Kenny Drew-Live: Brewhouse Jazz (1992)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Audio Scene Selection Anim & Audio Notes-Concert Info Biographies-Cast Notes-Notes And Facts
Rating
Year Of Production	1992
Running Time	52:10 (Case: 55)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Stanley Dorfman
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Kenny Drew Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen Alvin Queen
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	?	Music	None Given

    I have recently selected three jazz DVDs for review, of which this is the second. The first was The Gadd Gang - Live on Digital Video. This one is of a similar vintage, having been recorded live in 1992 at the Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton, England. The show was by a piano trio led by the great bop pianist Kenny Drew and attracted a small but enthusiastic audience. Kenny recorded over 50 albums as a leader during his career and played on many sessions with most of the greats of jazz including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins and many, many more. Unfortunately, he died the year after this performance was recorded.

    The band consists of three very talented musicians, all based in Europe. The full band is:

• Kenny Drew - Piano - Kenny was born in 1928 in New York and developed an excellent career in Jazz during the late forties and 1950s. In 1961 he decided to move permanently to Europe, settling in Copenhagen. He continued to perform live until his death in 1993.
• Neils-Henning Orsted Pedersen - Double Bass - A Danish virtuoso bass player who is widely recognised as one of the top bass players. He had a twenty year association with Kenny Drew. He also has recorded extensively with other jazz luminaries such as Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon, Bud Powell, Ben Webster and many more. His playing was a real eye-opener for me and definitely a highlight of the show.
• Alvin Queen - Drums - Alvin was born in New York in 1950 and established a name for himself as a session drummer playing with many jazz greats and on a lot of gospel recordings. He moved permanently to Europe in 1979.

    The show is very enjoyable, with the highlight being the excellent musicianship of the band members and the interplay between them. Visually, the show is not overly interesting, as it is really just three guys in dinner suits and bow ties on a brightly lit stage, although some of the close-ups of the playing are certainly of interest to jazz fans or aspiring musicians. An icon appears during the concert which allows for access to track and concert information. The same information is also available via the menu.

    As is quite often the case with jazz, the  songs played are sourced from a variety of genres such as show tunes and traditional chants. The songs are:

1. In Your Own Sweet Way - A jazz tune composed by Dave Brubeck.
2. It Might As Well Be Spring - An Oscar-winning Rogers & Hammerstein tune from 1945's State Fair.
3. Saint Thomas - A great composition from Sonny Rollins. This is one of my favourite jazz tunes. An excellent version featuring a great drum/bass interplay opening. Rollicking calypso flavoured tune.
4. It Could Happen to You - Originally a vocal tune from the 1940s by Jimmy Van Housen. Slower Ballad
5. Hushabye - A traditional Jewish chant which was a concert favourite of Kenny Drew.

    This is a very good show featuring excellent musicianship. Jazz fans would certainly enjoy this.

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio non 16x9 enhanced which is most likely the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, surprisingly so for a concert film of this age. You could clearly see the beads of sweat on the musician's faces. The video quality is not quite as good as The Gadd Gang title mentioned above but is still very good. There was some light grain throughout. The video has been transferred at a high bit rate.

    The colour was good, however there was really very little colour to show.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are no subtitles but since there is only a very small amount of dialogue that is not really a problem.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good but not overly dynamic compared to modern concert recordings. Considering the age of the recording you really cannot complain.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    The music comes across well from the front speakers, with all instruments being well defined and easy to distinguish. The sound is clear and enjoyable.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer are not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu included a still photograph, music and the ability to select tracks or chapters.

Text Pages of Information

    The main concert includes an icon at the end of each track that when selected takes you to information regarding the track and its author. This information is also accessible from the main menu. Also included are text pages covering details of the band, the show and the careers of the individual members.

DVD-Rom Extras

    Included on the disc are HTML pages giving links to websites for each of the performers. Some of them work.

    This disc is available in Region 1 in exactly the same format except for PAL/NTSC differences.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The disc has only text based extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall