Review of Count Basie At Carnegie Hall

Introduction

This DVD is the recording of a live show from the Carnegie Hall on the 20th of March 1981. This was one of Count Basie`s last televised performances He died in 1984.

Probably the most famous jazz pianist in the world Basie had been playing since the 1920`s and began recording and making films in the mid 1930`s. he had a swing band, then a smaller rhythm group when big bands became less popular. He always seemed to adapt to circumstance and was playing the greats until the last.

This show celebrated the 50th Anniversary of his music career and features guest performances by his friends and fellow performers; Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, George Benson and Joe Williams. The Count Basie Orchestra adds its support.

Video

Made for television this picture quality was never going to set the world on fire but it`s not totally hopeless and let`s face it you get what it says on the box.
There are no obvious problems with the disc.

Audio

The sound has been, presumably re-engineered and reproduced in Dolby 5.1. It sounds good. There is some hiss on the documentary part and this has not had the sound re-engineered. There not really a huge amount happening in the rear speakers other than a duplication of the front but I`m not really bothered by it myself. There are probably people out there with more discerning ears than my battered ones.

Features

All the songs are individually accessible from the chapter menu.

Tribute to Count Basie

This documentary was specially made to show along with the TV concert and uses footage from rehearsals and contemporary interviews to tell the Basie story. There is probably nothing here that the fans don`t know about but it is a nice addition to the piece.

Conclusion

This concert was recorded in 1981 and technology has moved on apace. Using state of the art technology the sound has been reengineered to approximate 51. surround. They have done a reasonable job and spread it around the five speakers but it really is just a repetition of the sound from the front. The music itself setting aside the technology sounds very good indeed and had my foot-tapping despite a strong resistance to swing. The accompanying documentary is a good bonus and I feel this will appeal to jazz and Basie fans.