Blast: An Explosive Musical Celebration Review

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(More customer reviews)Blast! is Bill Cook's incredible effort to bring drum corps to the stage. Blast! originated as the Star Of Indiana Drum and Bugle Corps, which competed from 1985 to 1993. Today, the show is a smaller, stage-friendly adaptation with the same energy as its large football-field predecessor.
While the music is wonderful and moving, you really need to see the performers to fully appreciate their work. The CD is a studio recording, while the video is a live recording of their premiere show in London.
The show is about 90 minutes long, and the CD leaves out a few of the more visual performances, including 'Battery Battle' (a drum soloist feature, and 'Tangerinamadige' (a digederoo feature). These pieces are especially intended for live performance.
Blast! is starting a Broadway run in April with touring performances planned. It is a striking production and should not be missed if you have the chance to see it live.

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Day Trip Review

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(More customer reviews)The late jazz writer Richard Cook described Pat Metheny's enormous audience as a mixture of "progressive-rock listeners, fusion fans, and plain old lovers of guitar heroes". In other words, he manages to cover quite a few stylistic bases, but here's an album that will appeal most to the hard-core jazz listeners among Metheny's many fans.
'Metheny hooks up with his regular partners, Christian McBride on double bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums. As you'd expect for musicians who have played hundreds of dates together they're very comfortable in each other's company, with McBride's marvellously deep, rich bass really shining throughout'(BBC).
'In its early stages, "Day Trip" seems to fall into some familiar postbop traps (too much technique, overwrought themes) but it soon settles into some jubilant improvising from all three, on the kind of bluesy grooves, Latin swingers and inviting ballads that suggest Wes Montgomery has returned to life and found the hippest 21st-century world-music partners he could' (Guardian).
He dazzles on 10 new originals.
"Let's Move" is fast and boppish, "At Last You're Here" is a fine ballad, bound to become a classic - as might his bluesy "Calvin's Keys" and a bittersweet acoustic lament for flood-battered New Orleans, "Is This America?"
For technique, taste and originality, Pat's still the man.
He is alternately pastorally lyrical and hard-swinging, reminding us of his origins in the music of Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall respectively.
Apart from the unmemorable nature of some of the compositions, this is delightful stuff.
The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery
Hallmarks: The Best of Jim Hall


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Amazon.com Our job is to be deeply in the moment, says Pat Metheny. Day Trip, the first release from Metheny's current trio lineup, featuring bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez, vividly depicts the group at one particularly inspired moment. As Metheny explains, We did it the old-school way. We'd been touring for about four or five years at different times and then went in and recorded, rather than making a record and touring behind it. We worked like gangbusters and finished in a day, so the title Day Trip fit. Besides, this is kind of a trip band; they take you on a journey. The Day Trip sessions were recorded at Manhattan’s Right Track studio in late October 2005 and sequenced into a ten-song set earlier this year. The album is being released in conjunction with a national tour the trio will embark upon in February 2008. Metheny already reconvened the group this fall for an enthusiastically received series of small market dates at colleges and theatres; the trio ended its preliminary run with four concerts in South Africa. Reviews from the daily U.S. press along the way have been a compendium of superlatives. The Buffalo News declared, Metheny is sharing his musical soul with the two finest musicians of their generation. The Times Union of Albany concurred: Christian McBride on stand-up bass and drummer Antonio Sanchez wove their way into Metheny’s music... and played with a telepathic virtuosity. And the Louisville Courier Journal summed up the nightly reaction to the trio’s sets: It was a collaborative tour de force that earned a standing ovation. Christian is an amazing musician and Antonio is the drummer of this generation, says Metheny. 35 year-old bassist McBride had played alongside Roy Hargrove, Freddie Hubbard and others, before stepping up to lead his own group; 36 year-old drummer Sanchez is a member of The Pat Metheny Group. On Day Trip, Metheny offers plenty of excitement in his solos and the trio cranks up the funk on "The Red One", (a version of which was previously released on Metheny’s collaboration with John Scofield "I Can See Your House From Here"). However they generally eschew flash for a more easy-going groove; McBride calls it a softer, more traditional sound. Perhaps most eloquent among these tracks is the elegiac, folk-like melody of "Is This America?" (Katrina 2005). 2007 was an exceptional year for Metheny.
Pat Metheny PhotosMore from Pat Metheny

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Steve Gadd Master Series DVD (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)I attended the 2005 leg of this clinic in Phoenix. Before the clinic began, Steve took the time to meet every person waiting in a long, long line to see him. When it was my turn to meet him, he looked me in the eye, asked me questions, and listened to me intently. He also signed the bottom of my K Custom Session ride cymbal (from the line that he helped design with Zildjian). Then as I started to walk away with my wife, Steve motioned for her to come back so he could meet and speak with her as well. He expressed this genuine interest in everyone he met at the event. He is truly a wonderful person. Steve employed a warm, conversational tone throughout the clinic that followed. He communicated his ideas and techniques in understandable ways, and he demonstrated them on the drumset. While watching him break down some of his grooves, a sense of awe engulfed me; yet at the same time I felt inspired and empowered to become an innovative drummer in my own right. GET THIS DVD!

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In 2006, the Zildjian company launched its third Missionfrom Gadd North American clinic tour giving drummersacross the country an opportunity to experienceSteve Gadd s humility, generosity, and creative geniusfirsthand. On this DVD, Steve is featured in an intimatemaster class setting at the Manhattan School of Music inNew York City, May 2006.Longtime fans of Steve as well as younger drummersjust discovering him will treasure Steve s wisdomand insights on a wide variety of topics: funk patterns,rudiments applied to the kit, playing with a click, tips forthe studio, brush patterns, odd phrases, Mozambique/Latin ideas: it s all here. The extensive question-andanswersegments allow Steve to discuss several of hislegendary performances, including Aja, Nite Sprite,Late in the Evening and 50 Ways to Your Lover. Stevealso performs solo pieces that contain the essential toolsand techniques that comprise his incredibly influentialstyle and approach.BONUs FeatURes; Tour Bus Interview with Steve Steve Gadd Career Documentary (from the AmericanDrummers Achievement Awards DVD) Steve Gadd/Giovanni Hidalgo Rehearsal andPerformance (from Modern Drummer Festival 1997 DVD)

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Backstage Secrets: On the Road with the Rock Band RUSH (Institutional Use) Review

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(More customer reviews)Having watched the first two episodes, it is clear that the concept this video is trying to show has a lot of merit. Showing some of what goes on behind the scenes setting up for shows in several arenas, and brief bits of the actual performance during the shows.
What is also clear is that this is a very cheaply made video. It's potentially better than home video quality, but in many places it's really hard to even give it that level of quality. There are considerable compression artifacts in the video, to the point of distraction. This becomes very obvious in the lighting episode, but others have similar problems. If you're thinking "How it's made" or similar History Channel or Science Channel serial documentary, it's nowhere close quality wise.
The videos are also a bit of a tease. They start going into detail on one of the roles, then jump back to high level fluff like "waiting for points". If you're interested in what they're actually using to produce the show, you'll be disappointed, very little of that information made it into the final video. If you know what various bits which could be in the rig look like already, the video gets you close enough to pick out what the various items actually are, but again you have to know what you are looking at first.
The idea, done right would be great, but as is, this video is often painful to watch.

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Go behind the scenes to get a backstage look at what it takes to present the legendary band Rush during the 2008 Snakes & Arrows Concert Tour.It may appear to be one of the most exciting and glamorous jobs in the world - but being a roadie with a top-rated world-famous rock and roll band can be a grueling marathon of 18 hour work days, on an easy day.A bad is actually a couple of days, 40 hours spent hauling gear, assembling huge stacks of speakers, lifting them a hundred feet in the air, tuning instruments for demanding musicians and being cut off from every lover, friend and relative you have.This series takes you to the show you never see when you take your seat for a concert by the legendary band Rush.All the backstage secrets are revealed. This DVD includes 5 parts on two discs including: Part 1:SoundSure it sounds easy. Turn on some speakers and listen to the show.Well, it's a lot more complicated than that. Everyone in every seat needs to hear the show equally well. That sound can be affected by the shape of the building, the temperature inside and even whether the audience is wearing long or short sleeves. And then there's the show the band hears. Each member of Rush needs to hear different instruments at different levels at different times during the show. Part 2: LightsYou don't buy a ticket to hear a rock show; you buy a ticket to see a rock show. Of course that's not as simple as turning on the house lights and sitting back. Lighting sets the mood for each song.That means lights are meticulously placed which isn't that easy when each show is in a different building. Once they are set up perfectly, the must be directed by an artist who plays the lighting board like an instrument. Part 3: Instrument TechniciansOne of the most demanding and stressful jobs on the road is the instrument technician. Each one is charged with tuning and maintaining the magic wands these musical wizards wield. For the musicians to have a good show, their instruments must be perfect. Each night is an exercise in perfection for the four technicians on the Rush tour, guitar, drums, bass and keyboards.Part 4: Lighting and VideoLet's face it, not every seat is in the front row, but everyone pays for a ticket. That means someone has to make sure everyone gets a good look at the band. So each concert is also a television show broadcast on a 50 foot screen.Part 5: Road ManagerMost of the road crew are responsible for making sure their area of responsibility is working. But one person has to make sure the whole thing works, every night in every city. The road manager is the conductor of this huge orchestration and you better believe he is on his game all the time. NTSC 16:9 - 2 discs - 250-minutes(c) 2008High Fidelity HDTV Media Inc - All Rights Reserved
This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

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The Complex Review

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(More customer reviews)One Day some time ago BMG decided to try a new experiment: How well its wacky array of make-shift instruments would work in a more traditional Rock Album, and let me tell you it works, it REALLY works. Where ever the Blue Man instruments were put in, it 'fits' like if it was mean't to have always been in there, it doesn't really stand out all that much if you were not really trying to listen for them. It does however start to get exhausting near the end of the album. The amazingly complex music would start to take its toll on the person's brain compelling to stop for time being, this is definately not a once over album if you want to fully appreciate what BMG has made.
Herein is a small review of all the songs and my top 3 songs of the album
Above:(9/10)
A very nice start
Time to Start:(9/10)
An exceptionally humerous number,
Sing Along:(10/10)
One of the covers of the album, the Dave Matthews Band really makes this track shine. 3rd Place
Up to the Roof:(10/10)
The female counterpart to Sing Along. Tracy easily make this the second best song IMO
Your Attention:(7/10)
A remake of a BMG song, the addition of vocals kinda makes the song itself easier to swallow than its original format, otherwise....
Persona:(9/10)
Piano Smasher:(8/10)
Pure BMG goodness for those who like their original style
White Rabbit:(7/10)
Maybe its just me, but I didn't quite like this song as much as the rest of the album, worth a hear if you like Esthero
Shadows 2:(6/10)
Another remake of a previous BMG song, nothing special
The Current:(10/10)
One word: Woah.....1st place
I Feel Love:(8/10)
An exceptional rock rendition of the disco classic
What is Rock:(8/10)
This is where it gets tiring if you try to give it a once over, otherwise its up to stuff with the rest of the album
The Complex:(9/10)
The album thankfully gives you a break with this song, its about a person who's made it to the top yet wants more out of life than just success, great song
Exhibit 13:(9/10)
If the listener wasn't told what this song is about, they would just assume its a nice BMG instrumental with many foreign languages. If they were told that its about the many pieces of paper that fell from the two towers. THEN it gains its exceptional strength and creepyness, and could actually move some people to tears.
The Hidden Mandelbrot:(9/10)
An awesome quasi-western-style varient to the mandelbrot family. A nice way to end the album

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Their first full-fledged rock 'n' roll album, 'TheComplex', features guest appearances from Dan TheAutomator, Tracy Bonham, Esthero, Dave Matthews, & others.14 tracks including the single, 'The Current', featuringGavin Rossdale. Lava. 2003.

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Grateful Dead - View from the Vault II (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)June 14,1991 was one of the high points in an exceptional summer tour. The performance is excellent - it is obvious that the band is having a very good time and that they are all listening very closely to one another. The set list is also exceptional, with rare favorites like "Help on the Way" and "Dark Star" giving the band plenty of room for their inspiration to take hold. Any Grateful Dead fan should be happy with this video just for the performance.
The video work itself, however, is less than stellar. The focus often seems misguided, with closeups of drummers during a heated guitar jam, or of a keyboardist taking a smoke break during the final crescendos of "Dark Star." The camera operators also seemed to have some technical difficulties on this night, and some shots that start off tightly focused end up careening all over the stage as if the cameraman were tripped. Finally, the excessive use of "psychedelic imagery" or whatever it's supposed to be is just downright annoying - especially on the filler. It seems to come at the worst times: right when the band starts to loosen up and jam, the display turns into something resembling an early "Windows" screensaver. This type of imagery sometimes persists for several minutes at a time, which is maddening for those of us who would like to actually watch the band.
All in all, I have enjoyed the video and would recommend it to anyone who simply loves the Grateful Dead and treasures their performances. To the "uninitiated," I would recommend starting with "The Grateful Dead Movie," "Dead Ahead" or "Downhill From Here" before purchasing this one.

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Cat Is Out Tour (Pal/Region 2) Review

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(More customer reviews)and well worth the price. Songstress Judie Tzuke performs a selection of wonderful tunes on this 1980s concert video. Ably accompanied by Paul Muggleton and Mike Paxman on guitars, John Rhino Edwards on bass and Bob Noble on keyboards. Sax work by Andy Hamilton and drums by skins virtuoso Andy Newmark rounds up a terrific band. Some of the many tunes performed are How Sweet It Is, Harbour Lights and This Side of Heaven. This concert is high quality top notch entertainment by a group of very fine musicians. I recommend it highly for any music collection. My only wish is that it be made available in NTSC format as it now only available in PAL.

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