Harry Connick Jr. – In Concert On Broadway (2010/Columbia Music Blu-ray) + Louis Prima: In Person – The Wildest
Performances (S’More Entertainment DVD) + Rory Gallagher – Irish Tour ‘74 (Eagle Vision Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/C/B- Sound: B/C/B- Extras: C/C/B- Concerts/Documentary: B/B-/B-
Sometimes
the best music artists are the ones who have some huge commercial success, but
spend most of their career on a good artistic run and that can be said for the
following talents as exemplified by their latest releases.
We start
with Harry Connick Jr. – In Concert On
Broadway (2010) which features the singer/pianist performing many standards
and classics, including:
We Are In Love
The Way You Look Tonight
Besame Mucho
The Other Hours
Nowhere With Love
How Insensitive
Come By Me
My Time Of Day/I've Never Been In Love Before
All the Way
Bayou Maharajah
Recipe For Love
Hear Me In The Harmony
Light the Way
Tug Boat
St. James Infirmary Blues
Take Her To The Mardi Gras
How Come You Do Me Like You Do?
Oh, Didn't He Ramble
Bourbon Street Parade
Mardi Gras In New Orleans
Because
of his acting and many articulate interviews, it is sometimes surprising to see
him in his first calling doing as well as he does, but part of this is because
you cannot name one hit song of his because he really has not had a huge hit or
new song to call his own. He has not
peaked. He is a fine performer who only
gets better and better. This concert
shows us how. The only extra is a fine
interview with Connick, Jr. that last 26 minutes.
Also
almost a concert but really a fine compilation is Louis Prima: In Person – The Wildest Performances hosted by his son
Louis Prima, Jr. that serves as a biography of sorts with music clips that run
form his rise in the 1930s to his last work and performances in the 1970s. 22 music clips (if you count extras) show the
legend in action, how he stayed popular and successful, why people still love
his music and how he was one of the top performers at his peak and always
popular throughout his career. Like
Connick, Jr., he too performed many standards, but he also had hits like Just A Gigolo, I Ain’t Got Nobody and his legendary classic Sing, Sing, Sing. It is a
great story of people and music worth your time on the Centennial of Prima’s
birth. Extras include four bonus
performances and one by his son.
Finally
we have the first Blu-ray (after many DVDs) of a performer who left us before
his time. Rory Gallagher – Irish Tour ‘74 is therefore the highest fidelity
release of the man in concert and if you are unfamiliar with his work, we have
covered plenty on DVD before including the following with links:
Ghost Blues: The Story Of Rory
Gallagher
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10593/The+Bee+Gees+%E2%80%93+In+O
Live At Rockpalast: 5 Concerts
1976 - 1980
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5809/Rory+Gallagher+%E2%80%93+Live+A
Definitive Montreux Collection
Live (1975 – 1994)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3767/Rory+Gallagher+%E2%80%93+The+D
It is
ironic that the older concert is the one on film and now in High Definition,
but it was shot on 16mm film before film was being abandoned for lesser
videotape (much the way it is now for somewhat lesser HD video) and the source
holds up pretty well bringing out nuances of Gallagher you just cannot get out
of any of the DVD releases. For this
show, his songs include:
Walk On Hot Coals
Tattoo'd Lady
Who's That Coming
A Million Miles Away
Going To My Home Town
Cradle Rock
As The Crow Flies
Hands Off
Bullfrog Blues
If I were
going to recommend any release of his to start with, though the many DVDs have
been rich in performances and rarities, this Blu-ray would now be at the top of
my list. Extras include the Rory Gallagher: Music Maker documentary
by Bill Keating, In Your Town Japanese 1974 Tour home footage and feature length
audio commentary track by Donal Gallagher and Gerry McAvoy.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Connick disc looks good, but I was surprised just how clean, clear
and stable it was with fine color and limited motion blur. The result is one of the best new concert
releases to date as far as playback is concerned. The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Gallagher looks good,
though I bet the source is 1.33 X 1 16mm and I wish an option to show the 1.33
frame was included. It might have
yielded better results. Either way, this
is the best concert disc picture wise both are likely to see on Blu-ray. The 1.33 X 1 image on Prima is of old compiled footage that is second generation or more off
of analog video, kinescopes and film, so only expect so much. The newer on camera footage is shot on video.
Sound
options on Connick include the
well-recorded and presented Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix (96kHz/24-bit), plus decent,
uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo mix (also 96kHz/24-bit), as well as a standard
Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 640 kbps for older systems. This is the first TrueHD mix I have
encountered on a music release in a while and it sounds really good, though the
format has lost big ground to DTS-MA, it is still very impressive when handled
as well as it is here. Prima has a Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
track that varies in quality with its old clips, but is uneven and shows the
age of the sources. Be careful of volume
switching. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 mixes on Gallagher also shows
its age, but fortunately, the concert was recorded well enough and you can hear
this when comparing that mix to the Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo also
included. But it is nice when you can
enjoy material that was archived well.
For more Louis
Prima, try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2049/Louis+Prima+&+Keely+Smith+-+That
- Nicholas Sheffo