Voices of Concord Jazz: Live at Montreux
October 2004 Reviewed by: Wes Marshall Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

In the 1970s, jazz turned its back on the traditional sounds of swing and bebop in favor of free jazz, jazz-rock fusion and soul-jazz. The one beacon of light for folks who loved music by the likes of Barney Kessel, Dave McKenna, or Mel Tormé was Carl Jefferson, a used-car dealer from Northern California who decided to invest a good deal of his net worth into founding Concord Jazz. That was 32 years ago, and although Mr. Jefferson has since left the stage, his label is still going strong.

Voices of Concord Jazz is their first jazz DVD (believe it or not, its first DVD was an ice-skating DVD by Scott Hamilton, made even more irksome by the fact that one of the top acts for over 25 years has been saxophonist Scott Hamilton). The producers have rounded up most of their living singers: Peter Cincotti, Karrin Allyson, Monica Mancini, Diane Schuur, Curtis Stigers, Nnenna Freelon, and Patti Austin. The singers range from cool crooners (Allyson, Cincotti) to belters (Schuur, Austin).

The first three performers have their own bands, and they benefit from it. Peter Cincotti is a little bland, but pleasant in a way that could turn into something good over the next few years. Karrin Allyson is second up, and she is the standout performer on the DVD. She has turned into one of our finest jazz singers, and it is revelatory to see her dig into a live version of "Moanin’." I just wish we could have had more of her. The third singer is Monica Mancini, whose father was rather famous, which is about the best thing I can say about her performance.

From then on, the rest of the singers are backed by the WDR Big Band, which plays with the efficiency you always get from a European radio orchestra. I missed a little heat. The best of the singers with the big band is Nnenna Freelon, a singer who is getting better with age, as you can tell from her dynamic romp through "Better Than Anything."

Sonically and visually, this set is intimate. Cameras hover inches from performers hands and faces, capturing unusually clear images. The audio mix is very close and compressed; it sounds as if every instrument had a microphone built into it. Luckily, the engineers had enough sense to put some distance microphones in the surround channels to lend some depth so that you get a nice combination of detail and soundstage, but it still sounds a bit contrived. Sadly, the only extra is a very poorly constructed discography.

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