DVD Reviews: Naxos releases third instalment in Jazz Icons series
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Posted by: editoron Tuesday, September 02, 2008 - 01:32 PM |
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Naxos releases third instalment in Jazz Icons series including previously not seen Oscar Peterson shows from 1963, 1964 and 1965.
By John Stevenson
Naxos of America, one of the world’s top classical music labels has teamed up with Reelin’ in the Years Productions LLC, to produce seven more titles in its highly regarded Jazz Icons series, featuring stunning concert performances, captured in crystalline clear black and white.
These wondrous performances highlight the individualistic artistry of canonical jazz figures such as Sonny Rollins, Oscar Peterson, Lionel Hampton, Nina Simone, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. No doubt, this is an inestimable gift to posterity and to jazz pedagogy.
Previously salted away in the vaults of television studios throughout Europe, the concerts were filmed between 1958 and 1975.
This material is now publicly available for the first time.
These deluxe-edition DVD’s also underscore a high degree of technical skill in the art of craft of moving image photography, and an equal level of appreciation for jazz on the European continent.
Among the most outstanding aspects of this particular series, jazz lovers will discover:
1. Previously not seen Oscar Peterson shows from 1963, 1964 and 1965 showcasing the late Canadian piano maestro in his prime. He is joined by bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen as well as by Clark Terry (who also sings) and Roy Eldridge;
2. Two outstanding Nina Simone concerts from 1965 and 1968 that chronicle her distinguished stature in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including the classic “Mississippi Goddam” – a must-have for any Simone fan;
3. A one-hour Lionel Hampton big band set filmed in 1958, which sees the Hamp romp through a mixture of high-energy jump blues and jazz numbers that absolutely delight his Belgian audience.
4. An exceptional 100-minute Bill Evans DVD detailing five separate performances filmed between 1965 and 1975. Evans is captured with four different rhythm sections including bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Alan Dawes, a respected former instructor at the Berklee School of Music.
5. Three fantastic Rahsaan Roland Kirk concerts, two performed in 1963 in Belgium and Holland and one from 1967 in Norway, featuring drummers Alex Riel and Daniel Humair and bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen.
6. Two Cannonball Adderley concerts from 1963 totalling 100 minutes, recorded two days apart in Germany and Switzerland. Both shows foreground the frontline horns of cannonball himself, Cannonball’s brother Nat, saxophonist Yusef Lateef and pianist Josef Zawinul.
7. Two Sonny Rollins concerts from 1965 and 1968 featuring the Kenny Drew and Niels-Henning Orsted-Pedersen.
There is a bonus disc accompanying the boxed set that is described as a “treasure-trove” of great performances featuring two-short Sonny Rollins sets together with interviews, a four song Rahsaan Roland Kirk set from 1963 and a two-song Nina Simone performance with a 1965 interview from 1965 featuring another amazing version of her classic “Mississippi Goddam”.
Each of these DVDs comes with a 24-page booklet containing informative essays as well as never before released photos and memorabilia.
The first Jazz Icons series, released in 2006, featured classic concerts by Thelonius Monk, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, Buddy Rich and Chet Baker.
A year later saw the release of the second series which threw the spotlight on vintage concerts by John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Dave Brubeck, Sarah Vaughan, Wes Montgomery, Duke Ellington and Dexter Gordon as well as a bonus disc to accompany the box-set.
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