Dizzy Gillespie And The United Nations Orchestra
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: D Concert: B
In one of the nicest DVD concerts on the market,
Dizzy Gillespie leads a remarkable 1989 concert at the Royal Festival Hall in
London. Though later in his career, the
musician/genius is in top form as he duels with the best new talent, addresses
the audience personally, or leads an exceptional collective of musical talent
in a 90-minutes-long concert that never has a dull moment.
Though the full-screen analog videotape shows its
age, it is still colorful, looking as good as it is going to look on DVD, while
the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some punch.
If there was more sound to offer, Eagle Eye would have issued this in
5.1 mixes, so only PCM CD sound of a high bit-rate or 2-channel presentation in
either Super Audio CD or DVD-Audio formats could do a better job.
Eleven performances in all are offered, all of
which have high energy levels, take their time in working through the material,
and feature some name talents in the jazz field. Slide Hampton created just about all the arrangements for this
program, and then still had time to perform in them. Flora Purim offers the program’s most interesting change of pace,
but that does not cut off any of the electric this show generates. Her vocals are distinct and like nothing you
have heard before, which in this case is a good thing. Arturo Sandoval is great dueling with Gillespie,
while Mario Rivera and Paquito D’Rivera help round out a stunning collection of
musicians.
Though the brief profile and biography on Gillespie
are nice, they are highly insufficient for DVD, and especially for such a great
program. Could more information not be
located on how this event came about?
What about a discography on Gillespie, not to mention the other
musicians? Why not more information
about other music events involving the United Nations? Was there not one clip of behind-the-scenes
footage of this event? What about
original advertising? Eagle Eye missed
a great opportunity here, but at least they transferred the program right, and
it is one that is required viewing for anyone who loves music!
- Nicholas Sheffo
