Flying
Colors - Second Flight: Live At The Z7
(2015/Mascot DVD/2 CD Set)/Mateo
(2014/XLrator DVD)/The
1955 Rock 'n Roll Revue and Rhythm and Blues Revue
(Film Chest DVD Set)/The
Robert Cray Band: 4 Nights Of 40 Years Live
(2015/Mascot Blu-ray/2 CD Set)
Picture:
C+/C+/C+/B- Sound: C+ (CDs: B-)/C+/C/C+ (CDs: B-) Extras:
C-/C-/C+/C- Main Programs: C+/C+/B-/B-
Here's
another set of new music releases to know about...
Flying
Colors - Second Flight: Live At The Z7
(2015) comes from a somewhat experimental Pop/Rock outfit that
reminded me of the neo-Prog Rock bands of the 1980s (Asia, GTR, etc.)
if they were around today. This program is being issued on Blu-ray,
et al, but we got the DVD/2 CD set that is not bad and certainly
gives you an idea of what the band is about, but the music did not
stay with me and is only going to reach a niche audience. Certainly
the sample is more than big enough, but only if this might be your
kind of music (being a huge Yes fan, I'm OK with it, but like the
classic, first bands in the genre first) should you check into this.
Still, I'm curious to see where they are going, so we'll see.
Four
passable music video clips are the only extras.
Aaron
R. Naar's Mateo
(2014) is a music documentary about Matthew Stoneman, whose trip to
jail led him to be a white mariachi singer! A music fan who learned
Spanish in 'the can', here is his story of recording the music and
trying to make a name for himself in a situation that is already
tough in a crowded field. This somewhat amusing 88 minutes gets
one-note when it keeps trying (and trying too hard) to have the humor
of an independent mumblecore comedy film following him to show us how
he is 'funny' without trying. Instead, it wastes tons of time that
would have been better spent on character study or telling us more.
It might be worth a look for the interested, but I thought it grew
thin.
A
trailer is the only extra.
The
1955 Rock 'n Roll Revue and Rhythm and Blues Revue
is a DVD set that features two music films made at the same time with
some amazing, legendary artists in what is sadly among the few times
they were filmed properly on 35mm film of any kind. Some of them may
have been precursors to what Rock became, but the talent (including a
few artists you might not have heard of) is amazing. The first film
(Rock)
features Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, The Clovers (singing Your
Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash,
but I wish it were their original Love
Potion No. 9),
Dinah Washington, Big Joe Turner, Lionel Hampton, Martha Davis &
Her Spouse, The Delta Rhythm Boys, Ruth Brown and more. Hampton,
Turner, The Delta Rhythm Boys, Cole & brown return with new
performances in the second film (Blues) joined this time by Faye
Adams, Sarah Vaughn, Count Basie and Cab Calloway.
Another
bonus in both films is that legendary comedian Nipsey Russell, now
known for being so hilarious on TV shows (especially the original
years of the classic game show Match
Game,
reviewed elsewhere on this site) shows up in great witty form, classy
and great as always. Mantan Moreland, who I always liked despite
roles he took that are considered problematic today (the
way-overly-nervous 'comic' relief in the later, lesser Monogram
Charlie Chan films) gets quality screen time here, including with
Russell.
These
are also the full-length versions of these films from what we could
research, so that's a big plus.
The
only extras are a slip of paper hat lists the songs in all three
films and the bonus film, Rock,
Rock, Rock
(1956) that we reviewed a good while ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1318/Rock,+Rock,+Rock!+(1956/Koch/Passport+DVD
The
Robert Cray Band: 4 Nights Of 40 Years Live
(2015) shows that there is far more to the group whose only hit is
the 1987 track Smoking
Gun,
we get a really thorough 94 minutes-long look at his long career (he
has aged well) starting with how his exceptional sense of Jazz &
Blues playing made him a standout musician, as well as musician's
musician early on. From there, he built on that, which attracted
some of the best musicians in the business (and those genres). Now,
a survivor and near-legend, it was long overdue to tell his story and
with so much to tell, this is never dull. It gives you an idea of
the serious life of making music a way of life and the serious
community of musicians we see less and less of these days. Nice, and
the two CDs are loaded with live performances and other tracks that
makes this a really, really nice package. The only issue will be if
you like this kind of music or not. I do enough, if not a huge fan
of it, so non fans should at least give it a look and listen.
The
only extras in this DigiPak foldout (with holders for the CDs I am
not fond of) is an illustrated booklet on the documentary including
informative text.
The
DVDs are about even for picture quality despite being different
shoots with the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Flight
being from a 4K shoot that looks OK, but could look a bit better,
which is why I would be very curious to see this on Blu-ray and even
the upcoming Ultra HD Blu-ray format. Mateo
is a a more standard HD shoot, but is not bad and has good color,
though you can tell it is not quite as rich of that of Flight.
The 1.33
X 1 black & white image on all three programs for Revue
are shot on 35mm film, but tend to be a little rough due to the age
of the prints, with the bonus Rock
film softer still like the DVD we looked at about 11 years ago.
Thus, the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on
the Cray
Blu-ray may have have some motion blue issues, but it is the best
performer on the list. I have a feeling Flight
would look a little better in the same format but we'll see.
I
expected the Cray
Blu-ray to be the best sonic performer, but the varied recordings and
performances on the sets of Flight
and Cray
PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo CDs have the best, smoothest sound on the
list. The Cray
Blu-ray is shockingly only lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and
disappoints, like the Flight
DVD, which also offers two variations of lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 that
sound better, but not great. Press material on Flight
raves about its higher fidelity sound, but unless we hear it on the
Blu-ray, we'll only have to wonder if they really delivered. Mateo
offers both a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 that has a problematic
separation in it soundfield and a lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that
actually sounds clearer and better.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on all three films on the Revue
set are transferred at too low a volume and could sound better, so be
careful of volume switching and high levels, making it the poorest
set sonically.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
