Search - Ray Charles :: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival

Genius at his best!

Arle Frost | L.A. Calif USA | 01/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was a fan of Ray's since childhood when my grandmother used to play his music all of the time. I didn't realize the genius of the man until I got older. The man played many instruments,including the sax, trumpet, and of course the piano that we associate with him, just to name a few. The Genius besides being an accomplished musician was also an accomplished music writer, arranger and producer. Watching this DVD concert left me wanting more and made me appreciate the genius of the man so much more. The concert was about 75 minutes long, but as the adage goes, "time flies when you're having fun", definitely applies here. He played alot of his standards and some classic pop standards from other artists with his special touches which make you think, "why didn't they do it that way"? My only complaint was I wished the concert could of been longer. There were some standards he didn't play that I was hoping to hear, but I guess when you're watching a concert of a musical genius who have a repetoir of over 600+ songs, you have to end it somewhere. Ray's performance in this concert will impress and his mastery of the keyboard synthesizer in this concert will bring tears to the eyes. The added treat to this DVD is the interview feature where he critiques his music, where he drew his inspiration, and why he did each song that way in the concert, and his views on music in general. One other additional feature I liked in this DVD/CD set is the timeline of the man and his many, many, accomplishments which was chronicled from his childhood, to when he became blind, the ooodles and ooodles of awards and accolades he accomplished throughout his career, just stopping short of his death. If you're a fan of the Genius, this DVD/CD set is a must have."

Overall a good concert!

Capt. Billy Thimbleberry | On the shores of Lake Superior | 12/28/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed this concert. The audio was fairly good although several horn solos were poorly recorded so they were barely audible. The camera angles must have been quite restricted because throughout the DVD the right side of the same 'bone player's face kept being shown. The Raylette's were fun to watch. The DVD featured a good number of tunes. I recommend it!"

Lo-Fidelity

James Chambers | Denver, CO | 06/13/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Sounds like it was mixed for a 2-inch tv speaker. It's all mids here. No high or low frequency extension. No dynamic range either. Nothing is loud or soft, just squished. It is Ray Charles so I couldn't bring myself to give this disc just one star but I was tempted."