Customer Reviews

Jazz Icons: Series 1 (Nine DVD Boxed Set)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers * Live in '58
Dizzy Gillespie * Live in '58 & '70
Louis Armstrong * Live in '59
Quincy Jones * Live in '60
Thelonious Monk * Live in '66
Buddy Rich * Live in '78
Ella Fitzgerald * Live in '57 & '63
Count Basie * Live in '62
Chet Baker * Live in '64 & '79

We'll let others speak for us:
"The release of Jazz Icons(tm) is like the unearthing of a musical time capsule--an audio-visual treasure trove of the music that changed the world. From Big Band and Bebop to Dixieland and Cool, it's all here and it all swings. These jazz legends, from Dizzy and Count to Louis and Ella, are the Bachs and Beethovens of our generation. From an educational standpoint this series is a gift to our culture. I'm honored to be a featured part of it, but I'm more thrilled just to sit down and watch it with my grandkids."
--Quincy Jones

"Louis Armstrong's sound transcends time and style. This DVD captures that intangible power and allows us to gaze upon it in wonder."
--Wynton Marsalis

"Amazing! To see the Art Blakey band playing "Moanin'" a month after I recorded them--it's like watching my own birth."
--Rudy Van Gelder
(engineer of the original Moanin' LP)

"These nine historic DVDs are among the most important visual/aural documents to be mined from the ever-yielding, seemingly hidden jazz treasury. Now, most importantly, they are available to the entire world."
--Ira Gitler, co-author,
The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (Oxford)

"Considering the almost alarming proliferation of jazz DVDs on the market today, and their extremely variable quality, it is good to know that Reelin' In The Years can be trusted to bring viewers nothing but the best--in content and presentation."
--Dan Morgenstern, Director, Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University; author, Living With Jazz (Pantheon Books)

"The first nine releases hold many delights -- a magnificent Ella Fitzgerald, a crisp Quincy Jones big band -- but none more thrilling than a concert by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in Brussels in 1958."
-New York Times

many more at [...]

To be able to see and hear the greatest names in Jazz in their prime is almost magical.Basie, Ella, Dizzy, Chet Baker, Buddy Rich The Jazz Messengers, Louis Amstrong and Thelonious Monk. Can you believe it? What a great find. As I watch and listen to each of these DVD's I am continuously impressed. The sound and reproduction from concerts and TV shows done in the 60's and 70's is terrific. The beauty of it is that we even get to see what the European TV viewer in many cases did not see, because these are from the original tapes or films BEFORE they were edited for TV . In some cases they were never even broadcast at all.
Watch the expression on Buddy Rich's face as he drives and swings his band (in color) with unbelievable energy. See Chet Baker in his youth as you probably never got to see him at that time, that is, even if you were born then. Catch a great blues singer (I was never familiar with her), Irene Reid on the Count Basie DVD. Her performance of "Backwater Blues" and "ALEXANDERS Rag Time Band" will blow you away as it did the audience at the concert in '62. Watch Thelonious Monk, as you can actually SEE as well as hear, his unusual approach to the piano as he strikes each key in his own special way, and than does his little dance as he himself is completly captivated by the music. I guess I could go on and on about how great each performance is, but you will discover that for yourself when you listen to this beautiful collection of DVD's. Even if you don't go for the whole collection, you got to find something here that you find alluring enough to own.
Just a word to the people that discovered and put this collection together; David Peck,Phillip Gallaway, Mika Peck, and TDK records Thank you ever so much.
For the older fans that take a trip in time and see their favorites perform again just as if we are there "one more time" as Count Basie would say, or to the new, or younger jazz fan that may see and listen to these artists for the first time. We are forever gratefull.
Keep these wonderfull DVD's rolling out of them vaults. I really look forward to the next batch of releases, especially the Charles Mingus and Roland Kirk DVD's. What a blast they will be.

Carl

I actually bought this for my stepfatherinlaw who is a retired music instructor and bandleader. He saw many of these performers live and believes these are very representative of the vigor and energy from their performances he saw here in the US. He has nothing but praise for these. I'm eagerly awaiting him to visit again so I can watch them too.

the most appreciated xmas gift i've chosen in years.
An exceptional buy. thank you

This release of high quality DVD's is the next best thing to a time machine for jazz fanatics. I had received this as a gift and set it aside late last year. For whatever reason, I sat down with a friend over a glass of wine recently and watched the Art Blakey and Thelonious Monk sessions.

They were fantastic. Understanding the limitations of the time (e.g., microphone technology, analog tape machines), they were obviously of high quality with very few artifacts from wear and tear. The camera work was very good, often extremely intimate, catching the musicians in an obvious labor of love.

There is not a bad session in the bunch. This is the perfect gift for anyone on your list who loves jazz. At around $15/hour, it beats the price of any serious jazz concerts I go to, plus you can play it again and again.

I recommend a purchase of this item wholeheartedly. Enjoy!

JazzIcons has just leased a second set of discs, and although I have not sampled them yet, I would expect the quality to be just as good. And there are some great artists in that second bunch as well.

Quality is terrific, as are the performances. If you love quality jazz, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

Esta colección de músicos de Jazz es imprescindible para los amantes de Jazz, cada DVD viene con un booklet con buena información y la calidad de las grabaciones así como el sonido no los van a decepcionar. Me ha gustado mucho.

I received the videos in good order and to the correct adress.
The films are just what I was looking for, and I'm certain that I will buy the rest of these series.

Great service; great DVDs. Enjoy seeing them now instead of just listening. I would order from these folks again. Good prices too.