Bachman & Turner Live At The Roseland Ballroom, NYC 2010 + Lee Ritenour: Overtime (2004, 2011/Eagle Blu-rays)

 

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

 

 

Eagle’s newest music Blu-rays are as interesting as any they have issued recently.  If you remember Bachman Turner Overdrive, the main members are back with a new band and as a duo with Bachman & Turner Live At The Roseland Ballroom, NYC 2010 where they do a decent job of performing 20 songs including hits like Let It Ride, Not Fragile, You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet and Taking Care Of Business.  Some numbers are better than others in how they were written and how they are performed here, but I give them credit for not sounding tired or like a legacy act that is too bored to be on stage.

 

Since some of their hits have been played to death on the radio, in licensing and the like, hearing new versions has its advantages and may make you smile or even chuckle in that they are still keeping their now Classic Rock staples alive.  At 90 minutes this is good and a paper pullout with tech information about this release is the only extra.

 

 

Lee Ritenour: Overtime features a 2004 show at Enterprise Studios in Burbank, California plus four songs from a newer 2011 Montreux show and both are very impressive.  Joined by the likes of Dave Grusin, Patrice Rushen, Chris Botti, Ernie Watts and an overall exceptionally talented and skilled band of musicians, this is a very strong, long, 174 minutes release where the energy, jamming and rich music never lets up, defining what a live Blu-ray release should be.

 

You get plenty of Jazz, some more familiar songs (an interesting cover of The Temptation’s Papa Was A Rolling Stone) and great audiences in both cases.  The older main show here has only 19 songs, but many go on for a while, yet this never wears thin and shows us why Ritenour is such a respected name in the business.  Even if you are not a Jazz fan, you should give this disc a try.

 

The 1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on both discs have good color and some nice shots, but you also get some detail issues and the limits of the HD shoot.  The 2004 show on Ritenour looks as good as the 2011 taping.  Turner only offers a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 Stereo (not PCM like the label says) sound option oddly, but its sounds about as good as it is going to, though is the disc’s weak point, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on both Ritenour shows sound the best and are sonically superior and well recorded in so many ways.  The 2011 show has a very slight edge over the 2004 show, but they both get the same high rating and both also have sound demo moments with their superior soundfields.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo