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Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie)

Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie)

List Price: $29.99
Your Price: $26.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Take the intrerview out!!!
Review: ...The music is really great. Coltrane is so awesome that his music magnetizes, you can't even put it at the background: it takes all your attention.
Now the problem is that the interview is very poor... I think that even with talented interviewer the musical DVD should have the option to skip the dialogs and to choose to play the music only. It is also strange that the sound recording not as good as it supposed to be and the video picture is sometimes very dirty. Don't buy this DVD.
Somebody needs to remake this DVD and make some cleaning of it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Jazz History in the Flesh
Review: I agree with much of what the other reviewers had to say, but give Gleason a break- if Trane didn't want to speak, he didn't want to speak (I'm sure Miles wouldn't have agreed to be interviewed if he had been on the show, either). But because of Gleason's show, we get to see the Coltrane quartet at one of its peaks-particularly the mezmorizing "Afro Blues".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Worth it for the historical value alone
Review: I found this worth the cost to me but mostly for the historical view. The music can be heard on a CD much better and quite honestly I didn't hear a lot being said by Basie or Gillespie (Coltrane declined to be interviewed).
But what a treat to see the footage of a Public TV Broadcast of the 60's. Gleason's questions and attempt at dialog sounds very dated. Of course it was not atypical of the era but by today's standards he sounds amaturish and unprepared. But thankfully he did do these shows and we now get to see things in the exact setting of the era when they were done. I probably won't watch this all that often but I will pull it out now and again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Worth it for the historical value alone
Review: I found this worth the cost to me but mostly for the historical view. The music can be heard on a CD much better and quite honestly I didn't hear a lot being said by Basie or Gillespie (Coltrane declined to be interviewed).
But what a treat to see the footage of a Public TV Broadcast of the 60's. Gleason's questions and attempt at dialog sounds very dated. Of course it was not atypical of the era but by today's standards he sounds amaturish and unprepared. But thankfully he did do these shows and we now get to see things in the exact setting of the era when they were done. I probably won't watch this all that often but I will pull it out now and again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Must See
Review: I happened upon this DVD and was very pleasantly surprised. I don't remember the original show but I thought that this was a rare opportunity to see and hear three past masters of jazz. Count Basie was engaging and interesting to listen to. His band was so tight they even grooved when he was just playing around. Dizzy performed the tunes that made him famous in his own unique style. Lots of African related rhythms proved interesting to watch and listen to. Coltrane refused to be interviewed so Ralph Gleason said that he would let the music do the talking for him. I thought that might put some people off but the music definitely spoke for everyone. This is an incredible performance. John Coltrane displays his genius but the special treat for me was hearing and seeing Elvin. Great Stuff and very educational. I bought a copy to show to my jazz students.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth it if you're listening.
Review: I'm a working jazz pianist in the Seattle area and always looking to get closer to Basie's perspective. If you've got ears and want to see these guys in action, get this disk. Granted, there are some short interviews, but it's a small price to pay to see a slice of the minimal good footage available from these long gone times in jazz history. A player's textbook in black and white!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Worth it if you're listening.
Review: I'm a working jazz pianist in the Seattle area and always looking to get closer to Basie's perspective. If you've got ears and want to see these guys in action, get this disk. Granted, there are some short interviews, but it's a small price to pay to see a slice of the minimal good footage available from these long gone times in jazz history. A player's textbook in black and white!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WHERE'S THE MUSIC?
Review: What a tease! This is a limited performance disc so don't expect much music. Here are three of the premier Jazz musicians of our day (or anyone else's) and their already limited playing time is constantly chopped short and interrupted by the irritating host, Ralph Gleason, who interviews poorly and should have stuck to writing liner notes. Even the musicians were, obviously, put off by him...with Basie never looking directly at him and 'Trane refusing to even have dialog! Diz proved to be the most patient of the three. What music is permitted has marginal sound quality at best and just when you begin to groove a little, up pops Gleason, again!

Hey guys...let's try it "one more once". A MUST NOT for any collection!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WHERE'S THE MUSIC?
Review: What a tease! This is a limited performance disc so don't expect much music. Here are three of the premier Jazz musicians of our day (or anyone else's) and their already limited playing time is constantly chopped short and interrupted by the irritating host, Ralph Gleason, who interviews poorly and should have stuck to writing liner notes. Even the musicians were, obviously, put off by him...with Basie never looking directly at him and 'Trane refusing to even have dialog! Diz proved to be the most patient of the three. What music is permitted has marginal sound quality at best and just when you begin to groove a little, up pops Gleason, again!

Hey guys...let's try it "one more once". A MUST NOT for any collection!


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