Product Description

The critically-acclaimed Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis - the first weekly television series devoted to jazz in more than 40 years - debuted nationally on PBS stations in April 2006. Now presented on the superior new Blu-ray Disc format, Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis "Showcase" is an all-star collection of 13 riveting live performances from the series by some of the biggest stars in jazz. Track Listings: Take Five

-- All Jarreau & Kurt Elling My Funny Valentine

-- Chris Botti The Panther

-- Marcus Miller, George Duke, Lee Ritenour Senor Blues

-- David Sanborn & Phil Woods Armando's Rhumba

-- Chick Corea 12 Year Old Boy

-- Robert Cray & Keb' Mo' Killer Joe

-- Benny Golson The Island

-- Ivan Lins Mumbles

-- Clark Terry They Can't Take That Away From Me

-- Jane Monheit & John Pizzarelli Obsession

-- Dave Valentin Take The 'A' Train

-- Dave Brubeck & Bill Taylor Dear Lord

-- Ramsey Lewis

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26741 in DVD
• Brand: WEA HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2006-10-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Color, Compilation, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 55 minutes

Features

• The critically-acclaimed Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis - the first weekly television series devoted to jazz in more than 40 years - debuted nationally on PBS stations in April 2006. Now presented on the superior new Blu-ray Disc format, Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis "Showcase" is an all-star collection of 13 riveting live performances from the series by some of the biggest stars in jazz.

Customer Reviews

Get this if you missed the PBS series
I found out about this 2-disk set while watching the "Male Vocalists" episode of the new PBS television series "Legends of Jazz," and after buying it, I find I am really looking forward to seeing all the rest of the actual half-hour TV shows from which these 13 tracks and clips are taken. As for this set, let me say first that the audio and video quality are simply outstanding, among the best I have ever heard, in fact, (which is not surprising considering that the TV series is shot in HDTV and features really outstanding Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound.) Next, as for the performances themselves, they really shine and there is something here for everyone - the set covers everything from latin jazz to be-bop, Brazilian jazz, fusion-type jazz, vocal jazz, and even throws in a bit of the blues, with a great duet by Robert Cray and Keb' Mo'. A really nice mix of artists, older and younger, and a pretty good value for money, considering that you get both a CD and a DVD packaged together in the box. I highly recommend this!

Legends of Jazz - Excellent/A Classic/A Must Have
This is a fantastic collection of live performances on both DC and DVD! From the Al Jarreau/Kurt Elling vocal duet version of Brubeck's "Take Five" to David Sanborn and Phil Woods blowing down the house on the classic "Senor Blues", there is not a single bad track in this package. I also loved the solo performances - Chick Corea's mind-blowing display of technique on "Armando's Rhumba" is a particular standout, as is Benny Golson's "Killer Joe" (the track Spielberg used in the Tom Hanks film, "The Terminal".) This would be a good deal just for the audio CD, but the included video versions of the performances on the accompanying DVD are a welcome extra - they're shot beautifully and the Dolby 5.1 Surround really makes you feel as if you are there at the TV taping... For me, though, the best part is that the artist combinations are really well thought-out, and give you the chance to hear some incredible jazz musicians performing together whom you would ordinarily never see on the same stage.

Excellent Series!
Thank you Ramsey Lewis (and Larry Rosen) for bringing your radio show to the television. More people need to hear what jazz has to offer these days, and this TV show is perfect for people who don't really know what jazz sounds like. It's funny when you ask a person that doesn't listen to jazz at all, to describe what jazz sounds like to them, they will think that every song sounds like big band music, another person thinks that all songs sound like stripper music, or another person thinks that every song has a horn player playing screeching high notes that sounds like gibberish. Well there isn't one definition to qualify jazz music. Jazz music has a huge variety of forms, and the one thing that ties all of the styles together is the art of improvisation.

The DVD - Contains the episodes:

The Golden Horns - Clark Terry, Roy Hargrove, Chris Botti
The Jazz Singers - Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling
Contemporary Jazz - George Duke, Lee Ritenour, Marcus Miller
The Altos - Phil Woods, David Sanborn

My personal favorite performances are:
Roy Hargrove - Invitation
Al Jarreau & Kurt Elling - Take Five
Phil Woods - Star Eyes
Ramsey Lewis - Theme Song

The video transfer is amazing and in High Definition. The audio sounds excellent and is in 5.1 Dolby Digital.

This is a great series, please do not listen to the other review, just because he had a defective copy, he doesn't have to bring the whole score down with a two-star review......I do own the other Legends of Jazz: Showcase DVD - which is not the complete episodes.

I'd rather have the full episodes, thanks to LRS Media for releasing the whole entire series (even if it is 4 episodes at a time.)