This DVD in the 'Jazz Icons' series from Naxos/Reelin' In The Years comprises two black-and-white television shows recorded in Denmark in the 1960s - picture and sound quality very good. First is a trio set recorded live at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 1965; with Sonny Rollins (tenor sax) are the suitably Danish Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson on double bass and Alan Dawson on drums. This part runs 55 minutes; Mr Rollins is on killer form and this would be worth the price alone. The second show comes almost like a bonus. It is a quartet job recorded in a studio setting three years later, by which time Mr Rollins is sporting a full beard and beret. He plays a half-hour set with Kenny Drew (piano), same bass player and Albert 'Tootie Heath on drums. The DVD as a whole features the following tunes, listed here in alphabetical order: Darn That Dream, Four, I Can't Started, Oleo, On Green Dolphin Street, St Thomas, Sonnymoon For Two, There Will Never Be Another You and Three Little Words. Every one a winner.
Reviews
14 Reviews
Elis Regina: MPB Especial
(1973 TV Special)
Elis Regina MPB Especial (1973)
26 June 2011
Elis Regina was a Brazilian pop/jazz singer. She died in 1982 aged 36 and deserves to be remembered internationally because she was a natural singer with grace and precision; she had a lot of charisma and a disarming smile. This black-and-white television show is in parts and runs two and a quarter hours, at the end of which Ms Regina looks tired but happy. She has a boyish haircut and wears lots of jewelry with which she fiddles nervously at times, but the overall atmosphere is relaxed and intimate with a lot of close ups. The show was recorded in a studio without an audience, the lighting is high contrast like film-noir, and the sound is good enough for all but the extremely fussy – this is TV after all. Ms Regina is accompanied by her regular rhythm section: Cesar Camargo Mariano (piano) Luiz 'Luisao' Maia (bass guitar) and Paulo 'Paulinho' Braga (drums). The 17 songs include a couple of my favourites: 'Upa Neguinho' and 'Aguas De Marco'. Her happy songs will make you smile; her sad songs will break your heart. In between numbers she speaks - sometimes at length - in Portuguese. The only DVD version of the show so far (published by Trama in 2004) does not include subtitles, but the menu offers the option of playing only the songs.
Savage Messiah
(1972)
Savage Messiah (1972)
23 June 2011
Ken Russell made entertaining films; you would be unlikely to fall asleep during your first viewing of any of them. He was at the top of his game in the 1970s when 'Savage Messiah' was made (his previous film was 'The Boy Friend' starring Twiggy). This one is a biopic about French artist/sculptor Henri Gaudier portrayed here as unconventional, out-of-control, over-the-top, and his love for an older Polish woman writer. She is played by Dorothy Tutin who wins the film's acting honours hands down. The DVD released by Warner in 2011 has moments where the sound is slightly out of sync, especially during Helen Mirren's scenes; perhaps the editors were thinking about something else. Ms Mirren, in her late-20s here, cuts a striking figure as a suffragette and obliges us by appearing in her birthday suit.
Marriage a la Mode
(1955)
The Constant Husband (1955)
23 June 2011
In 'The Constant Husband' a man loses his memory, and then recovers it to find that he has an unusually large number of women in his life. The success of a comedy like this hinges on the strength of the leading actor; Rex Harrison carries it off very well. The character he plays is comparatively wealthy and over-privileged, and it is not easy for this viewer to forget than life in the mid 1950s was considerably less comfortable for the vast majority of people in Britain. Among the glamorous and less-than-glamorous supporting actors are Kay Kendall, Margaret Leighton, Cecil Parker, George Cole and Michael Hordern. The script includes some sort of running joke about Wales which, being from Wales, I failed to understand.
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
(1964)
Seance On A Wet Afternoon (1964)
23 June 2011
This is one of my favourite films of the 1960s. The black-and-white widescreen format induces nostalgia in those of us who were movie-going at that time. The plot: a woman who believes herself to be a 'psychic' (superb performance by Kim Stanley) talks her downtrodden husband (great performance by Richard Attenborough) into kidnapping a schoolgirl so she can reveal her powers to the world by 'finding' the girl. The atmosphere of the film is creepy and the music by John Barry seems slightly at odds with it at times, but this is a minor quibble; 'Seance' is a fine piece of work. As far as British DVD releases are concerned, the Network 2006 edition has good picture quality but lousy sound (the dialogue is far too quiet and the music and effects are too loud). The Carlton 2004 edition had better sound plus optional subtitles in English for hard of hearing, but the picture is grainier and not as good.
A Streetcar Named Desire
(1951)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
23 June 2011
This toned-down version of a play by Tennessee Williams touches on alcoholism, promiscuity, domestic violence, rape and madness – not your everyday subjects for films of the early 1950s. The overall feel of 'Streetcar' is more stagey than cinematic, so stage & movie director Elia Kazan was a good choice for the project. He exercises firm control and draws terrific performances from Marlon Brando, Vivien Leigh, Karl Malden and others but, after more than half a century, the work seems dated, unpleasant in substance and maybe – dare I say this – just a little overrated. Now here's a funny thing, I have always liked Vivien Leigh but never liked any of her films in entirety; the search for perfect Leigh goes on. It is chilling to note that every person mentioned in this review is deceased.
Sonny Rollins: Live at Loren
(1973)
Sonny Rollins in 1973
22 June 2011
The correct title is 'Sonny Rollins Live At Laren'. The programme was recorded at the Laren Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, August 1973. It is not far short of 40 minutes and features tenor saxist Sonny Rollins with Walter Bishop Jr (piano), Matsuo (electric guitar), Bob Cranshaw (bass guitar) and David Lee (drums). David Lee was quite a find – with a fine rolling style – I wonder what happened to him. The choice of tunes looks routine: There Is No Greater Love, Don't Stop The Carnival, Theme from 'Alfie' and St Thomas, but this is populist Rollins the big festival crowd-pleaser at work. Colour picture and sound are a bit muddy on the DVD released by Discovery Records in 2005. The remaining 32 minutes of that particular disc are taken up by a neat black-and-white documentary about tenor saxist Ben Webster's life as a resident of Amsterdam in 1967 – interesting scenes of Ben performing and rehearsing but no complete tunes.
Cymbeline
(1982 TV Movie)
Cymbeline (1982)
22 June 2011
This play was first staged in the early 1600s and inevitably it has lost something in transportation through time and space to a BBCTV studio. The atmosphere doesn't feel right even though the costumes and sets are not bad. As for the plot, King Cymbeline (Richard Johnson) is not a happy bunny when his daughter Imogen (Helen Mirren) marries beneath her station. He banishes the husband from the kingdom and puts Imogen under the wing of her treacherous stepmother (Claire Bloom). From there the story takes many twists and turns. Robert Lindsay puts in a fine performance as a baddie, and it's nice to see Michael Gough, Patricia Hayes, Marius Goring and Michael Hordern popping up here and there. The play is not one of Shakespeare's greatest hits though, and this 1980s TV version only just held my attention; it seemed dull in parts.
Thelonious Monk: Live in '66
(2006 Video)
Thelonious Monk - Live in '66 (2006)
22 June 2011
This is pianist Thelonious Monk's quartet featuring Charlie Rouse (tenor sax), Larry Gales (double bass) and Ben Riley (drums). They play two sets running about half an hour each, filmed in black-and-white in TV studios without an audience. The first set was done in Norway in 1966, the other in Denmark the same year. Hence we get two versions of 'Lulu's Back In Town' but they are equally interesting. Featured also are 'Blue Monk', 'Don't Blame Me' (piano only on this one), 'Epistrophy' and 'Round Midnight'. I've been a fan of Monk's music for more than half a century and, although this bassist and drummer would not have been my first choice, it is fascinating to watch the great man's keyboard style and peculiar body-language in close-up.
Going Places
(1974)
Les Valseuses (1974)
22 June 2011
Les Valseuses (aka Going Places) is part road movie, part buddy movie (Depardieu and Dewaere). They play a pair of morally bankrupt petty crooks and car thieves who go from place to place displaying misogyny at every turn with remarkably compliant women. These include Jeanne Moreau who is on screen less than 20 minutes, Brigitte Fossey and a very young Isabelle Huppert. The only recurring female character is played by Miou-Miou who is subjected routinely to physical and sexual abuse. Sex comedies of the 1970s – in any language – seem crass and unfunny now, and this is no exception. Some comfort is offered by soundtrack music featuring the late Stéphane Grappelli, French jazz violinist extraordinaire.
Nabucco
(1987 TV Movie)
Nabucco (1985)
22 June 2011
Nabucco was first staged in 1842. It was Verdi's third opera and first big success. In this television recording made at La Scala, Milan, the maestro Riccardo Muti hurls himself into the overture so energetically that he reminds me of Bugs Bunny conducting 'Poet and Peasant'. Everything is wonderfully over the top. Renato Bruson (baritone) makes a superbly wretched King Nebuchadnezzar. Ghena Dimitrova (soprano) as Abigalle really impresses; her 'Salgo già' is the high spot for me. 'The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves' is in this opera too. Musically, this is great stuff. I watched a second time and liked the production better. The sound on the Warner/Kultur DVD released in 2004 seems a shade below perfect but good enough.
The Small World of Sammy Lee
(1963)
The Small World Of Sammy Lee (1963)
21 June 2011
This is a big screen version of a BBC TV play. Anthony Newley, whose string of Top 20 pop hits had just come to an end, puts in a surprisingly good performance as Sammy Lee, a strip club compère whose gambling debts land him in trouble with gangsters. Newley was a quirky actor and takes some getting used to. Always nice to see Julia Foster who plays a doting innocent, and there are memorable cameos from Warren Mitchell and Miriam Karlin as his brother and his sister-in-law. Set before strip clubs and gambling were entirely lawful, the film is in black-and-white which enhances the period atmosphere. Jazz fans may care to note that the original music is composed by tenor saxist Kenny Graham.
The Flamenco Clan
(2005)
The Flamenco Clan (2005)
21 June 2011
You may find this film listed in some places under the title 'Herencia Flamenca: The Flamenco Clan'. I found it a little disappointing because I had hoped for a flamenco film as classy as those made by director Carlos Saura, or a music documentary on a par with Wim Wenders' brilliant 'Buena Vista Social Club'. By comparison with those efforts, 'The Flamenco Clan' seems rather an ordinary piece of work about a contemporary Spanish family who make a good living out of music, and about their ancestors who were less successful. (There is a element of rags-to-riches about the whole thing.) It is not entirely without exciting moments of music and dance but there are not enough of them to make me want to see it again.
Crepuscule
(2009)
A haunting film
13 June 2011
Being rooted in the films of the 1950s/'60s/'70s, and with a liking for movies of even earlier decades, I approach contemporary items with extreme caution. 'Crepuscule' came to my attention quite by chance. It is fairly short (an hour and ten minutes); there is no dialogue and no story. It's a study of loneliness, I suppose. Nellie Benner plays a young woman who arrives in the city (Amsterdam), takes a room and gets a job in a carwash. She is isolated a bit odd and rather frightened, and her mental state deteriorates from bad to worse. Ms Benner handles her character's changes of personality very well, and makes us care about her. The scenes are thoughtfully shot in black-and-white and beautifully lit; the music and sound effects are interesting. It's a haunting film; the noir-ish rainy streets and night lights and many other images stay with you. I can't fault it.
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