Film

I always associated BBC programming with quality; with their nature documentaries that have some of the most impressive cinematography in any genre and some of their original programming to be hilarious or intriguing. Their production of Hamlet is definitely up to par.

Originally David Tennant, of Doctor Who fame, and Patrick “Captain Piccard” Stewart starred in recent rendition of the stage play, which was praised by critics and Patrick Stewart won a Olivier award, which is Britain`s highest stage honour. Thus BBC decided to pick it up and make a medium budget film adaptation. The film is a modern telling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet that is shot on location, rather than on stages and it definitely adds to the production value, adding an authentic quality to the film.

In comparison to the other screen adaptations of Hamlet, this version pales slightly in comparison to some of the other screen adaptations, but this one does get by with Patrick Stewart’s performance and it’s outside of the box approach. Hamlet was always a favourite Shakespeare play and I do enjoy when it’s done different, this modern retelling brings some middle ground between Gibson’s portrayal and Hawke’s portrayal.

When dealing with a Hamlet adaptation, a good leading man is required, I found that David Tennant was very passionate in his role, but at times it felt like he was overacting. There were times when I was left thinking about previous adaptations and thinking to myself, “I should be watch that instead of this”, however those thoughts were few and far between.

Hamlet has been done hundreds of times in different mediums and while this version may not be the best, it definitely has merit. It’s contemplative and bleak, which suits the story and while bringing Hamlet into a more modern time, we’re given an interesting take on the classic play.

Video

Hamlet’s video is displayed in 1.78:1 aspect ratio using the MPEG-4 AVC codec, but unfortunately we have yet another BBC Blu-ray release with 1080i resolution… Due the fact that most of the recent BBC Blu-rays with this resolution that have been released are all films and documentaries that were meant for television, thus 1080i is a reasonable alternative.

However, when you hear that the resolution is 1080i, that may put you off of the Blu-ray, but BBC has always delivered great looking blu-rays even with the limitations of the resolution. This film was actually shot on the RED one camera which to those who are familiar with it know that we’re dealing with one of the best cameras around.

It’s a very clean print and transfer, with little to no grain and absolutely no artefacting at all. There’s some interlacing lines that pop up once in a while, but nothing that takes away from the video quality looking anything but flawless.

Audio

Hamlet’s audio comes at us using the PCM 2.0 codec, which is a real bummer. Like I mentioned in the video section, the recent BBC releases are of movies and documentaries that were meant to be on TV and so quality standards are lower, thus we get PCM 2.0 codecs being used. However, unlike other companies that go back and remaster the films using higher resolution and remix their audio to include surrounds, we’re given the inferior quality.

Clearly the mix is front heavy, I had my receiver set to emulate surround using the 2.0 mix, so having the faux surround feel helped slightly, but overall the audio is very plain. Being dialogue heavy the centre channel works the hardest trying to separate all the elements, and the result is underwhelming.

It’s definitely disappointing to see a stereo mix on this film, for it had potential, especially with all the big rooms and set-pieces that the actors perform in. Surrounds could’ve been used to add atmospheric qualities, but instead we’re left with a fairly flat mix, not to mention muffled dialogue.

Special Features

The special features of Hamlet include a audio commentary by the director, producer and director of photography and a behind-the-scenes featurette. I found the commentary covers similar ground as the behind-the-scenes feature of the making of the movie. The featurette includes great interviews with the director, cast, art department, set designers, etc; I actually found that it was one of the more insightful featurettes I’ve seen. It covered recreating this new vision of the story and giving its own unique character; definitely a worthwhile watch.

Final Thoughts

If you’re a Shakespeare guy then this right up your alley, although it may not be the best representation of the source material, how many times can you watch the Kenneth Branagh version? If you’re a student who wants to try and get a leg up on the material, this may be a good way to do so, this is a fresh take on the play and it may help your understanding. I feel comfortable saying this a solid rental or a purchase to Shakespeare fans.

Of course Lionsgate wouldn’t think twice about making the artwork for the re-release closer to what tweens would look for in a vampire movie, however once they rent it expecting something similar to the Twilight saga and they get this dark, western, biker vampire film… well then I think the words “False advertising” would come up. Here’s why…

Film

Originally planned to be a western movie, Kathryn Bigelow needed to spice up the idea to make it more marketable. Originally, Bigelow wanted to take a different route and revitalize the western genre, meaning Near Dark was in a position to redefine too genres; the vampire film and the western. With its grungy and dark subject matter, cartoony and graphic violence and a hell of a cast, it really did stand out amongst vampire films.

After revisiting the film, I was reminded that my current tastes are not the same from ten years ago, but this film is just quirky enough to stay interesting. I may not run out and buy the movie, but this would be a solid rental.

I’m a fan of Kathryn Bigelow, she’s made some great action films over her career including; Point Break, Strange Days and the most recently, The Hurt Locker. I remember watching Near Dark and thinking it was this great clash between being scary and action-packed… it was one of those films you wanted to hide your eyes from, but at the same time, you wanted to see what was going to happen next.

With great performances from an interested slew of actors such as Lance Henriksen, one of my favourite B-horror movie actors, the film doesn’t feel campy or any less as exciting. There’s one performance that I always loved and it was Bill Paxton’s portrayal as a hot-headed, fast-talking lunatic that always had great lines and funny antics… It was the one performance I remembered from all those years ago and it’s still as hilarious now.

The film also had Bigelow behind the camera, which doesn’t hurt when the action starts, for as my aforementioned statement is proved… Kathryn Bigelow makes a great action film.

Video

Brought to us in 1.85:1 aspect ratio and using the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 codec, Near Dark has all the specs to please our eyes. However throughout the opening, I found the video overall was quite dark. I could still see what was going on and perhaps I’m being a bit nit-picky, but at times it was hard to keep up. The quality gets better as it goes on, but the overall brightness of the film (or lack thereof) during the nighttime shots was really off-putting.

The video quality, albeit dark, balances well between being both crisp and smooth (that sounds like contrasting ideas, but hear me out). The details were both clear and sharp, yet it wasn’t overdone… the great Gaussian-esque blur created by the lens’s depth of field maintained that great smoothness… The movie remains sharp, but maintains that diffused softness that really adds to the romantic subplot of the movie… I don’t really notice the soft focus as much when vampires are being shot at and running amok.

Audio

The audio for Near Dark comes at us in English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio or 2.0 PCM Audio, there’s also English and Spanish subtitles. Although I only speak English, I’m always disappointed when there’s limited language in regards to audio tracks and especially subtitles.

Overall the foley and dialogue come through in spades like most of Lionsgate’s transfers and it’s always great to hear some Tangerine Dream score blasting at us. (When is ‘Legend’ coming out on Blu-ray?!)

Special Features

As far as special features goes, Near Dark almost covers the bases for the basic line-up. We have an audio commentary by Kathryn Bigelow, “Living in Darkness” a making-of documentary, a deleted scene (with optional commentary by Bigelow) and some theatrical trailers.

The theatrical trailers for the film are very dated, one of which is more like a music video you’d see on YouTube that some had made using a song and clips from the movie. I spent most the time laughing.

The commentary and documentary are both very insightful. I feel I use that term a lot, but in regards to the commentary, I use it to determine whether or not it’s worth the time, especially if the movie itself doesn’t weigh in favor of a re-watch vote. This movie happens to be quirky enough to make the second viewing pleasant, and the commentary is full of behind -the-scenes information (some of it repeating the documentary) and some interesting back-story on the movie’s production.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a movie to tide you over until Twilight 3 comes out, I’d suggest staying away from this film. If you’re looking for a silly action film that can be a great experience if you don’t take it too seriously? Definitely rent it!

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.

Concert

As one would have expected, the music at this concert spans the entire Quincy Jones musical catalog, from jazz to pop to R&B and the blues. The music is played by a stellar band consisting of what has been described as the Montreux House band, consisting of Greg Phillinganes and David Delhomme on keyboards, Paul Jackson, Jr. on guitar, Nathan East on bass, John Robinson on drums and percussionist Paulinho da Costa. In addition, the band is backed by an incredible horn section, the Swiss Army Big band.

This set, consisting of a total of 26 tracks, is graced by numerous solo performers including the likes of Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin, Stevie Woods, James Moody, Freda Payne, Joe Sample, Mick Hucknall, Ledisi, Al Jarreau, Larry Williams, Petula Clark and Toots Thielemans, just to name a few. The set consists of the following songs in order of their appearance on the disc with the featured soloists in parens: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin and Stevie Woods), Let the Good Times Roll (Rahsaan Patterson and Patti Austin), Makin’ Whoopee (Patti Austin), Moody’s Song ( James Moody and Patti Austin), The Television Song (James Moody and John Robinson), Honeysuckle Rose (Joe Sample and Freda Payne), Shiny Stockings (Joe Sample and Freda Payne), I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town/In the Heart of the Night (Mick Hucknall), If I Ever Lose This Heaven (Ledisi), Midnight Sun (Al Jarreau and Larry Williams), One Mint Julip (Petula Clark), Goin’ To Chicago Blues (Petula Clark and Paolo Nutini), My Ship/Summertime (Franco Ambrosetti), Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (Nana Mouskouri and James Morrison), Almost Like Being in Love (Nana Mouskouri and James Morrison), Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister) (Chaka Khan, Patti Austin and Greg Phillinganes), What’s Goin’ On (Ledisi, James Morrison, Rahsaan Patterson, Tobias Preisig, Patrice Rushen and Toots Thielemans, Eyes of Love (Toots Thielemans), Walking in Space (Chala Khan and Lee Ritenour), Strawberry Letter 23 (Paolo Nutini and Lee Ritenour), How Do You Keep The Music Playing (Patti Austin), The Dude (Al Jarreau), Billie Jean (Naturally 7), Wall of Sound (Naturally 7), Mama Aifambeni (Angelique Kidjo), State of Independence (Angeliique Kidjo and Larry Williams), Everything Must Change (Curtis Stigers), Killer Joe (Herbie Hancock), Ai No Corrida (Patti Austin, Gabi Gioldberg, Dorothea Lorene, Stevie Woods, Kent Stetler & BIlly Cobham) and Stuff Like That with what seemed to be a cast of thousands.

There is a ton of great music here and some thrilling performances. The arrangements are spectacular even if the singing doesn’t always do justice to the music. The highlights for me are the Montreux House Band and the Swiss Army Big Band which are spectacular. Other highlights are any songs sung by Patti Austin who is heads and heels above any other singer on the set and by a wide margin. This woman clearly knows how to sing. While I loved all the arrangements, my favorites include What’s Goin’ On (featuring some excellent keyboard work by Patrice Rushen), Makin’ Whoopee, The Dude and Ai No Corrida along with a moving solo by Toots Thielemans on Eyes of Love.

While there is some really great performances, there are several low lights, including the singing of Petula Clark and Freda Payne (Freda, you just can’t scat sing, why bother even trying), who seem both to be over the hill, as well as Nana Mouskouri, who just can’t sing this type of material. I also didn’t care for Paolo Nutini who was also nearly impossible to understand mumbling though each song and simply had no feel for the material. I really enjoyed this concert despite the several low lights noted above. If you are a fan of Quincy Jones and great music from many musical genres, I am sure you will feel likewise.

Video

Quite simply, there is nothing to quibble with about the video presentation on this release. In fact, it is the finest looking concert video I have yet seen on Blu-ray. Clarity, image detail, color reproduction, color saturation and black levels are all excellent. The resulting image has incredible depth and three dimensionality. I was not able to detect any video noise, even in the darker sections of the video, such as shots of the audience. Detail is simply amazing, from the skin textures to the texture of the clothing (take a look at all the fine detail in James Moody’s black shirt as well as the engravings on his sax). In addition to the look of the video, the overall stage production was outstanding, with excellent lighting and staging which really contributed to the overall quality of the image. Clearly, great care went into the production of this concert. I wish all concert videos looked this good. Simply outstanding!

Audio

As good as the video was, the audio was even better. While the release contains an excellent sounding stereo track, the real star here is the DTS HD Master Audio track which is simply stunning. The sound of the full orchestra and horn section is simply amazing, which each instrument rendered beautifully within the sound stage and giving you a real sense of the breath and power of a big band from yesterday. There is a lot going on sonically in each track and the transparency and imaging are top notch, rendering a sound of excellent depth and three dimensionality with pinpoint placement of the various instruments within the soundstage. The sound of the full band simply fills your room with incredible audio reproduction, with the surrounds used aggressively throughout, providing an totally immersive sound experience and capturing the acoustics of the venue beautifully. Dynamics and bass response were excellent as well, as was the vocal track which was placed right out in front of the music. While I have heard a lot of great sounding concert videos on Blu-ray recently, this is the best sounding so far, a real feast for the ears. Well done.

Special Features

There is only one extra included with this release and it is entitled Thank Q. Thank Q takes you to Montreux of the date of the recording, showing the beautiful scenery of Montreux, Switzerland as well as a party for Quincy at Claude Nobbs Chalet, in the mountains high above Montreux. The video shows the various guests present at the party and contains statements by several of the guests (musicians and non musicians alike), voicing appreciation for Quincy Jones and his career accomplishments. The rest of Thank Q shows Quincy thanking many of the quests on stage at the conclusion of the concert. Thank Q is presented in high definition.

Final Thoughts

If you are a fan of Quincy Jones and are looking for a concert video with stunning audio and video reproduction, Quincy Jones: The 75th Birthday Celebration Live at Montreux is the release for you. Highly recommended.

Concert

If you are a fan of the Blues and in particular, the British brand of Blues from the 1960′s, this is the release for you. The release features the 70th Birthday concert of British blues pioneer John Mayall recorded in Liverpool, England on July 20, 2003( and was originally released on DVD on December 9, 2003), as part of a fundraising event for Unite for Unicef, to raise awareness and generate funds to end child exploitation.

The concert features John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers featuring his then current line-up of guitarist Buddy Whittington, organist Tom Canning, bassist Hank Van Sickle and drummer Joe Yuele. For this event, he was joined by former Bluesbreakers band members Mick Taylor and Eric Clapton as well as veteran trombonist Chris Barber. Quite simply, this concert simply cooks, with hard driving Blues at its finest with a stellar set featuring Eric Clapton which is the highlight of the concert.

The concert features a total of 16 tracks consisting of Southside Story, Kids Got the Blues, Dirty Water, Somebody Acting Like a Child, Blues for The Lost Days, Walking on Sunset, Oh, Pretty Woman, No Big Hurry, Please Mr. Lofton, Hideaway, All Your Love, Have You Heard, Hoochie Coochie Man, I’m Torn Down, It Ain’t Right and Talk To Your Daughter. The extras also feature three bonus tracks not included with the original DVD including Grits Ain’t Groceries and Jacksboro HIghway featuring the current Bluesbreakers line-up sans John Mayall and California, featuring the entire band, John Mayall, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Chris Barber. It doesn’t get much better than this folks! Stellar performances of some great heard driving Blues. Highly Recommended.

Video

Fans of this type of music and these players in particular will be thrilled with the video quality on this release. The video presentation features deep and inky blacks and well saturated and natural looking colors. Detail is excellent as is the level of overall clarity. The result is a highly detailed and sharp looking picture with excellent depth and three dimensionality. Shadow detail is top notch as well. Video noise which has plagued some recent releases, is almost non existent here.

The video on this release places you right in the tent at he performance that night, giving you a real glimpse of what it was like being at the concert that night. While the overall level of sharpness and clarity is excellent, some of the crowd shots appears to have been filmed in widescreen standard definition and are therefore a good bit softer than the rest of the presentation. However, that softness does not effect any of the actual performance video, just shots of the crowd, which I might add, really seems to be enjoying the show. Great stuff!

Audio

While I loved the video presentation, I found the audio to be even better. While a fine 48 kHz LCPM stereo is included, I did most of my listening with the lossless 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio track. This is one rockin’ track, placing you right in the front row. The track features excellent dynamics and balls to the wall bass response with a deep pulsating bass line that really drives the music along with the the beautifully recorded drum work by drummer Joe Yuele. If this music and the sonics here don’t get your feet a tappin’, you don’t have a pulse.

The overall sound is smooth and open with excellent transparency and imaging. The presentation of the instruments across the front of the sound field is spot on, matching the placement of the musicians in the video perfectly. The guitars, especially that of Eric Clapton have that biting edge that you experience at a live performance, but without sounding overly hard or shrill in any way. The surrounds are actively engaged throughout the concert, providing an excellent sense of ambiance, placing you in the venue with the rest of the audience. I really can’t image this concert being recorded and presented any better than it is on this release. Very well done.

Special Features

As noted above, there are three extra concert tracks included with the extras, all encoded with DTS HD Master Audio. The first two, Grits Ain’t Groceries and Jacksboro Highway feature the members of the Bluesbreakers without John Mayall. The final track, California, features all of the musicians who performed in the concert and is the best of the three extra tracks. Also included with the extras is an interview with John Mayall presented in widescreen standard definition where he discusses his musical career.

Final Thoughts

If you are a fan of John Mayall, Mick Taylor and Eric Clapton and the Blues in general, this is the release for you. This Blu-ray release features an excellent video presentation with stellar audio that I am sure offers a significant upgrade over the prior DVD release. Highly recommended.

I want to point out that this disc is not a Dave Matthews Band concert.  It is just Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds in a very intimate setting as Dave goes on his story-telling excursions in between songs, which range from a trip to Africa with his wife and kids (inspiration for the song ‘Eh Hee’) to the medical plight of Iraq war veteran Jon Town.

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds met in the early 1990′s at a bar called Miller’s in Charlottesville, Virginia.  Dave was tending bar and Tim was a weekly act, working his hands through what appeared to be all kinds of arthritic positions to pull off rifts and chords on a level that most guitarists can only dream about.  The two got into talking and eventually found themselves running through jams in Dave’s basement.  It was then that their musical friendship was formed and has remained strong to this day.

So, how is this performance, you ask?  Well, please read on to find out how Dave Matthews & Time Reynolds: Live at Radio City Music Hall looks, sounds and entertains.

Film 

The concert took place in New York City at the landmark Radio City Music Hall in late April of 2007.  You’ll find few band-enhancing frills here as it’s just Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds playing through a wonderfully varied set list.  It’s just a couple guitars and a piano, folks.  Oh, and Tim’s crazy pedal recording device.  I’m sure this piece of equipment is something very common in the guitar world and my ignorance to it sticks out like Santa Claus on Hanukkah.  Even so, I am fascinated by the effects this thing can replicate.
As I mentioned, the set list is varied.  While it’s nearly all of Dave Matthews own written work (‘Still Water’ is by Daniel Lanois and ‘Down By the River’ from Neil Young), some of it comes from his solo album (Some Devil) and some comes from a variety of Dave Matthews Band albums.  There are two tunes in particular that are the work of Tim Reynolds, (‘Betrayal’ and ‘You Are My Sanity’).  Completely instrumental, you will appreciate how talented of a guitarist this guy is once you see and hear him hammer out these two solos.

The storytelling that is laced in between songs is something that fans have come to expect and look forward to of these more intimate Dave and Tim concerts (as opposed to the heavier, more produced DMB concerts).  Even if it’s just Dave Matthews talking about a note he just screwed up on, it’s a time to interact with the audience and though the audience doesn’t get to ask back, there is still a high level of appreciation there for separating the artist from the performance and just hearing what’s on their mind.  Let’s face it, we all put our pants on the same way, but our attention is captured when a celebrity we admire speaks.  Now, on to the 26-song set list that totals a runtime of 2 hours and 49 minutes:

1. Bartender
2. When The World Ends
3. Stay or Leave
4. Save Me
5. Crush
6. So Damn Lucky
7. Gravedigger
8. The Maker
9. Old Dirt Hill (Bring That Beat Back)
10. Eh Hee
11. Betrayal
12. Out Of My Hands
13. Still Water
14. Don’t Drink The Water
15. Oh
16. Cornbread
17. Crash Into Me
18. Down By The River
19. You Are My Sanity
20. Sister
21. Lie In Our Graves
22. Some Devil
23. Grace Is Gone
24. Dancing Nannies
25. #41
26. Two Step

Video 

There is a certain scene early in the disc that is the epitome of Blu-ray.  The shot features an over-the-shoulder angle from the top of the balcony looking down to the stage as one young lady has her cell phone open to take a shot of the venue’s layout below.  It is one spectacular view and I felt like I was watching this through a window.  I wish the entire concert was this crystal clear.  There are several scenes that do relay this type of quality.  Many include the close-ups on Dave and Tim.  Pore whores unite, because this is what you folks are after.  Looking for every little dermatologic detail?  You’ll find such scenes on this disc.  Let’s not leave out the less intrusive angles that manage to capture aspects as fine as the fingerprint smudges on the face of a guitar.

In addition, there are also some scenes that contain a little grain, but not on a distracting level.  For instance, when the camera pans back from the stage, the arches over the stage consistently contain film imperfections in their imagery, but again, it’s not quite distracting.  Shots from the behind the performers looking out into the audience are not all that inspiring at times.  Some are better than others but there’s a bit of a haze over the seated crowd.  Then there are other scenes in which there really isn’t any grain present but they don’t have the ‘wow’ of that cell phone shot I spoke of earlier.  All in all, it’s a very beautiful presentation that is not perfect.  Join the club, right?  It’s still quite an enjoyable visual experience brought to us in 1080p resolution with a VC-1 encode and 16:9 widescreen format.

Audio 

For a concert on Blu-ray, it is imperative that it not merely sound good, it must sound great.  The masterminds behind this concert disc were apparently well aware of that and took it to heart during its creation.  It sounds incredible.  I watched this on Blu-ray a while back before I was connected to surround sound.  It was an enjoyable viewing.  Now?  It’s just bad…bad as in the good kind of bad.  I was drawn in like never before.  Both the rear and front channels are utilized with impressive range and nothing is left to the imagination.  Every little strum and every hoot and holler from the audience is captured quite well here in this audio-enveloping experience.

The lyrics are delivered out of the front center speaker while other sounds, specifically the guitars, are delivered equally through rear, front left and front right speakers.  And even though there’s no drum kit or bass guitar here, the subwoofer chimes in with its mild yet potent release of the deeper chords.  It is just an impressive piece of work on this Blu-ray.

Special Features 

Disc 1 is entirely the concert.  Disc 2 is reserved specifically for the bonus features.  There is some good and some bad here.  The bad is that there are only two extras on this disc.  One is a documentary, the other a photo montage set to music.  The good is that both are in glorious 1080p High Definition and that documentary is a very solid extra.

• “So Damn Lucky” Documentary – A 45-minute look at Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds, how the two met and progressed their musical careers as well as discussions with the fans and some casual interviews with Dave and Tim.  If I had a complaint here, it would be that too much time was spent showing pieces of the concert from disc 1.
• Photo Montage – a 4-minute slide show of photographs set to the song ‘Grace is Gone.’  The photos are well-varied, featuring on-stage shots, magazine covers and candid captures away from the spotlight.

Final Thoughts 

Well, it looks like my review has come full circle.  It pains me to say this but while I so badly want to label this disc as “Buy It,” I must refer to my opening dialogue regarding an individual’s taste in music.  No matter how good this Blu-ray looks and sounds, people who are not fans of Dave Matthews will not buy it.  Fair enough.  Thus, while this should be a sure-fire buy for any Dave or DMB fan out there, I must label it “Fans Only” as a result.

I guess what draws me to his music, aside from the sound, is the often-found camouflage in his lyrics.  It makes you think.  There is usually a story or hidden meaning under his work.  I like the thought-provoking style that is offered in this manner of songwriting.  If you don’t want to think about the music you’re listening to, there’s always Brittney Spears.

Currently on my concert-going résumé, I’ve got 17 Dave Matthews Band shows under my belt (with 2 on the agenda for summer ’09) and 1 Dave & Tim show (as they are affectionately referred to).  Believe me, if you think that’s a lot, talk to some of the other people at these shows.  You’ll find a fair amount of “This is my 52^nd show” or whatever the grand tally may be depending on the fan.  People ask me how I can go to see the show so many times.  Let’s take the 2005 tour as an example.  I saw the show five or six times that year.  Every single performance was different.  I saw ACDC twice on the 08-09 tour.  It was same show both times.  I mention this not to offer some silly bragging rights of how many concerts I’ve been to.  Rather, I am trying to point out how uncommon creativity has become in the music business and why Dave Matthews is on a different level than many of his peers.

Which brings us to the B.B. King Live at Montreux from the folks at eagle Rock Entertainment. Not only does this music start your foot a tappin’ and your head a swaying, but makes you want to get up and dance.

Concert

As you can tell from the intro to this review, I loved the music on this release. B.B. King is one of the greatest Blues guitarists ever. Even though he was 68 years old when this concert performance was recorded, he was on the top of his game. This release contains of 17 songs recorded in 1993 at Montreux as well as an additional 3 at a performance at Montreux in 2006 when B.B. King was 80. Both sets are exceptional.

The tracks recorded in 1983 consist of Fanfare, Six Pack, Two I Shoot Blues, Let the Good Times Roll, When it All Comes Down (I’ll STill Be Around), Chains of Love, Caldonia, All Over Again, Since I Met You Baby, Playing With My Friends, Ain’t Nobody Home, Why I Sing the Blues, Blues Man, Rock Me Baby, Please Accept My Love and his signature piece, The Thrill is Gone. The 2006 bonus tracks include Why I Sing the Blues, When Love Comes to Town and Guess Who.

The music on this release is hard driving Blues at its best, featuring excellent musicianship, performances and songs. When it comes to the music on this release, there is nothing not to like. This is incredible stuff. I have never seen B.B. KIng Live and it was a thrill to be able to experience these performances at home in the quality they are presented here, both in terms of performance as well as sonics. If you are a fan of the Blues and B.B. KIng, you owe it to yourself to check out this release. I know I am glad I have the opportunity to do so. Great stuff.

Video

The concert footage was recorded in 1993 in high definition video. This is not a filmed performance transferred to high definition video. I can only assume that is was recorded using the Japanese analog high def format that was rolled out in the very early 1990′s. For the most part, this is a very nice looking release and looks much better than the previously reviewed Diana Krall Live in Rio release from Eagle Rock, with not even a hint of video noise present with much better stage lighting.

The video here features a nice and natural looking color palette with excellent shadow detail and stable although not exactly deep black levels. Overall detail is good but not great and falls a good bit short of the very best looking high def concerts I have seen, the best of which is the K.D. Lang Live in London release which is on the review queue. In fact, the 2006 concert footage looks appreciably better than the 1993 footage, having the detail, clarity, sharpness and inky blacks that the 1993 footage lacks and warrants  a 4.5 score in comparison to the 4 star score for the 1993 footage.

My biggest issue with the 1993 footage is that it is soft compared to more recent high def video efforts. However, overall, given the age of the concert footage, the video presentation on the 1993 footage is more than acceptable and overall exceeded my expectations. If you are a fan of the Blues and B.B. King in particular, you will be more than happy with the video presentation on this release.

Audio

Other than the three caveats noted below, this is an excellent audio presentation. All three of the audio encodes on this release are very good with the DTS HD Master Audio being the clear winner over the LCPM stereo and Dolby Digital tracks. The overall fidelity of the sound on the lossless track is very good with excellent transparency and imaging. The placement of the instruments in the sound field is spot on, with the placement of each instrument in the sound field corresponding exactly with the location of those instruments on screen.

The vocal track is placed front and center on top of the remainder of the recording. The sound of Lucille, B.B. King’s guitar sounds fantastic and is placed just under his vocals in the sound field. Soundstaging is excellent as is the sense of depth and air between the various instruments. Even when the entire band is cooking, you can follow each instrument clearly as none of the instruments get lost in the sound mix. I particularly enjoyed the sound of the Hammond B-3 here. I don’t think there is a better sounding electric instrument than the B-3 and its very organic sound is captured here beautifully as is the rhythmic drive of the band. My main quibble with the audio is that it is a tad bright, at reference levels,  having an overly hot top end. With the exception of the 2006 tracks, I would have preferred a tad more bass although I wouldn’t describe the bass response here as being weak by any means.

The bass response on the 2006 tracks is deeper and tighter than that on the 1993 tracks. I would have also preferred that the surrounds be limited to crowd noise and ambiance as the instruments bleed too much into the surround channels for my taste, although not obnoxiously so. The sound mix places you right in the front row of the crowd and really gets your foot tapping, which is the sign that you are enjoying some really great music.

Special Features

Other than the three 2006 bonus tracks, there are no extras included with this release. Even at the 80 years of age, B.B. King can still play a mean guitar, and cranks out three great tunes. I am not really sure that I would classify the three 2006 tracks as extras as we usually thinks of extras on home video releases, hence my overall score. They are three great performances and the score provided is not a verdict on the quality of those three performances, just on the lack of extras such as interviews and the history of the Montreux Jazz festival which I would have liked to have seen included.

Final Thoughts

If you love the Blues and B.B. King in particular, you will really enjoy this release. I know I sure did. Highly recommended.

I had the pleasure of seeing him open for Diana Krall last summer and was similarly impressed by the tone of his trumpet that night in Atlantic City as well. For those of you that think of Chris Botti as a lite jazz artist, see him live, I think you will change you mind. When I heard that a new Blu-ray concert disc was being released featuring Chris and his band, I was anxiously waiting to see if they could improve on the prior release. I am pleased to report that they have.

Concert

Chris Botti: Live in Boston was recorded at Boston’s Symphony Hall on two nights, September 18 and 19, 2008. Chris was backed by the Boston Pops as well as his stellar band which on these nights included Billy Childs on piano, the incredible and acrobatic Billy Kilson on drums, Robert Hurst on bass and Mark Whitfield on guitar. All four are on the top of their game on this release.

As was the case with the Chris Botti: Live with Orchestra and Special Guests release, Chris Botti: Live in Boston is more than a Chris Botti concert as it features performances by several guests, not known for their jazz chops. Returning from the prior release is Sting, who is credited with launching Chris’ carrier as a soloist and headliner. On the prior release, Sting proved that he can’t really sing jazz standards all that well. However, on this release, he sticks to more familiar material with much better results. As was also the case on Chris Botti’s last live recording, the inclusion of the special guests is something of a hit and miss affair. My favorite of the collaborations is the performance of Cinema Paradiso with Yo Yo Ma which is simply phenomenal. I also really enjoyed Smile featuring Steven Tyler which he dedicated to his father. It was a very moving performance. Also near the top of the pecking order was a funky version of The Look of Love featuring Mark Whitfield’s cousin, Sy Smith on vocals. While she is a bit of an unknown, she may not be one for long after this release.  Honorable mention goes to the duet with Emmanuel featuring Lucia Micarelli on violin.

While the release has many high points, it had several flat ones as well. The first is American Idol runner up Katherine McPhee’s performance of I’ve Got You Under My Skin. While it features an excellent arrangement, Ms. McPhee’s voice is simply not up to the task, sounding thin and stilted in comparison. The same is true for John Mayer’s performance of Glad to Be Happy from Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours of the Mourning album. While Mr. Mayer has a much better voice than does Ms. McPhee, he to lacks the smoothness and ease required to pull these numbers off effectively. However, both Ms. McPhee and Mr. Mayer are to be commended for having the guts to branch out from their more familiar musical styles here and taking chances, especially fronting the Boston Pops in such an incredible venue.

While I am not a big Josh Groban fan, he more than holds his own on two numbers here, one being a duet with Sting on Sting’s Shape of My Heart. While I would have preferred a release featuring more straight ahead jazz and performances by Chris and his band without all the special guests, I can without hesitation recommend this release to fans of Chris Botti as well as those of you out there who are not familiar with his music. I have been lucky enough to have met Chris Botti and can attest to the fact that the warm and gracious performer you see on stage on this release is the same person you encounter off stage. I can’t say that I have ever encountered a more engaging personality. Give this release a look… I think you will be more than glad you did.

Video

While I had some issues with some serious noise on Chris Botti’s prior Blu-ray release, I am happy to report that the video on the Live in Boston release is a substantial improvement over the prior release. The release features exceptional video quality. The release features spot on color reproduction and deep and stable blacks. Clarity and detail are top notch as well. The lighting of this concert is top notch as well and captured incredibly well on this Blu-ray release.

On a large screen, you feel as though you have been transported inside Symphony Hall during the concert. Shadow detail is wonderfully presented here as well with not even a hint of black crush. The only fault I had with the video on this release is that some of the crowd shots taken from the stage lack the sharpness and detail of the rest of the concert. This is a small quibble to be sure but enough of a shortcoming to keep this release from having a perfect score, at least as far as the video is concerned. All in all, this is a great looking release and is one that will no doubt thrill fans of Chris Botti.

Audio

While I had some minor quibbles with the overall video quality, I have no reservations whatsoever about the 7.1 Dolby True HD track presented on this release. It is simply outstanding and the finest audio track I have ever heard of a live concert performance on any home video format. The special quality of this release is apparent as soon as you hear the opening notes on the trumpet during the opening track, Ave Maria, which is not the type of song that you would normally expect to open a jazz show. This recording captures the live sound in Symphony Hall with incredible fidelity, placing you in the hall during the show.

The surround speakers are used perfectly, capturing the hall ambiance, decay and reverberation faithfully. Bass is deep and tight. Transparency and imaging are beyond reproach, creating a sound field of incredible openness, width and depth. The sound of the orchestra is lush and full, just like an orchestra sounds in a live performance and importantly on this release, never drowns of Chris or his band. Dynamics are off the charts as well. Just listen to the band rock out on the second track When I fall in Love, with a deep and driving bass line and mesmerizing drum track. This is about as good as it gets.

Special Features

The extras are rather threadbare consisting of a behind the scenes featurette that shows the rehearsals for the show and interviews with Chris, his producer and fellow performers. The behind the scenes featurette is interesting in that it shows an incident that happened on the concert’s first night where an older man collapsed in the audience in the front rows during the John Mayer performance. Fortunately, the gentleman survived and is even featured during the featurette, apologizing for his mishap. Needless to say, this incident brought the show to a crashing halt.

In order to get things moving and get the crowd back in a happier frame of mind,  Chris Botti, Sting, Yo Yo Ma and Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller, came on stage and performed a very moving version of Sting’s Fragile as Sting and Chris Botti had done at Sting’s concert on 9/11 while Chris was playing in Sting’s band. In order to access this track, you will have to view the featurette. Unlike the rest of the featurette, the audio on Fragile is presented in Dolby True HD and sounds just as good as the main concert footage. The featurette even shows how Josh Groban lost his train of thought during his performance with Sting and stopped singing while the band continued to play. It is amazing that such an embarrassing moment was included on this release and is a testament to Chris Botti’s friendship with Josh Groban that is was. This extra is well worth a look for the performance of Fragile alone.

Final Thoughts

Chris Botti: Live in Boston captures Chris Botti and his band at their finest. The release features excellent video and one of the finest sounding concert recordings I have ever heard on any home video format. Whether you are fan or Chris Botti or not, please check out this release. You will be glad you did. Highly recommended.