Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This DVD starts off (after an intro piece) with the best version of "Got to Give It Up" you'll ever hear. As a previous reviewer mentioned, there are some minor audio flaws at the very beginning of the concert - almost all during this piece. It doesn't matter to me. They were all taken care of as they arose within a half minute, and frankly, except for missing the first 20 seconds or so of David Li's sax solo, they don't bother me. But the *performance* - man! What an amazing show. Of course since it happened in 1980 there are some dated fashions displayed onstage, and some funny moments, but this band is having a good time and the show is stupendous. You just couldn't ask for a better group to back Marvin.
I've brought this disc over to friends who aren't that up on Marvin Gaye, and I've made them fans. The man is on fire on this night, and appears completely at ease with the audience and keeps them in the palm of his hand throughout the evening. There's a version of "Come Get to This" which I think is superior to the version on Let's Get It On, a great medley of Tammi Terrell duets preceded by Marvin grabbing a stool to sit on only to have it come apart, a moment handled beautifully and with a lot of humor, and a great extended "Inner City Blues" with Marvin soloing on a Rhodes, and the show-ending "What's Going On" complete with extended sermon about what's going on in life, what's the purpose? he asks...and answers to the best of his ability.
I can't recommend this disc enough. It's a great time and the flaws can be overlooked - after all, most shows from that era don't sound as good as the stuff that's come out since the digital revolution really took hold in the late 80's. If you're a dyed-in-the-wool Marvin fan, you HAVE to own this.
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Marvin Gaye might not have been the obvious invitee to the 1980 Jazz Festival in Montreux, but this DVD of his appearance there is as good a document as any currently available of the soul sage at the height of his talents. Gaye is joined on stage by a full band replete with backup singers and horn section, all resplendent in their late '70s fashion statements. While the continual onslaught of overhead lighting is reminiscent of a concert in a high school gym, Gaye isn't letting anything get in his way as he lays down groove after groove of his most beloved material. He fights to keep "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" fresh even if it's his zillionth time plaintively administering that age-old news. The whole concert brims with an energy that only climbs higher in the finale as Gaye electrifies with "Mercy Mercy Me" and takes his sweet time with his classic "What's Going On," in which he even includes a soul-searching monologue that answers with some finality that nagging question: what's it all about? Live at Montreux is a must for fans and connoisseurs of soul alike.
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