Customer Reviews

Twenty Five (Bonus Dvd)

5 star:		(14)
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Giving a Yellowjackets CD five stars seems kinda redundant. For most of their career, they have consistently produced outstanding recordings, and they remain one of the best live jazz bands in existence. This live outing commemorates the group's 25th birthday and is the latest in the new trend of CD/DVD combo packs. The audio disc comes from a performance in Paris last October, kicks off with Russ Ferrante's memorable gospel rave-up, "Revelation," and locks into a steady groove for the next 70 minutes that is simply mesmerizing. The DVD was filmed at a stop in Italy on the same tour and draws mostly from a different set-list (only three tunes turn up on both CD and DVD). For us Jacketeers, the video disc may be the most fun, taking us onstage and behind the scenes. The repertoire digs deep into the band's songbook, with fresh takes on longtime faves and forgotten mementoes. - Jim Newsom

originally published in Port Folio Weekly, 5/30/06.
Copyright 2006 Port Folio Weekly. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

If you like contemporary jazz, buy this. It includes a live CD from a concert in Paris and a live DVD from a concert in Italy. This quartet shows why they have been around for 25 years; everything about it is excellent. The only problem is which do I play, the CD or the DVD? This deserves ten stars, five for the CD and five for the DVD.

The Yellowjackets are a superb jazz group, and I feel best heard live. This double CD set shows off these extremeley talented musicians . The intro to the first song is worth the price of the CD. Donnie Walton

during the last decade the jellowjackets have shifted their sound from real fusion to jazz mxing again swing and bop. this is a wonderful mixture especially driven by r. ferrantes outstanding feeling for melodies. this record to their 25th anniversary includes a live set focusing on tunes from their last studio records. The package also includes a DVD showing a recent gig in an italian jazz club as well as interviews and other information about 25 years of yellowjackets. after buying it, I was listening it for several days....really great stuff. highly recommended not only for fans like me.

Great show! All 4 players are seriously into the music they perform. You can hear it on the cd, and then watch it on the dvd. Great package. If you like contemporary Jazz, but wish the "smooth" was a bit rougher, or wish that the "fusion" genre is alive and well and improvisation is standard... then this is for you.
All in all, great contemporary Jazz that is alive and well!

After recently seeing the Yellowjackets perform in Pittsburgh, there is no doubt that the musicianship is the best in the business. Sitting in the front row I was completely mesmerized by the band's performance. Haslip has to be the best bass player in the world. Marcus Baylor was amazing on drums and of course Mintzer and Ferrante were at their usual best.

Let me start by saying that this guys know what they're doing. The level of artistry they show on this recording is just superb. Most of our favourite YJ hits we've grown to love are here. I enjoyed the drum solo by Marcus Baylor on Sea Folk and also by Will Kennedy on Runferyerlife. Free Day is also a hit. Having to pick favourite tracks will be impossible.

I just think that the DVD alone is worth double the price of this CD/DVD set... Great value for money.

Thanks YJ

I love the Yellowjackets, I really do. I have every single one of their albums and albums they've been involved in, all except for the "Star Trek IV" album, which I've only just learned about through this very release. As far as live albums go, I have "Live Wires", which I thought was very good. I also have "Mint Jam", which I thought was simply awesome and a few years ago out of the clear blue sky, a wonderful Italian man I didn't know from Adam offered to send me a CD-R of a performance they gave in Asti, Italy in 1996. I accepted the offer, naturally, and after listening to the performance, thought that one was pretty good too.

But compared to all those, I thought this album was just okay. Sure, it was nice to hear completely new takes on songs I knew so well but to be honest I felt quite underwhelmed, deflated even, after listening to it a few times and was beginning to wonder if I'd made a mistake.

And then I watched the DVD.

Oh, my goodness it was such a revelation. I've seen these guys perform live four times now; three times with Will Kennedy and once with Peter Erskine but this performance was simply awesome! It's always a joy to see these four unassuming, casually dressed dudes get up on to a low-key stage with no fancy graphics, no smoke and no flashing lights and just produce nothing short of magic.

And I take everything I've said about Marcus Baylor - he is incredible! He attacked the songs, some of which I was immediately familiar with (I really loved the new arrangements of songs like "My Old School" and "Red Sea" on the DVD) and oldies, like "Matinee Idol" and "Imperial Strut", which I hadn't listened to in a long while with gusto, dexterity and expertly placed snare snaps that don't seem to come across in the studio recordings. Or maybe I have to go and listen to them again with fresh ears. And this is a man who obviously enjoys his work. The smile that beams across his face while he's playing is priceless.

A great concert from start to end and again, even though I knew the songs, I was truly impressed by the band's ability to give totally new and exciting arrangements of them. Somehow it all seems much better when you can actually see the band playing. Although not all members have been with the group for the whole 25 years, as a unit they still come across like a band with a quarter of a century's experience of playing together. The CD on its own, well, I'm not too sure about - I'd probably give it three and a half stars - but the CD and DVD combined deserve ten stars no doubt.

Thanks Yellowjackets. Here's to the next 25 years!

I have been a fan of the Yellowjackets since I first heard them 25 years ago. I've always enjoyed their playing, their arrangements, and been very influenced by Russell Ferrante's writing and playing. So I looked forward to this CD/DVD package with great expectations and I wasnt disappointed. Even though there are no new titles on the cd/dvd, there is plenty of new music, as they take many of their older songs and give them completely new and fresh approaches. Yes it is a retrospective on one hand, but they continue to explore new territory with their older music because of the high level of musicianship they each possess. One thing that stood out on the DVD portion was how relaxed they appear playing, and yet how intense and how deep they get with the music. It seems truly that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and it's a pleasure to see that achieved throughout the course of this set. Highly recommended.

I think these guys are in a class all their own. And for them to provide not only a CD but a DVD, you can't go wrong.