Review of Woodstock Jazz Festival

Introduction

Ah, Jazz. The most pilloried of all styles of music? Probably. Most famously pilloried by The Fast Show, who went after both the music itself (some of their spoof tunes were spot on), and the players (with characters such as "The Legendary Hornfinger" - who was always riddled with syphilis and self-doubt).

Fans of the style are often quoted as saying that non-fans "don`t understand jazz". Non-fans might retort "what is there to understand?" Jazz is often attacked for having no tune or melody, or for quirky rhythms and unusual time signatures. Let`s have a listen to this disc and see what we can make of it.

First up a warning - my disc was set for region 1 only despite appearing to look like a region 2 disc

Video

A 1980s NTSC TV transfer, which looks exactly like that. It`s 4:3 and it looks like a TV recording of a concert in the 1980s. There are no exciting or outstanding features about it.

Audio

A DD5.1 soundtrack which entertains the ears but never blows you away with its quality. Given the age of the recording it`s obviously a remix and it`s a reasonable effort, just not a stunning one. Many other music discs have raised the bar, and it takes quite a bit of effort to compete with them.

Features

Absolutely nothing.

Conclusion

So, Jazz - "niceshhh" or not? I`m afraid that this disc bored me to tears. The music was dull and uninspiring and it`s really not my cup of tea at all. The closest I`ve come to enjoying Jazz was Eric Clapton`s 1997 "Legends" European Jazz Festival Tour, when he toured with Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, Joe Sample and Steve Gadd.

But this disc has no outstanding individual performances that lift the overall show, and it just wallows in a sea of mediocrity. If you`re interested in any of the artists on show, then you might like the disc, but there`s only an hour`s worth of material on here, so unless you pick it up for less than £10 you might feel cheated. And remember it might be region 1 only if my disc is anything to go by!