Jazz Masters Series – Alberta Hunter + Mel Lewis
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Concerts: B- each
We continue our look at Shanachie’s Jazz Masters Series
with two more individual DVDs taken from performances at The Smithsonian
Institute. This time, we have Alberta
Hunter from November 29th 1981 and Mel Lewis & His Jazz
Orchestra from February 19th 1982.
Each program runs about an hour.
Miss Hunter may play the old sex and lust card a bit much, age
notwithstanding, but she is good on most of her material and is still a fine
entertainer decades later. Her set
includes:
1) My
Castle’s Rockin’
2) Down
Hearted Blues
3) My Handy
Man
4) When
You’re Smiling
5) Nobody
Knows You When You’re Down & Out
6) Without
Rhythm
7) Without
A Song
8)
Hunter interview
9)
Darktown Strutter’s Ball
10)
Rough &
Ready Man
11)
Time Waits
For No One
12)
Blackman
13)
You Can’t
Tell The Difference After Dark
14)
Remember My
Name
Mel Lewis is a big band Jazzman, so his performances have
hardly any vocals and go into the opposite direction in showmanship. He and his many talented musicians have to
impress with the bulk of their instrumental talent, something they do with easy
and joy. That set includes:
1) One
Finger Snap
2) The
Dolphin Dance
3) Lewis
interview
4) Make Me
Smile
5) The Eye
Of The Hurricane
I could not choose which I enjoyed more as a result of the
difference, but why each name is considered so key in the genre. Both were shot on profession 1.33 x 1 analog
NTSC video and the stereo sound is very simple and smaller than one would have
liked here in Dolby Digital 2.0 when PCM might have served this better. The source is obviously a generation or two
down and there are no extras. Jazz fans
will want all these volumes, including the previously reviewed DVDs on Art
Blakely and Benny Carter, as well as separate DVDs on Red Norvo and Art farmer,
reviewed elsewhere on this site. Hope
we see more soon.
- Nicholas Sheffo
