the multichannel format as it more accurately recreates the live concert experience. I don’t know about you, but when I attend a concert, the musicians are on the stage, not behind you and as such, should be presented this way at home.
The other thing that struck me immediately about this release is the incredible levels of transparency and imaging. All of the instruments are placed perfectly before you, in the identical positions as they appear on screen. Depth of the soundstage is excellent as well. Vocal reproduction is tremendous. Just listen to the opening numbers on Buddy Guy’s set with just him on acoustic guitar and vocals. Both his voice as well as the guitar sound as if they are in the room with you.
The only real issue I had with the sound is in the level of bass response which is a bit lower than I would have liked. As a result, the deep throbbing bass that is the hallmark of a live blues concert in missing, along with the roar of the Hammond B-3 organ, which sounds a bit more like a whimper than a roar. With a bit more bass, this would have been a 5 star audio presentation for sure. As it is, 4.5 stars will have to do. I only listened to the full concert using the multichannel audio option. A 2 channel mix is provided as well whoich has the same sonic attributes as the 5.1 audio mix. Both are excellent.
Special Features
Zero extras equals zero stars. Pretty simple. The disc is packed with so much music, 238 minutes to be exact, that I can’t say that I was longing for any extras.
Final Thoughts
If you are a fan of the blues, you will love this release. The fact that the video is outstanding is an added bonus. Recommended for fans only.
