Larry Carlton In
Concert (Ohne Filter)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Concert: B-
Larry Carlton is an exceptional Jazz/Blues guitar player
and has worked with so many big names in the business, it requires and
extended, separate essay. However, you
are likely still to have heard his work, including striking guitar on two
Steely Dan classics: Don’t Take Me Alive and Kid Charlemagne back
in 1976. Fast-forward to October 11th,
1984 and you have an impressive Ohne Filter concert appearance that has
him solo after co-creating the theme from Hill Street Blues with Mike
Post, he is as distinct as ever in the great German music show performing the
following:
1) Strikes
Twice
2) Blues
Under
3) I’m A
Fool
4) Larry’s
Secret
5) Last
Nite
6) Rio
Samba
7) I Gotta
Right
8) ‘D’
Modal Thang
This runs under an hour, but is always a great show and
one can tell this could have gone on for 2 to 3 times as long and been as
great. If anything, Carlton gets better
with age and his fellow musicians (Terry Trotter and Brian Mann on Keyboards,
Rick Marotta on Drums, Michael Fisher on Percussion, John Patitucci on Bass,
Johnny Mars on Harp; some of whom are Steely Dan alumni) are tight and on the
money, delivering one of the best concerts in the series to date.
The full
frame PAL color video is about what would expect for a taping of the time,
having the usual limits in its good color, with fuzziness and limited
definition. The sound is available in
the usual PCM CD-type 2.0 16bit/48kHz Stereo, as well as a surprisingly limited
Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3. There is not
the depth in the 5.1 here as a result, versus the clarity heard in the Mark
King, Tony Joe White or even the band America’s DVD from the series, all
reviewed elsewhere on this site. Maybe
an SACD version would reveal more detail and clarity. Besides repeating the same stereo cords ad placement, other DVDs
in the series, and Ohne Filter
producer interview, it has a good biography of Carlton.
- Nicholas Sheffo
