Larry Carlton & The Steve Lukather Band
– New Morning: The Paris Concert
Picture: C+
Sound: B Extras: C+ Concert: C+
Larry
Carlton did so well on his own in his Ohne Filter concert DVD, reviewed
elsewhere on this site, that the idea of a later concert (July, 2001) with a
guest seemed an odd choice. Inakustik’s
new DVD concert series from Paris at the New Morning has been an odd and
inconsistent one. The Steve Lukather
Band joins Carlton in a 127-minutes-long concert that is one of the oddest
from either series to date. The songs
are as follows:
1)
The
Pump
2)
Blues
Force
3)
It
Was Only Yesterday
4)
Red
House
5)
Don’t
Give It Up
6)
Room
335
7)
Put
It Where You Want It
Needless to say each number is a long play jam session,
ones that often wear out their welcome.
Carlton used to play with Steely Dan and even ends Track One with a
piece of Josie. However,
Lukather’s work is so loud and overdone, the blues part seems too forced and
the combination of the two performers and styles never come together
properly. Lukather used to be with
Toto, but since the disturbing death of one of its members, has created this
new band. Maybe this worked on other
nights, but this concert just never gels.
The 1.33
X 1 full frame PAL color video is better than it was on the Robben Ford
installment, while other installments like that of Billy
Cobham’s Culturemix are made available in 16 X 9 framing. Seventeen years after Carlton’s Ohne Filter concert,
the picture difference only in more refined images and slightly better
color. It makes for an interesting
study in video progression before HD. The sound is available in PCM CD-type 2.0
16bit/48kHz Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 AC-3 and especially decent DTS
options. Extras include Soundcheck Sketches
(9:20) has interviews with the two stars, guitar tips from Larry to his fans
(6:22), Talking To Luke (6:58) and In Conversation segment (12:29) with
Carlton.
- Nicholas Sheffo
