James Last-A World of Music (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Music	Menu Animation & Audio Featurette-Bonus Footage
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	97:25 (Case: 100)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (55:27)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Stanley Dorfman
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	James Last
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Various

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English dts 5.1 (1536Kb/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	Yes, end titles over end of concert

    A World of Music features the internationally beloved and well known bandleader James Last and his orchestra, recorded live on 14-15 May 2002 in Zwickau, Germany.

    Fans of James Last (who call him "Hansi") of course would need no introduction. For the rest of you, James Last has released literally hundreds of albums since his first one called "Non Stop Dancing" in 1965. Born in Bremen, Germany, James was classically trained but also played the bass in jazz bands. His real flair was arranging traditional, classical and popular songs and he became a bandleader with his own "orchestra" (in reality a motley collection of brass and string players augmented by other musicians) playing arrangements of a variety of musical material.

    Although the concert is recorded in Germany, it doesn't feel like it. James speaks exclusively in English no doubt for the television audience, and there is a strong contingent of English fans present in the audience who are not afraid of getting up in the middle of a song to form a Congo line, and brandishing their "duck umbrellas" complete with the Union Jack.

    There is a heavy emphasis on Abba songs in this concert, starting with Mamma Mia and progressing on to Fernando, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Dancing Queen and S.O.S. The rest of the songs are fairly pop-based although there is a smattering of traditional songs and a token Strauss waltz and jazz piece (Nature Boy).

    The name of each song is introduced at the beginning through burned in captions in the video stream. Not all the songs are instrumental - there are a few vocal songs performed by a number of (relatively unknown) singers, including Lean On Me and You'll Be In My Heart.

Video

    This is a very pleasing widescreen 1.78:1 transfer, with 16x9 enhancement.

    The concert looks like it has been recorded directly onto digital video, and then subsequently enhanced.

    The overall look is one of high contrast with vivid, fully saturated colours. Detail levels are about consistent with video tape. Shadow detail is mediocre, due to contrast enhancement. Highlights tend to be slightly clipped from oversaturation, but this is typical for video camera CCDs.

    Video and compression artefacts are nearly non-existent, resulting in a near perfect transfer. If you look hard, you will notice very slight Gibb's effect ringing, plus minor macro-blocking in the backgrounds, but you will have to practically glue your eyes to the screen.

    There are no subtitles on this single sided dual layered disc (RSDL). The layer change occurs at 55:27, resulting in a pause just after Dancing Queen.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Surprisingly, we are treated with not only high bitrate Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) and Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) tracks, but (somewhat unusually) a full bitrate dts 5.1 (1536Kb/s) audio track.

     I mainly listened to the dts 5.1 audio track, but occasionally switched to the Dolby Digital 5.1 track.

    The dts audio track seems to contain a discrete 5.1 mix which is evident in decorrelated audience noises coming from all speakers. The surround mix is rather conventional with the orchestra coming from the front speakers and the rears reserved for ambience and audience clapping. Extreme high and low frequencies seem to have been attenuated, leaving a sound that lacks "body" and is reminiscent of a TV broadcast. The subwoofer track is only very lightly used for bass reinforcement.

    The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is very similar to the dts audio track in terms of sound quality and recorded level and it would be hard to distinguish between them. The dts track sounded slightly smoother and better at transients to my ears, but the differences were slight.

    The Dolby Digital 2.0 track is recorded at a softer level compared to the 5.1 tracks (about 3dB lower in level). However, it sounded okay once I increased the volume.

     This concert is obviously meant for an English audience (despite being recorded in Germany), as James Last speaks exclusively in English (with a heavy German accent) between songs. I did not notice any issues with dialogue synchronization.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    There is only one extra on the disc, but it is a fairly substantial featurette.

Menu

    All menus are full frame but include animation and background audio.

Menu Animation & Audio, Featurette-Bonus Footage (22:49)

    This is a featurette entitled "The Making of James Last: A World Of Music" and is presented at 1.78:1 with 16x9 enhancement and Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) audio.

    The featurette includes interview snippets with cast and crew, plus behind the scenes location footage. The various cast and crew provide a mini-biography of James Last as well as their feelings about being in the band and travelling on tour. A special section is devoted to the loyal English fans who are members of the James Last Appreciation Society who have travelled to Zwickau especially to see him.

    Interviews include:

• Bodo Eckmann (manager)
• Simon Bell (singer)
• Sonia Jones Morgan (singer)
• Ron Last (audio producer)
• James Last ("Hansi")
• Bob Lanese (trumpet)
• Terry Jenkins (drums)
• Matthias Clasen (saxophone/flute)
• Stefan Pintev (first violin)
• Anne-Louise Comerford (violin)
• Martin Fischer (television producer)
• Bob Coassin (trumpet)
• Chuck Findley (trumpet)
• Kiki Zumach (violin)
• Peter Boosey (James Last Appreciation Society)
• Anders Wiborg (trombone)
• Dieter Semmermann (promoter)

    This title has not yet been released in Region 1.

    James Last - A World of Music features the well-known German bandleader and musical arranger James Last and his orchestra recorded live at a recent concert.

    The video transfer quality is superb and near reference level.

    The audio transfer quality is good and includes full bitrate Dolby Digital and dts 5.1 audio tracks.

    Extras are limited to a "making of" featurette.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall