Bob James - Live at Montreux July 1985 - (2005) release

It'd be easy to say that watching Bob James at this classic 1985 performance from Montreux was like viewing the pianist in his prime. But as anyone who has seen James perform lately can confirm, it's obvious the 66-year-old hasn't lost a step on the keys. This concert brilliantly captures the contemporary jazz pianist as he treats the enthusiastic crowd to nine compositions.

Sharing the sweat with James on this hot July night were Harvey Mason on drums, Dennis Henderson on percussion and the amazing Dean Parks on guitar. The late Gary King jammed, as always, on bass and he provides an unforgettable highlight with his hoarse vocals with a snippet of "Lucille" tagged onto the end of "Westchester Lady." Add to that a young Kirk Whalum on sax--he also plays flute on "Angela (Theme From 'Taxi')" --and it's no wonder the Montreux crowd went nuts for an encore. Other songs include "Touchdown," Whalum's "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby," "Night Crawler," "Unicorn," "Zebra Man," "Winding River" and "Spunky."

Video clip is Bob James "Touchdown"

CASINO LIGHT S '99 - Live at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival in 1999

Contemporary jazz, smooth jazz, jazz lite: call it what you will, if you have a taste for that kind of funky, groove-oriented instrumental music (with a couple of vocals thrown in for good measure), you'll certainly get a healthy dose of it here. Filmed at Switzerland's Montreux Jazz Festival in 1999, the concert (also available on CD) features some of the genre's best players, like pianist Bob James and guitarist Larry Carlton, both of whom appear with their own bands, backing other musicians, and with their group Fourplay. Also on hand are keyboardist George Duke, saxophonists Kenny Garrett, Boney James, Kirk Whalum, and Mark Turner, and trumpeter Rick Braun. The performances are all good; these fellows can play, and singers Kevin Mahogany and Gabriela Anders are no slouches either.

Miles Davis's "Four" (played by Fourplay), the standard "Old Folks" (Turner), and a couple of others, most of what passes for tunes is little more than riff-heavy, melody-free jamming--and that includes two hoary classics, Eddie Harris's "Cold Duck Time" (played here by Carlton, it first appeared on Swiss Movement, the Harris/Les McCann album recorded at Montreux in '69) and Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man" (the closing number, played by just about everybody). The simple truth is that listening to (and watching) some guy get down with his funky horn again and again gets old over the course of two hours. But then, perhaps you had to be there.


Casino Lights '99 is a live concert performance featuring renowned contemporary jazz musicians Bob James, George Duke, Rick Braun, Boney James, Kirk Whalum, Larry Carlton, Fourplay, Kenny Garrett, Kevin Mahogany, Mark Turner, and Gabriela Anders. Shot in 1999 at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino Lights '99 showcases each artist's mastery of the art form spanning genres form traditional to the contemporary repertoire.

A complete track listing for the Casino Lights '99 DVD includes:

Mind Games - Bob James Trio
Old Folks - Mark Turner
Wayne's Thang - Kenny Garrett Quartet
Cold Duck Time - Larry Carlton
Soweto - Kirk Whalum
Yesterday I Had The Blues - Kevin Mahogany
Always There - Rick Braun, Larry Carlton, Kenny Garrett, Boney James & Kirk Whalum
All Night Long - Boney James
Notorious - Rick Braun
Fire of Love - Gabriela Anders
Brazilian Love Affair - George Duke
Four - Fourplay
Westchester Lady - Fourplay, Rick Braun, Boney James & Kirk Whalum
Watermelon Man - FFourplay, Rick Braun, Boney James & Kirk Whalum

Video was shown on Dutch TV - Brazilian Love Affair - This song performed by George Duke Band was also included in this Casino Lights 99 DVD.

Richard Galliano and Wynton Marsalis - Jazz in Marciac, France - 2006

Richard Galliano: Tangaria Quartet was recorded live during Jazz In Marciac on August 6, 2006. Marciac is a quaint, sleepy town in South-Western France that comes to life during the summer months when it hosts a massive jazz festival.

Tangaria features the music of its worldrenowned members – Richard Galliano, Alexis Cardenas, Philippe Aerts, and Rafaël Mejias, as well as their special guest, Wynton Marsalis on Trumpet and Hamilton de Holanda on mandolin.

Galliano describes the concert as certainly one of the most beautiful… an audience that was numerous, and alert; an incredible atmosphere in a mythical place. The Tangaria Quartet played some of Galliano’s standard songs – Tango Pour Claude, Laurita, Sertão, New York Tango, Fou Rire, Sanfona and Spleen – while exploring a few new ones including Chat Pître and Tangaria.

The concert features Hamilton De Holanda’s astonishing mandolin solo, Alexis Cardenas and Rafaël Mejias’ incredible duo and Galliano’s improvisation alongside both of them. Enjoy these intense, fascinating, and creative moments during an unforgettable night and the birth of a new band: Tangaria.

The soundtrack to Tangaria Quartet captures every moment of every song in the film in high quality audio recording format. Duration: 73 minutes.

Wynton Marsalis rehearsing La Vie en Rose with Walter Blanding for his concert with Richard Galliano at Marciac Jazz 2008

DAVID SANBORN - Leverkusen, Germany - 2008

Renowned and revered the world over as one of the greatest saxophone players of all-time, David Sanborn is an artist whose music has inspired countless other musicians while creating a body of work that spans the genres of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, pop and jazz. A naturally gifted performer, David has helped defined the saxophone’s modern sound while influencing a generation.

In this Leverkusen JAZZ LINE presentation, he showed stunning performances. Absolute addictive to watch!
1 full hour of full JAZZ enjoyment....

Ricky Peterson (k), Nicky Moroch (g), Richard Patterson (b), Gene Lake (d), Nicolas Gardel (t), Martin Jacobsen (s), Xavier Richardeau (s), Thomas Savy (bcl), Jerry Edwards (tb)

Patricia Barber Quartet - Live in Belgrade - 2008

The elegant Patricia Barber- Cole Porter album is up there again. The song of all is her gentle reworking of "You're the Top" - "something that Cole Porter and I wrote together", she jokes in this clip from a show in Belgrade. I just love the way she sneaks John Coltrane, "the Earl Spencer's daughter" and the president-elect into the list of superlatives.

Herbie Hancock on Nissan Live Sets with Joni Mitchell - 2008

Thursday March 20, 2008 - Herbie Hancock performed in front of 300 fans in LA for the Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music series. Joni Mitchell joined Herbie on stage to perform several songs from his new album, River: The Joni Letters. The night also included performances of classics hits.

The audience was lucky enough to see a superb group of musicians (including LA fixture and drumming sensation Vinnie Colaiuta) collaborating with special guests DJ C-Minus, up-and-comer Sonya Kitchell, and a very rare appearance by Joni Mitchell.

The band performed some of Herbie's greatest hits, including "Rock It", "Watermelon Man", and some mesmerizing performances with Joni Mitchell singing tunes from Herbie's latest album, River: the Joni Letters. This album has the distinction of being the second jazz album to ever win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year (beating out Kanye West, Amy Winehouse, and the Foo Fighters). 30 minutes video

Fourplay - Live In Cape Town -2009 release

Fourplay is a jazz supergroup comprised of Bob James, Nathan East, Larry Carlton, and Harvey Mason. Their smooth sounds have endeared them to jazz connoisseurs all over the world, and ... Full Descriptionthis live recording finds them playing in Cape Town, South Africa, on a stop on the band's 2005 tour.

This show in Capetown has much enthusiasm in their performance. And it shows their relief from their world tour ending at this wonderful town. It is such fun to see these cats playing each instrument flawlessly and impeccably. If you like Fourplay don't miss watching this. Highly recommended.


running time: 1:30 minutes

Diana Krall - Live in Rio - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 2009

Diana Krall
Live In Rio
Eagle Eye Productions
2009

There are some music critics who will fault a successful artist for "selling out," for appealing to the lowest common denominator with music that is either highly processed or mediocre for the sake of not being offensive (read that, misunderstood). Such criticism has been leveled at Canadian pianist and singer Diana Krall, who by any standards of success is a rock star in the world of jazz—and it's true, Krall takes absolutely no artistic chances, choosing rather to perform mainstream jazz vocal music superbly well. But that is her charm. Krall's conservative approach has led her to wide crossover appeal and matching commercial success since her debut in 1993.

Live In Rio is Krall's DVD companion to her recently released bossa nova recording, Quiet Nights (Verve, 2009). It captures Krall and her long time band of bassist John Clayton, guitarist Anthony Wilson and drummer Jeff Hamilton, augmented by percussionist Paulinho DaCosta, performing at the Vivo Rio in Rio De Janeiro in November 2008. The performance was also supported by the Rio De Janeiro Orchestra under the direction of Ruria Duprat.

Apparent from the start of the show is the affectionate rapport between Krall and her Brazilian audience. It is obvious that Krall and company enjoy performing for the Rio crowd and that the Rio crowd enjoy being performed for. Also apparent is Krall's rapport with her band, all members smiling at one another. Krall's performance betrays her preparations for Quiet Nights with the performance of several songs from the then unreleased album. These are sprinkled among her typical repertoire of ballads and upbeats.

Krall opens with a frisky "I Love Being Here With You" and remains in this vein until bossa-ing it up with the Hal David/Burt Bacharach classic "Walk On By." This introduces the scaffolding performances of the show, Krall's oft-performed "Frim Fram Sauce," taken at a quick clip, and her newly arranged reading of Irving Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek." On these two pieces Krall earns her living playing, singing and soloing with that creative efficiency she has become known for. So urgent is her performance that the humid Rio night glows on her, indicating just how special this pairing was.

For the Brazilian audience, the performance peaks with the trilogy of "Quiet Nights," "Este Seu Olhar" and "The Boy from Ipanema," all delivered with Krall's relaxed and breathy sexiness. Here she is one with the audience, who she encourages to sing along. Wilson's piquant guitar playing is here best realized, his sensitive soloing and accompaniment well suited for this swaying material. Clayton and Hamilton are impeccable, as always.

One writer in the blogosphere takes Krall and company to task for having aged since the mid-1990s. While it is sad that youth is not a continuing state of affairs, it is nice to see the beautiful and talented Krall in full maturity. Krall is not the be all and end all. Dena DeRose is a better singer and Patti Wicks a better pianist. But, while she may not blaze any creative jazz trails, Krall's intelligent and informed piano playing and her unique timing and delivery will have her remaining the star she is in her proper place in the musical heavens.

Tracks: I Love Being Here With You; Let's Fall in Love; Where Or When; Too Marvelous for Words; I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face; Walk On By; Frim Fram Sauce; Cheek to Cheek; You're My Thrill; Let's Face the Music and Dance; Every time We Say GoodBye; So Nice; Quiet Nights; Este Seu Olhar; The Boy form Impanema; I Don't Know Enough About You; S'Wonderful; Exactly Like You.

Personnel: Diana Krall: piano, vocals; John Clayton: bass; Jeff Hamilton: drums; Anthony Wilson: guitar; Paulinho DaCosta: percussion; Claus Ogerman: arrangements; Ruria Duprat: conductor; The Rio De Janeiro Orchestra.

Production Notes: 135 minutes. Recorded November 2008 at Vivo Rio in Rio De Janerio, Brazil. Extras: conversations with the musicians and the promotional film - The Boy from Impanema.

Diana Krall at All About Jazz.

In this video clip you will see Diana Krall endorsing her latest CD entitiled Quite Nights - VERVE -2009 release coincidentally this dvd was also release along with this latest 2009 CD.