Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie)
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Features
• Black & White
• Dolby
• Live
• NTSC
In Theaters : 23 March, 1999
DVD Release : 22 August, 2000 |
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Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie) Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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John Coltrane's Performance
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Afro Blue: It may be one of my favourite tunes of Coltrane, but here Coltrane seems just a little uninspired. A couple of times his soprano rises above the low-set mike and the sound drops out. McCoy Tyner is more worthy of attention, with a fine piano solo. Oh yes, and why is Coltrane holding a cigarette at the beginning of the performance?? He pauses, takes a puff, and grinds it out with his shoe - all in mid-performance! I think this may be Coltrane's sense of humour - he knew the cameras would be on him and wanted to do something weird. I couldn't imagine even trying to play an instrument with a cigarette in one hand.
Also, watch out for Ralph Gleason's condescending attitude - his peering down at Tyner's piano with smug curiosity when he does a fantastic solo, and actually laughing when Coltrane's solo reaches its peak. And don't even mention the insipid speech (jazz musicians like poets in a supermarket???)
Alabama: Get the disc if only for this. This is the only recorded performance of Alabama that is complete. The version on disc was sadly incomplete thanks to a screw-up in the recording studio! The style is sombre and quiet, a good contrast to the screeching of Afro Blue. I like Elvin Jones' drumming here. Look out for Alice Coltrane sitting in the background here.
Impressions: The other two numbers are pretty short, seemingly to make room for a truly inspired performance of Impressions that lasts fourteen minutes and is the meat of the program. Coltrane states the theme, then leaves the stage for McCoy Tyner's amanzing solo, which is truly one of his best. Then Tyner himself drops out, and Jimmy Garrison takes over. To me, the Garrison solo is the highlight here. As amazing as the Coltrane and Tyner solos are, Garrison's strumming is truly unbelieveable. I usually don't like Garrison's solos on disc, but this one is great. Seeing Garrison's intense concentration may help, of course. You can see why people say puddles of sweat were left on the stage when the Classic Quartet had been on. Also, you can finally see why there's usually an annoying buzzing during Garrison's solos - it's his humming!
Then Coltrane comes back on with a screeching, energetic solo that is another highlight. But just as he approaches the end - a dull sounding announcer gives us the name of the TV channel - and the performance is CUT OFF!!! ARRRGH! I hate that - if only the programmers had the decency to keep the end of the performance in...
As it is, this Coltrane disc is truly worth getting - I'd be interested in the Sonny Rollins one too.
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Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie) dvd movie.