One Night With Blue Note DVD

[connoisseur series500]

To my knowledge, Freddie doesn't drink or smoke. I am basing this on one of the interviews he gave on the BBC. His eyes were clear so I assume that he was compos mentis during the concert.

I've seen the VHS version and not the DVD. Can't wait to see "Recorda Me" and "Appointment to Ghana," both of which were not included on the VHS.

Didn't know what to think of Cecil Taylor's performance. Was he randomly pounding? I am not a musician so I cannot know, but it certainly wasn't something I could subject my patient guests to when I played the VHS for them. I've never been a fan of Cecil Taylor but perhaps others on this board are and can support their man as depicted on the video.

I thought Jimmy Smith's solo on "Blues Walk" was criminally short. We want to see the great man play!! At the same time, Lou seemed to blow forever on the same song.

All of the horns were terrrific on Moanin. I still think Lloyd's performance on "Tone Poem" is the best of all; and I like Pettruchini's contributions as well. Freddie was definitely ON throughout the concert as well.

Here's a question: who was notable for their absence?

In my opinion, it just isn't the same without a Horace Silver appearance. He had Woody and Joe Henderson there to handle the horn work. I really regret that he wasn't there. Who else should have been there? We could have used some examples of soul jazz and had a Big John Patton led set as well.

Edited November 6, 2003 by connoisseur series500

[CJ Shearn]

ConnoiseurSeries500, on the DVD they include "Song For my Father" as bookends for the intro and closing, perhaps to make up for Horace's absence. I also notice Wayne was not present, he was certainly a HUGE part of the BN legacy. I believe between the original 4 LP's/CD's/VHS and now the new DVD all the music has been released save for "Maiden Voyage" which as I recall from the original volume 1 liners was "tired and overlong". I still don't see why BN did not include the 4 or 5 performances from the albums, missing from the DVD, perhaps there were technical problems which prevented their reissue on it?

[Peter Johnson]

I was wondering where Elvin was...

[Soul Stream]

I think this was a good Blue Note reunion. Although, not the "ultimate." Too many of the main players are missing. Wayne, Horace,ect.

I think the Jimmy Smith/Lou/Stanley/Burrel/Tate was the "ode to soul-jazz." Think about it, in the mid 80's John Patton was a TOTALLY forgotten man. His history, along with Grant Green's, has been re-written in the last 10 or 15 years. But in the 85, he, Reuben Wilson, ....Sam Rivers and a host of others were virtually forgotten.

[connoisseur series500]

Well said, SS.

Patton's misfortune was to blossom during Blue Note's dying days--a flower growing in an desert. So sad, because his 1968-9 sessions were simply outstanding.

[connoisseur series500]

ConnoiseurSeries500, on the DVD they include "Song For my Father" as bookends for the intro and closing, perhaps to make up for Horace's absence. I also notice Wayne was not present, he was certainly a HUGE part of the BN legacy. I believe between the original 4 LP's/CD's/VHS and now the new DVD all the music has been released save for "Maiden Voyage" which as I recall from the original volume 1 liners was "tired and overlong". I still don't see why BN did not include the 4 or 5 performances from the albums, missing from the DVD, perhaps there were technical problems which prevented their reissue on it?

Cool! Is this vintage Horace footage, or is it different players handling the tune? I guess I'll find out soon enough as the DVD is on its way.

[CJ Shearn]

sorry if I misworded it, they just use the original recording for background music. Dissapointing isn't it? The DVD is well done, great sound, nice film transfer, altho if you use the search function on your DVD player you may see some after images that don't appear in the film itself. Were the VHS releases widescreen? cuz the footage shown in the "Blue Note: The Story of Modern Jazz" documentary is wide screen. Overall the DVD is excellent and worth repeated viewings. I watch most my concert DVD's to death anyway.

[connoisseur series500]

Were the VHS releases widescreen?

I don't believe so.

[Eric]

Just checked this out - wonderful stuff!!! It is nice to see all the guys in pretty good shape (guess this was ~ 20 years ago). Sure, there are plenty of guys who should have been there, but no complaints on the basic cast. I saw very few of these guys live (only McCoy, Blakey and Woody Shaw), so this is a huge treat.

Perhaps hard to separate the "historical quotient" from the "getting off" factor , but this is a "must have" for all BN fans.

Eric

[CJ Shearn]

I think overall, the best performances have to be the Hancock/Carter/Williams set w/ Hubbard, Joe Hen, and Booby Hutcherson, "Appointment in Ghana", "Summertime", The Donaldson/Smith/Burrell/Tate/Turrentine set, though I agree as everyone else, the Cecil Taylor piece was a questionable way to end the DVD. Why not have ended it with that great Bennie Wallace performance or tunes from the Tyner/Shaw/McLean/McBee/DeJohnette set? I'm grateful for what is here, they could have filledit up some.

[sidewinder]

They should have included 'Passion Dance' by Jackie and McCoy, which to my understanding followed 'Ghana'. It's an equally fiery performance and de Johnette really comes alive on this one (he always did sound good backing McLean). Too bad it was omitted.

With respect to the Cecil Taylor solo performance, maybe the problem is that the style is just too far removed from the preceeding Turrentine/Smith number and the Blue Note 'house style'. Funnily enough, I actually quite like this performance of 'Pontos Candatos' and Taylor's timing and concentration on the performance is incredible.

Freddie Hubbard was most definitely on form that night, although he does 'play to the gallery' a wee bit too much for my taste on a couple of occasions. It would have been nice to see James Spaulding in the lineup with Hutch (not to mention Harold Land..) but James Newton does a very credible job on 'Little B's Poem'. Nice performance of this.

Two particular standout performances for me. McCoy Tyner on 'Sweet and Lovely'. Short but superb. Also Cecil McBee with the McLean/Tyner and Charles Lloyd lineups. McBee was all over the bass that night..

It must have been an emotional night for many of the musicians (Michael Cuscuna states as much in the notes, with many of the musicians meeting up again with Alfred Lion for the first time since 1967). My memory of the time is that the Blue Note style of jazz was just starting to get some recognition around 1985. The DMM reissue LPs were starting to reappear, clubs in London were promoting the Blakey/Silver sound and established artists such as Tony Williams were forming new bands based very much in the BN style. After the jazz-rock dominated 1970s and early 80s, it was a very distinct change.

'Thumbs Up' then for the DVD. Both sound and visuals a very distinct improvement on the VHS. Having said that, the VHS does have 'Passion Dance'. There was also a nice intro on the VHS with Joe Henderson playing a solo 'Recorda Me' on the stairwell. It would have been good to see that included somewhere (a 'miscellaneous out-takes' section on the menu could have included this plus a few other nuggets of interest).

Edited November 30, 2003 by sidewinder

[connoisseur series500]

I've seen the DVD version now a few times and would definitely rate it a big improvement over the VHS.

I too am disappointed that "Passion Dance" was taken out; and I would also have included one other Charles Lloyd tune as he was "ON" that evening. I am very pleased to see a couple more Jimmy Smith tunes and I loved seeing Stanley Turrentine. His eyes are so incredibly expressive, and he's got that wonderful tone. It is interesting to see that some of the camera shots are different from those in the VHS.

Would like to refer those here to also check out a similar thread in the "artists" section. Some interesting comments there as well.

[Tjazz]

What's this Blue Note DVD?

It's different and has a higher list price;

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=EMI096008

Release date 1/27/2004

ONE NIGHT WITH BLUE NOTE-REUNION C

Sounds the same, but why the different price?

The earlier DVD release was only a $19.95 list, while this 1/27/2004 release has a $29.95 list price.

[andybleaden]

Well I used to have the videos. One off the tv and one prerecorded. I thought the dvd was brilliant and very good quality especially the sound and picutre quality.

I also thought the added extras were good too and really enjoyed them.

Andy

[Alexander]

I got this from my wife for Christmas this year. I loved it, of course. Strangely enough, although I don't consider myself a huge "fan," I found myself pleasantly surprised by the Taylor number. He was playing some pretty brilliant shit, and it made me want to reconsider some of his recordings. I agree that it wasn't the best way to end the DVD, however.

As to the rest of it, great, great stuff. My favorite was the number by Petrucciani and Lloyd. Stunning performace from both men! I'd seen the stuff with Hubbard, Hancock, and Henderson before, so it wasn't a surprise (although it is wonderful. Freddie was ON that night). I'm not a huge Soul Jazz fan, but I did enjoy Stanley T. and Jimmy Smith. Quite fun. Bobby Hutcherson was trancendent, as always. McCoy was in great form too, as was Woody Shaw.

Great fun to watch them all play. Two thumbs waaaay up! I'd like to see more from this concert in the future.

[CJ Shearn]

what's with the listing for a different version of the disc? I haven't checked the link, but that's weird they'd offer another version for $30, especially if there aren't additional extras.

[CJ Shearn]

ok, I just looked up this $29.95 version in question at dvduniverse.com. It says "One Night With Blue Note/Jewl" which to me indicates it might be a version housed in a jewelcase. Furthermore, it states that it is a 2 disc set. Who would I email to get info, True Blue/Mosaic?