Customer Reviews

Arcoluz

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'll confine myself to sound quality, since it is rarely mentioned in reviews. Around 2004, Garcia-Fons changed from having fantastic, dynamic mastering to loud dynamically compressed mastering. The result is that Entremundo (2004) and Arcoluz (2005) have very little punch, and a rather monotonous volume level. The dynamics in the music have been gutted. The sound of the instruments has also been degraded by the process of compression, limiting, etc. I would recommend not getting these two disks (except for the dvd); and instead getting Alborea (1995), Legendes (1996), and/or Fuera (1999). Those disks are of top notch quality and will provide you with maximum listening pleasure.

PS: if you want to know more about loudness & dynamic compression go to wikipedia and look up "loudness war". It's a shame that it has infected acoustic music like Garcia-Fons'. C'est la vie.

I just saw this trio live this past sunday night October7, 2007 in Los Angeles , one night only performance. They played all the selections from thier DVD...what a trio...what a combination...all the musicians were out of this world...Mr. Fons can blend Middle Eastern, Flemenco, Indian, Western , Spanish, Brazilian music and more ....in one melody line....he has NO LIMITATIONS both in technique and imagination.This is simply excelent music without catagory. Duke Ellington once said .."there are two kinds of music... bad music and good music.." this is greeeaaattt music....

That said. make sure you have DVD player that plays PAL format ..if not..go to your local Best Buys or Circuit City and get one...lots of no name cheap players play PAL format.

I only own the CD portion of this package and I'll echo everyone else here. RGF is in a class by himself.

But ---- does anyone know if the DVD is NTSC format? I've been burned too many times buying imports that are only in PAL which severely limits the viewing experience.

If anyone can answer this, I'd bet the album/DVD would sell more.

Spanish-Gypsy-Jazz. Don't know how to really catagorize this music, but it is fantastic. If you are a bass player I believe you're in for a real treat. I was floored.

Incredible performance, and for anyone who had been waiting on this to be released in North America, the DVD program runs 85 min and is in NTSC. Cannot recommend this enough!!

I was lucky enough to get a lesson with one of my greatest idols, Eddie Gomez, a couple of years ago. During our lesson, Eddie recommended I check out Renaud Garcia-Fons (RGF). There is no higher recommendation, besides your own ears of course, and the fact that RGF learned from the maestro, Rabbath!

I own a great many music DVDs and snap up anything of a great bassists as fast as I can. My reaction to watching less than 1 minute of this DVD is that it is the greatest video of a great bassist that I have ever seen.

Many times there are great performances and the cameraman or the editor must have attention defecit syndrome since they are so busy cutting here and there, every few seconds, that it prevents you from enjoying the music. Actually, in this case, that is partially true since there are way too many video cuts back and forth, but it doesn't destroy the performance - the camera angles are superb, looking straight up the fretboard, including the tailpiece, electronics, bridge, fingerboard, etc. allow you really absorb the beauty of the performance.

I think even non-bassists will be thrilled with this.

My recommendation is not to worry about PAL format, or purchasing a PAL player - simply rip the DVD to your hard drive and play it, or remaster in NTSC.

DVD is PAL format, 85 minutes, according to site abstractlogix, which also has soundclips of first 5 songs.

I just received this CD/DVD combo from my friends in Germany. there is really not much that I can say here as David hit the spot with his review. It's plain beautiful to the point that it drives tears into my eyes. At the same time I am in awe of the virtuosity and variety of techniques he plays. One of the arrangement is Entremundo, music between worlds, but truly he is from another world. If you like music you owe this to yourself. 5 out of 5 stars is too little, how about 5 out of 5 galaxies.

J. Hellborg, G. Willis, S. Clarke, D. Holland et al could not begin to dream where Renaud Garcia-Fons journeys on his 5 string double-bass. He is quite easily the greatest bass player of them all and this breath-taking CD (and DVD) is a living testament to his out of this world skills. His bowing technique alone is both bewildering and awesome. The sounds and speeds he gets in the higher register are like those of a maestro violinist and the arrangements are a joy. If you don't believe me, buy this CD/DVD. The 85 minute DVD alone is worth the asking price (and more!). If you are a bass player, please ensure have a loved one close by to console you. If you want (need) to listen to Renaud in a larger group setting, get hold of a copy of Oriental Bass. Oh, and the guitarist and percussionist are also wonders to behold. PS: If you're of the opinion that Jaco was the greatest bassist of all time, think again!