The Best of Sessions at West 54th, Vol. 1 (1997) Review

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(More customer reviews)So far, this is one of the few DVDs that were recorded live on digital video equipment. Accordingly, this is a must-have for anyone so fortunate as to have a progressive-scan DVD player, which will play the disk in native 480p DTV format on an HD-ready television. The resulting picture is startlingly excellent. The content consists 15 musical acts, each performing one song to a small audience in a recording studio. Most of the acts are of the rock or folk genre, but a little jazz (Wynton Marsalis) and one space music piece (Daniel Lanois) are thrown in. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma sort of falls between genres. There are no hip-hop/rap acts.
There are several things to consider before buying this DVD. First, the song selections are _extremely_ esoteric. I have a fairly broad range of interest in various types of music, but I had heard of only 9 of the 15 acts. Furthermore, I have never before heard _any_ of the 15 songs. This is the antithesis of a pop music collection; it takes a sense of music appreciation bordering on snobbery to love the whole thing.
Using a recording studio for live acts has both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, the sound is crisp and clear, and every instrument can be heard in detail. On the other, the raw, unprocessed sound does not get the color it would enjoy if recorded at a real concert venue at high sound pressure levels. Drums and bass guitar sound especially weak on this DVD. The acoustic instruments fare the best here, with Marsalis' "Back to Basics" giving us the best mix of the bunch (but the most musically challenging, unfortunately). Another aural treat is Langlois' "Orange Kay" instrumental piece for drum sequencer and highly-processed electric guitar.
Of the other cuts, I would award special kudos for Suzanne Vega's "Caramel," Shawn Colvin's "Diamond in the Rough," Sinead O'Connor's "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance," and Patti Smith's "People Have the Power."
A full list of all the performances follows:
1. Wynton Marsalis with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra--Back to Basics
2. Suzanne Vega--Caramel
3. Richard Thompson--I Feel So Good
4. Shawn Colvin--Diamond in the Rough
5. Ani DiFranco--32 Flavors
6. Nil Lara--How Was I To Know
7. Rickie Lee Jones--Road Kill
8. Daniel Lanois--Orange Kay
9. Emmylou Harris--Wrecking Ball
10. Ben Folds Five--Smoke
11. Keb' Mo'--Just Like You
12. Sinead O'Connor--The Last Day of Our Acquaintance
13. Yo-Yo Ma--Libertango
14. Patti Smith--People Have the Power
15. Jane Siberry--Love Is Everything

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