Norah Jones and the Handsome Band-Live in 2004 (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Booklet Bonus Track-Outake Tracks (4) Music Video-Those Sweet Words, What Am I To You? Featurette-The Handsome Band Bio: From The Beginning Featurette-24 Hours On The Handsome Bus Featurette-Robbie And Adam's Guitar Tour
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	72:04 (Case: 123)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (51:28)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	EMI Music	Starring	Norah Jones
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (256Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    To be truthful I do not consider myself a huge fan of the style of jazz or jazz pop that Norah Jones has become famous for. On the other hand, it is certainly pleasant and relaxing to listen to and I chose this DVD for review on the basis that I was interested to see how she came across in a live setting. I found the DVD to be enjoyable but a little different from what I was expecting. She seems to be moving away from the light jazz vocal style of her first album and more towards mellow roots music incorporating country, blues and folk into her mix of jazz and pop vocal styles. The setting for this concert, Nashville, may also explain the country flavour of some of the tracks. Not being a fan of mainstream country music, I was a little concerned to note when I received the disc that one of the guests was Dolly Parton. Leaving that one track aside, I felt the mixture of styles worked well and I found myself enjoying the show quite a lot. The other artists which came to my mind while watching this show were Jeff Buckley, Patsy Cline & Lucinda Williams, which puts Norah in pretty good company.

    Norah Jones and the Handsome Band - Live in 2004 features a concert filmed in August 2004 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. Most of the material is from her second album, Feels Like Home, with the exception of one track (in the main program), Don't Know Why from Come Away With Me and three not from either album.

    The Handsome Band includes the following players (in addition to Norah on Vocals & Piano):

• Daru Oda - Backing Vocals & Flute.
• Adam Levy - Guitar (a long term member of Norah's Band).
• Andrew Borger - Drums (another long term member).
• Robbie McIntosh - Guitar (the latest addition to the band, a well known solo and session guitarist from the UK who has played with The Pretenders and Paul McCartney in the past)
• Lee Alexander - Bass (another long term member).

    The main program includes 16 tracks of which 2 were recorded during rehearsals the day before the actual concert and the rest during the concert itself. The tracks are:

1. What Am I To You? - From the second album. Recorded during rehearsals, featuring a relaxed performance from the band. A nice start to the disc.
2. Sunrise - From the second album. This is a very good track and probably one of the best in the show. Guest: Kevin Breit, former band member.
3. Those Sweet Words - From the second album. Another enjoyable, mellow performance.
4. In The Morning - Another enjoyable track from the second album. Guest: Kevin Breit
5. Carnival Town - This track from the second album features a stripped back band playing acoustic instruments.
6. That's the Way that the World Goes Round - This song is not on either Norah Jones album and is a John Prine cover with quite dark lyrics about domestic violence. More of a country feel. Features only Norah and two guests, Richard Julian and Kevin Breit without the band. I could have lived without this track.
7. Humble Me - Another enjoyable acoustic track from the second album. Guest: Kevin Breit
8. Don't Miss You At All - Another track from the second album, this one features only Norah on vocals and piano. Closest track in style to her earlier material which is a Duke Ellington tune which Norah has written lyrics for.
9. The Long Way Home - Back to the full band, with acoustic instruments and flute by Daru Oda. From the second album.
10. Don't Know Why - The only track from the first album, done acoustically based around guitar. Nice version.
11. Creepin' In - This is the only track on which I had to fight the urge to skip forward. A very country style song with Dolly Parton on guest vocals. If you like country you will probably enjoy this tune. From the second album.
12. The Prettiest Thing - The second track from the previous day's rehearsal. Nice relaxed performance of a song from the second album.
13. Moon Song - Another gentle ballad, which although written by Norah Jones has not appeared on either of her albums.
14. Above Ground - Another gentle balled from the second album featuring the whole band. Written by the drummer and Daru Oda.
15. Loretta - Another more country styled track. Features only Norah and two guests, David Rawlings and Gillian Welch without the band.
16. Life is a Carnival - A cover of a song by The Band, featuring the whole band and all of the guests except Dolly Parton.

    If you are a fan of the first album by Norah Jones and would like a DVD of that being performed live, you should probably look for the Live in New Orleans disc, rather than this one. On the other hand, if you are a fan of the lady's work more generally, this concert is enjoyable and well worth owning.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is most likely the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise, without really being razor sharp. There was some light grain and the auditorium was a little smoky, both of which affected the sharpness. The shadow detail was excellent.

    The colour was excellent with no issues to report.

    On the artefacts front, I noticed some mild aliasing on the stage lights and an occasional white speck.

    There are no subtitles.

    The layer change occurs at 51:28 and is well positioned and not noticeable.
    

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is excellent.

    This DVD contains two audio options, an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s, and an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 256 Kb/s. The 5.1 track has a wonderful full and warm sound which matches well with the style of the music. I was very impressed with the quality of the sound. The stereo track is also very good.

    Vocals were clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The surround speakers added crowd noise and some instrumentation which suited the program well.

     The subwoofer was nicely integrated and added bass to the music as required.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu included music & motion, and the ability to select songs and audio options.

Outtake Tracks - She (4:57)

    Another enjoyable ballad which was edited out of the show.

Outtake Tracks - Come Away With Me (3:42)

    A version of one of her most famous songs which was edited out of the show.

Outtake Tracks - Creepin' In (3:46)

    A rehearsal version of the song featuring Dolly Parton in the main program. In my opinion a better song without her.

From the Vaults - Toes (3:50)

    An outtake from her Live in New Orleans DVD, recorded in 2002.

Music Video - Those Sweet Words (3:38)

    Music video of a song from the second album with a karaoke theme.

Music Video - What Am I To You? (3:29)

    Music video of a song from the second album which features band footage. Less interesting than the first one.

Mini - Documentary - The Handsome Band Bio - From the Beginning (9:09)

    Featurette on how the various members of the band got involved, including interviews with each member including Norah Jones. Not bad, and would certainly be of interest to fans.

Mini - Documentary - 24 Hours on the Handsome Bus (9:56)

    A featurette which follows 24 hours in the life of the band from arriving at 8:00am to set up for a show in Atlanta, through sound checks, the show itself and getting back on the bus to head off to the next show. Again would be of interest to fans.

Mini - Documentary - Robbie & Adam's Guitar Tour (8:47)

    The two guitarists in the band talk us through their guitar collections. Only guitar nuts would probably enjoy this.

Booklet

    The case includes an 8 page booklet featuring photos and details for all the tracks (including the extras).

    This DVD has the same format in all regions except for PAL/NTSC differences.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is excellent.

    The disc has a large selection of good quality extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall