Carlos Santana At Montreux:  Live 1988 with Wayne Shorter + Hymns For Peace 2004 (DVD-Video Releases) + Hymns For Peace 2004 (Blu-ray + HD-DVD)

 

Picture: C/B-/B/B     Sound: B     Extras: C/C-/C-/C-     Concerts: B

 

 

Carlos Santana just loves Montreux and Montreux loves Carlos Santana!  We previously looked at the DVD-Video version of Carlos Santana Presents Blues At Montreux 2004 a while ago and you can read about it at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4722/Carlos+Santana+Presents+Blues+At

 

 

That was a three-DVD set and part of Eagle Vision’s long-running series of Montreux releases.  Not wanting to be left behind, Image Entertainment decided to get a Santana Montreux concert and recently released Carlos Santana/Wayne Shorter Live At The 1988 Montreux Jazz Festival from July 14^th and Eagle followed up with Santana - Hymns For Peace: Live At Montreux 2004 (July 15th) on DVD-Video as a double disc set.  Both issuing their material in the HD-DVD format, Eagle has additionally struck first with an HD-DVD of Hymns For Peace and now a Blu-ray edition of that one is added to their catalog.  It is all four we now take a good look at.

 

First, let’s list the content of the two concerts:

 

Carlos Santana/Wayne Shorter

1. Spiritual
2. Peraza
3. Shhh…
4. Incident At Neshabur
5. Elegant People
6. (Interview w/Santana)
7. Percussion Solo
8. Goodness & Mercy
9. (Interview w/Shorter)
10.  Sanctuary
11.  For Those Who Chant
12.  Blues For Salvation
13.  Fireball 2000
14.  Drum Solo
15.  Ballroom In The Sky
16.  (Interview w/Montreux founder Claude Nobs, Pt. 1)
17.  Once It’s Gotcha
18.  Mandela
19.  Deeper, Dig Deeper
20.  (Interview w/Claude Nobs, Pt. 2)
21.  Europa

 

 

Patrice Rushen (for the classic 1982 hit Forget Me Nots) even plays keyboards here, only masking this all the more engaging, but Santana and Shorter are a fine match with great musical and personal chemistry and it is no surprise that this went over so well.

 

 

Hymns For Peace

DVD, Blu-ray & HD-DVD tracks are the same

DVD #1

 

1)     Afro Blue

2)     Adouma

3)     Redemption Song

4)     Exodus/Get Up Stand Up

5)     Blowin’ The Wind/A Place In The Sun

6)     Just Like A Woman

7)     What’s Going On

 

DVD #2

 

1)     Peace On Earth/Boogie Woman

2)     Why Can’t We Live Together

3)     Light At The Edge Of The World

4)     Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord

5)     Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)

6)     Day Of Celebration

7)     Ah Sweet Dancer/In A Silent Way

8)     Jingo

9)     A Love Supreme

10)  Ode To Joy

 

 

This has its obvious theme of classic songs about peace that changed music and if the covers are not always as great as the originals, they are done with serious energy and commitment that makes them all (music and musicians) very enjoyable to watch.  To have this concert at this time in history is obviously making a political statement, a grand one and I am glad Santana and his guests had the courage to say, sing and play it.

 

 

The Shorter concert is in analog 1.33 X 1 video (PAL or NTSC) and is very soft, though that is not surprising for a taping in 1988 not thinking ahead for HD and improved video.  I wondered if the video material was second generation.  Hymns is newer and was shot in 1080i (not 1080p as the HD-DVD label suggested) digital High Definition video, which on the DVD-Video is anamorphically enhanced at 1.78 X 1 and that is exactly how it is presented on the new Blu-ray and HD-DVD.  The DVD-Video is a tradedown with its 480 lines and sabotages the nicest shots that can be more easily seen on the Blu-ray & HD-DVD Hymns.  That version looks really good and is (as expected) the best presentation of the three releases, but offers a mix of some very good shots with some that hold back the overall presentation.

 

All three discs offer three soundtrack options, but they are all different.  The Shorter concert Has Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1.  The Hymns DVD-Video has PCM 16/48 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 and the HD-DVD version has Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and DTS HD 5.1.  The Blu-ray is the same as the HD-DVD, except the Dolby 2.0 is replaced by a nice PCM 2.0 Stereo track that is better.  In all four cases, the DTS is king with the best fidelity, warmth, richness, fullness and soundfield.  The DTS-HD on the Blu-ray HD-DVD is the best soundtrack of all, though not so spectacular that it could crush the regular DTS DVD version.  It is then remarkable that the DTS on the 1988 Image release is as good as the DTS and other audio for the 2004 concert versions here, despite being 16 years older.  The alternate tracks are available, but we recommend DTS all the way.

 

Extras are few in both releases, with the Image disc besting the others with a long set of interviews with the artists.  Santana offers a shorter interview on Hymns and three bonus tracks in 1) One Love, 2) Imagine and 3) Give Peace A Chance, all of which are welcome here.  Adding the earlier 3-DVD set, there is no doubt that the Santana Montreux releases are some of the richest in the concert series, no matter who issues them.  We doubt they will be the last, but fans will certainly enjoy them.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo