The New Orleans Concert The Music of America's Soul
February 2007 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD/HD DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

This concert was shot in April of 2004, before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. A large number of New Orleans musicians and their prominent musical guests made great music, unaware that their lives were soon to be tremendously altered. The venue is a concert hall and the set up like a vaudeville show, with announcer Quint David, who founded and continues to run the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, introducing each performer.

The concert kicks off in an intimate way as Irma Thomas, accompanied only by piano, sings a brassy blues number, "It’s Raining." It is significant that the piano player is Allen Toussaint, the dean of New Orleans musicians. Moving right along, we get the first of many new and old generation mixes that work so well for this program as young up-and-comer Joss Stone joins veteran New Orleans musicians for an earthy version of "Dirty Man." Aaron Neville takes center stage next, singing an emotionally devastating freeform version of "Amazing Grace." This is followed by another new and old coupling as Jon Cleary and Allen Toussaint team up on duo pianos for a rollicking version of "Tipitina."

The Dixie Cups, a legendary New Orleans "girl group," takes the stage next. And I mean they take the stage in ownership. Still sounding and looking great, carefully coordinated hand gestures intact, they sing the ever popular "Chapel of Love" and bring down the house, just like they did 40 years ago. Lloyd Price is on hand for a rousing version of "Lawdy Miss Clawdy." And so it goes for the rest of the concert: one great artist after another playing great American music. The pace gets faster and faster till it bursts into joyous abandon as the Neville Brothers tear up "Yellow Moon" and "Fire on the Bayou."

To avoid double inventory, the producers have chosen to make this a combo disc, one side playable on any DVD player and the other for HD DVD players only. The video is crisp and reasonably clear, considering the variable stage lighting. The HD picture is predictably clearer and sharper than the one on the SD side, and occasionally it pops and dazzles. The sound has good frequency response, slightly limited dynamic range, and is recorded at a low level. You will really have to crank the volume up to get the best this disc has to offer. The Dolby Digital Plus tracks on the HD side are far better than the regular Dolby Digital ones, being more open and transparent as well as better focused, too. Cranked up, the sound on the HD side is excellent.

The extras consist mostly of bonus tracks. These are not throwaway sequences. In fact, many are a touch better than the ones offered in the regular concert. There’s an electrifying stride piano version of "Hey Little Girl" from Henry Butler; a raucous, toe-tapping "Feet Can’t Fail Me Now" from the Dirty Dozen Band; and a pulsing funk version of "Bah Duey Duey," by Big Sam’s Funky Nation, which contains an absolutely amazing duo riff for two trombones. There are also brief interviews with Jon Cleary and Earl Palmer.

Though this concert was filmed before Hurricane Katrina all but destroyed New Orleans, there are post production text overlays to remind us of the tragedy and of the triumph and survival of the city in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. "Music is the soul of New Orleans and its gift to the world. The sounds from the streets will never be washed away." Amen to that!

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