Art Farmer – Jazz Masters Series
Picture: C
Sound: C+ Extras: D Episode: B-
Art Farmer is another one of the key name Jazz talents not
heard about enough, a great trumpet player who eventually devoted his playing
strictly to the flugelhorn. Taped
February 20, 1982, Farmer is joined by Fred Hersch (piano), Dennis Irwin (bass)
and Billy Hart (drums) for this exceptional set:
1) You Know
I Care
2) Red
Cross
3) Cherokee
Skeletons
4) Recorda
Me
5) Blue
Monk
6) Firm
Roots
There is also an exceptional interview piece in the middle
of the set, in which Farmer speaks of his art, his choice of instruments and
the joy of performing. This is some
great music and though Farmer points out the flugelhorn has its limits, he
liked the sounds it produced over the more popular trumpet. This took him into new directions and over
two decades later, the flugelhorn is more popular than ever.
The full frame 1.33 x 1 videotaped image is a little soft
and lacking in detail, likely from this being second generation off of the
original NTSC analog source. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 is a solid monophonic sound that is almost stereophonic. This was part of the Jazz At The Smithsonian
series and is as worthy an installment as one could hope for. I just wish it had been longer, especially as
this DVD has no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo