Customer Reviews

Jane Monheit - Live at the Rainbow Room

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I first found out about Jane Monheit from a very interesting piece on CBS's "Sunday Morning" show. Over next few years I become a fan of this young classically trained singer, who has brought some new blood to the classic pop genre. I was surprised when I found out she had a live performance on DVD.I had accidentally plugged in her name into Amazon's DVD section and the "Live at the Rainbow Room" title popped up. Well it was a lucky accident, because "Live at the Rainbow Room" presents Monheit in a delightful, intimate performance, that is a musical treat.The performance is mainly a showcase for her third and newest album, "Into the Sun", but also manages to mix other tunes from her older CDs. She has a wonderful voice, which is at home singing every thing from pop classics such as "Cheek to Cheek" and "Tea for Two" to more modern fair such as "Love Has No Pride" and "Waters of March". My personal favorite of the set is the classic opening number, "Over the Rainbow". Moheit starts the song off by singing in a low accapella and then is slowly joined in by the orchestra. It is moving and emotional reading of the Arlen standard, which really shows off, what a pure talent she really is. Other highlights include a steamy version of Duke Ellington's "Just Squeeze Me" and a rousing rendition "Hit the Road to Dreamland". Monheit works well with the orchestra (which includes bass legend Ron Carter) as well as the smaller group configurations and soloists.She presents a friendly and light hearted personality, which really shines in this concert. The world famous 'Rainbow Room' turns out to be an wonderful small, intimate venue for the show.As a viewer I felt like I was there. The DVD's picture and sound quality are excellent.It also includes a short featurette, which includes interviews and rehearsal footage. If you are a fan of Jane Monheit or classic pop in general, then I highly recommend "Live at the Rainbow Room".

Being a fan mainly of classic rock, blues, and jazz, it is so rare and wonderful when a young artist comes along and has the talent and charisma to reinvigorate the art form. You can throw away those Norah Jones CD's, because here is a true singer. She actually sounds a great deal like Sarah MacLachlan, if Sarah had fully learned how to use her voice and sung jazz.

Jane Monheit has been picked on quite a bit simply beause she is absolutely gorgeous in an old fashioned classic way, but she handles herself so well on stage and fills the whole room with her voice that only a jealous woman would ever pick on her for being pretty. Her voice has also been compared to Ella Fitzgerald's, then struck down because she is not as good as Ella. That is completely unfair, because there was only one Ella, and there is only one Jane Monheit. And just because she is not Ella, does not mean she is not excellent. Jazz snobs of the world, move to Iraq, please!

The concert opens with Ms. Monheit singing the introduction of Over the Rainbow, a cappella, a gutsy opening if there ever was one. Then she takes on Duke Ellington's Just Squeeze Me with a steamy sensuality which the so-called pop divas of today can only dream of. She has cleavage, but barely shows it, and brushing her long red hair out of her face while listening to a solo is hotter than any gesture by any teen queen with a tongue ring and silicone. Imagine that---subtlety, beauty, and talent. What decade am I in again?

I had to buy this disc not having any idea how it would sound because of her excellent choice of tunes, including the haunting Bill Evans ballad Turn Out the Stars, which she performs with authority, all sadness and agony but no schmaltz, like a country tune done just right but not overdone or a steak cooked just enough to keep the flavor. The concert closes with the Berstein tune Some Other Time, which she uses to close all of her shows. Her favorite tune here is one of the best: More Than You Know, taken at a tempo too fast for my taste, but on the other hand proves that she can swing.

I am just disappointed that such a good recording with orchestra was not done in DTS. Hopefully next time, they will budget for this. She is supported by a full orchestra, but the balance is good, you can always hear her clearly, and the band is spread all around by the mix.

This is not a dream, this is not a test: a great beauty with a majestic voice performing in New York's hallowed Rainbow Room. Bravo!

If you like Jane Monheit CDs, buy this, it's better.

If you've been to see Jane's live shows, buy this, it's better.

Not only is she in one of the nicest venues in the country, the Rainbow Room, not only is she in very fine form physically and musically -- but she has wonderful accompaniment. Actually one of my favorite moments on this DVD is a killer bass solo by Ron Carter. And the accompaniment shifts from band to guitar solo to piano to band, as the music demands.

This thing has TWENTY different songs on it, and she nails every one of them. Even if you are just curious about who this Jane Monheit person is, buy this DVD. You will love it.

This is a GREAT DVD, very very very well recorded and very naturally mixed - at least that was my judgment when played back on high resolution high-end equipment. I saw Jane Monheit in Atlanta in a small 400 seat theater with a trio and between the sets I guess I would agree she isn't a great conversationalist but who cares? Apart from that, I thought her composure on stage was fine. She is also one beautiful lady. In that live Atlanta performance, some of the guys in the audience found her so strikingly beautiful that it was downright distracting. The dark auburn hair and creamy skin had them practically sitting in a puddle! Occasionally I feel some of her improvisations are a bit awkward, most are fine, and some are brilliant. And what a voice. I'm telling you - this woman has a classic silky voice like no other singer recording these songs (mostly standards) today. An absolutely incredible talent. My only criticism is that occasionally I wish her interpretations were a little bit more straightforward. That minor criticism aside, if you like this music genre, you MUST give this a listen. If you're torn between the CDs or the current DVD - buy the DVD. A GREAT dvd, an absolutely AMAZING singer: you MUST give her a try!

Since viewing Monheit's performance on the Sunday Brunch TV show - recorded live (which I thought was great, by the way) she's shaved off what appears to be about 10kg, got a makeup artist to emphasise her screen goddess looks and, in her scarlet gown, looks more the vamp than ever! About 4 songs in ... and I feel I need a break. 'More than you know' is such a lovely melody, I'm not sure it really benefits the Monheit gymnastics (I even thought a few of her meanderings in 'Dindi' were a little too extravagant ... gilding the lily, as it were). I don't know that she needs to play up the sexual allure as much as she does ... I think she fairly drips it without even trying.

Some of the material, though well sung, is a little too diverse for my tastes to really be at home in a "jazz programme" (Judy Collins and Bonnie Raitt) - although "Love has no pride" is obviously a song Jane is passionate about (were those tears rolling down her right cheek as she sang?). Her persona on screen is most appealing. And the singing? Pitch-wise, besides one or two uncertain notes, spotlessly accurate; always great expression, control, technique. You forgive her continually brushing aside that gorgeous mane of auburn hair ... wrinkling her nose ... furrowing her brow ... you even cease to notice that distracting self-conscious little 'bob' that punctuates almost each sentence of her early patter (unbridled girlish enthusiasm?)

If you're a Monheit fan already you'll want to add this DVD to your collection - if you haven't made arrangements to already. One of the few singers getting public adulation that a voice teacher could enjoy listening to without being distracted by abuse of the instrument. (If you've never heard Monheit sing, you're in for a treat ... great diction, a seemingly endless range and a seamless connection. Almost too pure and lovely a sound for jazz, she shows great creativity when it comes to making a melody her own, and has the technique to flawlessly execute any musical idea that comes to her.)

Unbelievable to think all this is coming out of a girl barely in her mid-twenties. Look out Krall and Jones ... if there's any justice in this world. Monheit would sing the two of you under the table ... even on a bad day. (Do you think she has them?)

Broadbent's string arrangements are heaven on a stick (should that read, 'bow'?) ... and Peter Eldridge, her vocal coach and 'New York Voice', plays a gorgeous piano solo in a duet (ballad) he wrote. Pianist Michael Kaman is really good ... as is her huggable, cuddly, ever-so-tasteful teddy bear of a sax player, Joel Frahm. Renee Toledo, there for the the Brazilian songs, was wonderful. Legends like Ron Carter and Kenny Washington (and, of course, Alan Broadbent) bring their jazz pedigree to the table. Some outstanding arrangements give the whole affair depth (Cheek to cheek, Over the rainbow, Haunted Heart ... I'm sure you'll have your own favourites). Highly recommended.

I previously reviewed the CD in this DVD area and want to note the differences between CD and DVD. The CD is good but the DVD is better.

1) There are more songs on the DVD.
2) The DVD disk goes in and out of the case more easily so you are not as afraid you're going to break it.
3) Great visuals: Beautiful room, and seeing who is who in the band is very helpful. (It is almost as much fun to watch Joel Frahm's five saxophone solos as it is to hear them.)

Drawbacks:
1) As noted, Jane's mannerism are on display (though I don't think these are as bad as so many people complain) as is the dubious make-up job done on her. (It's not so bad as Bozo or Tammy Faye Bakker, but there's too much sparkle and too much grease for such hot lights; I thought the poor girl was going to break out in the flop sweats at any moment.)
2) If you think she talks too much between songs on the CD, you are going to appreciate how much talking was edited out of the CD after you hear the DVD. (Perhaps generously, I believe that Jane talks as a way of catching her breath.)

I think that Jane Monheit is wonderfully talented, and I look forward to seeing her in person this spring. Although, she often seems neither to want to be pure-jazz or commercial-pop (and sometimes ends up being neither), that is not the case on this DVD where she is jazzier than on any other record she has made.

She also likes to sing Brazilian Portuguese songs, usually in English translation ("Dindi," "Once I Walked in the Sun" & "Waters of March") but, in one instance, she sings in Portuguese ("Comecar de Novo"). Not being able to speak the language, I can only tell that it sounds good to me. (Notice she pronounces the name "Dindi" a little differently on this recording than on the previous record where she sang it; I suspect this is due to her taking lessons or something and that her pronunciation of Brazilian Portuguese has improved(?).) This might not appeal to jazz purists, but I would say she brings a jazz sensibility to these songs, and I for one enjoy them. Maybe she doesn't appeal to all Brazilians because she is too jazzy. (By the way, "Once I Walked" is one of several songs included on this DVD that are not one the "Rainbow Room" CD.) On her album "In the Sun," she sings "Once I Walked" as a duet with the composer Ivan Lins, but here she sings alone-albeit with musical accompaniment.

Jane Monheit is the best female singer today who sings standards. Thanks to Diana Krall generation X was introduced to songs from thier grandparents era. However charming Krall's piano playing/singing is, you can't compare her to Jane Monheit, because they are too different. However we can thank Krall for paving the way for singers like Monheit. This dvd features Monheit at the Rainbow Room{I have never been there, I'm just a poor boy from El Monte}, it seems to be a romantic place, so this is a great dvd to watch with your wife with candles lit, and wine{Monheit will definately get you in the mood, when you see her in that dress}. This is a perfect dvd in every way. The sound quality is: A+ Monheit's soulful singing is: A+ Monheit's hourglass figure is:A+++ All in all this is a great dvd, and sooo romantic too. If you like all the classic singers like Keely Smith, Jane Froman, Etta jones, or even Diana Krall, you will love Jane's huge voice. Buy the dvd it is: A+++

This performance contains the fine wine of vintage standards, icons of an earlier age. You think you know them, you've heard them a million times. Yet a figure appears in the spotlight before an audience and suddenly the room is immersed in a splendid tapestry of sound, so fresh, so effervescent that you hear a familiar standard as if you are hearing it for the first time.

The entrance for Miss Monheit's first number has to be one-of-a-kind in the entertainment world. The stage lights dim, an unseen stentorian voice from the depths of the darkness . . . "LIVE, FROM THE RAINBOW ROOM, MISS--JANE--MONHEIT--" and a slip of a figure appears stage left. House lights off, stage lights dimmed, the slight figure can hardly be made out amongst the shadows. Arriving at the center of the stage in front of the orchestra, it comes to rest: motionless, in profile, a luminous silhouette dissolving into warm rosewood shadows, like a solitary woman in a seventeenth-century Dutch genre-painting. Lights still down. Complete silence. From the void . . . . . . a solo voice . . . . . . no orchestra, no piano accompaniment, not even the key-note of a pitch-pipe----from out of nowhere silky-silvery cadences spill forth to send a shower of scintillating shivers down the spine and into one's heart and soul. Notes, sotto voce, almost so inaudible as to be indecipherable at first, rise, then take flight to romp and revel upon exhilarating, thrilling riffs, an exotic bird deliciously dancing upon updrafts--still no orchestra, still a darkened stage. Then, when one least expects it, the orchestra inobtrusively joins in to create a lush, seamless musical tapestry, as if voice and orchestra are one; the stage lights come to life; the figure turns toward the audience and, without dropping a grace note, fills The Rainbow Room with a dazzling, iridescent blaze of notes. Who would have thought that anyone could ever take "Over the Rainbow" from Judy Garland. Now I was hearing that song for the first time, not just another arrangement or interpretation, mind you, but an elemental transformation and rebirth, as if it had been written expressively for Miss Monheit, as if the sublime sentiments of that song are an epiphany, revealed at last in its full intensity with a clarity and purity and passion congealed into mortal flesh and blood and now immortalized in note and lyric by this remarkable, this truly remarkable young woman.

This DVD is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. Jane is in great voice in this memorable night at the Rainbow room. The rythym section and 37 piece orchestra conducted by the brillant Alan Broadbent is topnotch. Jane is absolutely mesmerizing--her savoir fare on stage combined with her coquettish charm make this a worthy addition to any collection. I've played it more than I care to admit

I have been a fan of Ms. Monheit's recordings, with a few reservations (among them overproduction). This DVD is a nice program, and I'd go so far to say I enjoy her performance in most of these concert versions even more than those of the studio recordings. The overly lush orchestrations, to me, spoil the experience a bit - much the way they spoil recent Charlie Haden Quartet West releases (do I sense a common culprit?). I'd prefer to see Jane in a plain old trio/quartet setting. Also, I was surprised to see what a nice-looking young lady she is in the bonus material, without the tarted-up Veronica Lake courtesan costume and make-up: can't we just have that? Or do her producers think her talent is so inconsequential that they need to make her conform to some stock-conventional image of a jazz chanteuse? I'm sure the truth of Jane Monheit's talent would be better showcased without all the unnecessary frills and accoutrements. Maybe when she can shed her short-sighted management, her true star will shine more brightly.