Music DVD Review: Various Artists (Rock ‘n Roll’s Greatest Teen Idols)

Rock ‘n Roll’s Greatest Teen Idols
Various Artists
Quantum Leap Group Ltd.
2006
Running Time: 120 minutes

This is the sixth of six reviews of DVD releases selected from the Quantum Leap series of “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” featuring stars of the late-Fifties and early-Sixties. This DVD series is quirky and uneven, yet manages to be both interesting and entertaining.

These nostalgic releases feature live performances by popular stars, often years after they were in their prime, mostly at Little Darlin’s, a nostalgia club in Florida, but also at other locations. Some performances are taken from television or movies, including a documentary from Canada’s National Film Board. A horde of other popular stars, and some not so well known, make guest appearances. The visuals, on clips often apparently dubbed from old film stock, range from disconcertingly blurry to quite good but never flawless. Usually, the music makes up for the lack of visual clarity.

There’s a “Fanzone” that includes biography, discography and other background information. As well, the “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section features a variety of interesting, sometimes documentary plugs for events and products as well as web links.

While this “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series includes other DVD releases, in these six alone, you can see performances by some 25 vintage artists, singing not only their own hits but other popular songs of the era. Any one of these releases provides an interesting, if eccentric, window on this past time. Together they present a fascinating pastiche of popular music as it was a half-century ago.

The “Fanzone” includes fairly extensive biographies of all of the artists on this release, including: Tommy Sands, Joey Dee, Frankie Ford, Bobby Vee, Tommy Roe, Lenny Welch, Troy Shondell, Ray Peterson, Buddy Knox, Jack Scott, Jimmy Calvallo, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Cirno & the Bowties, and Paul Anka. While these sections do make interesting reading, the visual quality is far less than ideal.

The “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section is an eccentric mix of archival footage, rough edits and promotional material, including a quirky, clip-packed documentary video that seems more like a sampler pieced together from diverse sources plus a brief commercial for the Quantum Leap website. The purpose of “Quantum Leap Propaganda” appears to be to sell other Quantum Leap releases. At the left side of each title bar in these segments is what appears to be a release number indicating the release on which that clip may be found. The visual quality is again often less than desirable and the editing is rough and amateurish, but the viewing experience is interesting and sometimes even educational.

Having little to do with what is commonly called soul music, “Cool Soul” is a bit of a misnomer. Running to more than 12 minutes, this musical section is more an eclectic sampler featuring a variety of musical genres, including clips of live performances and bits of documentary footage. The clips include everything from solid funk through peaceful acoustic Spanish guitar, rousing big band swing, parts of three songs by Willie Nelson, and a segment from a documentary on the life of reggae master Jimmy Cliff. Whether or not it may be misnamed, this segment is interesting and entertaining to watch.

Even though this release features thirteen different artists and at least thirty songs, a brief commentary on each performance is well worth while. Especially interesting are the vintage film clips at the end as well as the full-length NFB documentary on Paul Anka filmed in 1960.

In the late-Fifties, the recording industry began to take over the once-rebellious rock and roll music, creating clean-cut, made-to-order artists performing rock and roll music with lyrics touting mainstream “white picket fence” values. Handsome movie star and recording idol Tommy Sands was one of the first to introduce this new pop-rock style, singing mostly about young love, teen jealousy, and marriage. Ranging from hard rockers to sweet love ballads, Sands’ performance of “Going Steady.” “Worrying Kind,” and “Graduation Day” typefy this genre of rock and roll. Among the manufactured idols, Sands is one of the best and is well worth revisiting.

Joey Dee and The Starlighters brought an exciting new sound to rock and roll. Unlike Chubby Checker’s mellowed out versions of Hank Ballard’s “The Twist” and “Let’s Twist Again” The Starlighter’s recordings brought back some of the spirit of the original Fifties rockers. “The Peppermint Twist” and “Hey Let’s Twist” bring fond memories of The Twist in its heyday. While I remember the Johnny Nash version as the big hit where I lived, “What Kind of Love is This” works well for Joey Dee.

It’s interesting that Frankie Ford’s big hit “Sea Cruise” isn’t included on this compilation, but he rocks out on several other songs. “Roberta” is jumping rock and roll and great blues. Just try not dancing to this one. Ford also sings his 1959 million seller “You Talk Too Much” and the comedic “Alimony.”

Another pop rocker with a string of hits, Bobby Vee gives animated performances of “Devil or Angel” and “Rubber Ball” that will bring back fond memories to many listeners of my generation.

Tommy Roe fell somewhere between the manufactured pop rockers and the old-style rock and roll, but he brought us some solid rocking sounds. On this compilation, he presents versions of three of his biggest hits: The Buddy Holly sound-alike “Sheila,” the coy, jumpy “Sweet Pea,” and the big rocker “Everybody.”

R & B artist Lenny Welch sings his slowed-down hit version of Neil Sedaka’s up-tempo rocker “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” as well as his own classic hit, “Since I Fell For You.” Beautiful!

Troy Shondell rocks the audience with live renditions of his own romantic hit “This Time” and, sounding very much like the original hard-hitting recording, Tommy James’ “Mony Mony.”

Ray Peterson delivers excellent live versions of his hits, “Corrina, Corrina” and “Tell Laura I Love Her” along with his own interpretation of the Little Willie John hit “Fever” with Peggy Lee’s added lyrics.

Although his name is listed on the front of the package, Buddy Knox is not listed on the back, making his performance of “Hula Love” and “Party Doll” the hidden-tracks of this set. With Buddy Knox and Jimmy Bowen switching off as lead singer, the Rhythm Orchids were solid hit-makers with a smooth rocking sound. That sound is still evident in these performances.

“The Way I Walk” and “Goodbye Baby” are two great rockers from Canadian Rockabilly star Jack Scott. In these live performances, Scott is right on form, delivering solid hard-driving rock and roll to an appreciative audience.

Once the “revival” concerts are done, this collection includes a series of vintage film clips dating back to the early days of Rock & Roll. The first set of clips features Jimmy Calvallo and The House Rockets rocking out with “The Big Beat” and “Rock Rock Rock,” Even though clipped from a teensploitation movie, these are exciting performances and the young nightclub dancers are a delight to watch.

While the set is missing “Why do Fools Fall in Love” and other big hits, the film clip of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers performing “Pretty Baby” and “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent” is a wonderful flashback to this long ago era. The music is fast and lively with a solid doowop edge. And just check out that choreography. Fantastic!

The patio party clip of an uncredited young lady with a big voice is classic Fifties pop-rock reminiscent of Brenda Lee or Teresa Brewer. Here’s a young girl only about eight years old who can rock it out with the best of them. This little girl with an awesome voice is backed by Cirno and the Bowties, an awesome foursome of harmonizing young men and a big band along the lines of Don Costa. Behind the singers, the patio party gang swings and sways to the music.

Cirno & The Bowties continue to rock and swing in a harmonic style reminiscent of The Lettermen or The Crewcuts, singing “Ever Since I can Remember” as they flirt with four pretty girls inb a cosy nightclub scene. It’s actually pretty schmaltzy. I prefer them with the young girl singing a rocking lead vocal.

What a surprise! The final track on this release is a complete half-hour documentary on Paul Anka, Lonely Boy, produced by Canada’s award-winning National Film Board in about 1960. Here’s a short film packed with music, interviews, and Rock & Roll history. What a great bit to top off a sensational collection of old favourites and lost classics.

Not everything is perfect in this release, but it’s definitely worth owning and watching over and over again. Each time you watch, you’ll discover something new that may surprise you or may just bring back memories of those long ago days.

You can find much more information on most of the artists on this DVD just by searching the internet. Also check out the Quantum Leap Online Catalogue for a wide selection of live music on DVD.

Music DVD Review: The Platters & The Coasters (Rock ‘n Roll Legends: The Platters & The Coasters)

Rock ‘n Roll Legends: The Platters & The Coasters
The Platters & The Coasters
Quantum Leap Group Ltd.
2005
Running Time: 60 minutes

This is the fifth of six reviews of DVD releases selected from the Quantum Leap “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series featuring stars of the late-Fifties and early-Sixties. This DVD series is quirky and uneven, yet manages to be both interesting and entertaining.

These nostalgic releases feature live performances by popular stars, often years after they were in their prime, mostly at Little Darlin’s, a nostalgia club in Florida, but also at other locations. Some performances are taken from television or movies, including a documentary from Canada’s National Film Board. A horde of other popular stars, and some not so well known, make guest appearances. The visuals, on clips often apparently dubbed from old film stock, range from disconcertingly blurry to quite good but never flawless. Usually, the music makes up for the lack of visual clarity.

There’s a “Fanzone” that includes biography, discography and other background information. As well, the “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section features a variety of interesting, sometimes documentary plugs for events and products as well as web links.

While this “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series includes other DVD releases, in these six alone, you can see performances by some 25 vintage artists, singing not only their own hits but other popular songs of the era. Any one of these releases provides an interesting, if eccentric, window on this past time. Together they present a fascinating pastiche of popular music as it was a half-century ago.

This release includes two powerful sets performed live at Little Darlin’s, The Rock ‘n Roll Palace in Orlando, Florida. On its own, either set would make this release worth owning. Together, the sets by The Platters and The Coasters provide priceless memories of a long-passed but important musical era.

The Platters perform nine songs in slightly different order than listed on the package. The performance is solid and brings to life the spirit if not the exact sound of the original hit recordings. There are some surprises here. Some of the songs are not The Platters hits but covers of hits by other artists and B-sides of The Platters hits. I was especially interested and pleased to hear the wonderful R & B song “He’s Mine” in this set. A B-side with a female lead vocal and lively doo-wop backing vocals, this song is a real rocker that brings some variety and excitement to the set.

The partnership between songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller with The Coasters may have determined the success of Rock and Roll and was certainly a powerful influence on the direction the genre would take following The Coasters’ first hits. Here, The Coasters perform six of their most popular releases penned by Lieber and Stoller, rocking out with their familiar blend of solid R & B rhythms, slightly off-colour lyrics, and comedy. This set is fun and may also make you want to jump out of your seat and dance.

The section for “Artist Profiles” includes a reasonably complete history of The Coasters over the past half century and a less complete history of The Platters that’s primarily a listing of the group’s regularly shifting personnel over the years. This makes intereting if not exciting reading.

The “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section is an eccentric mix of archival footage, rough edits and promotional material, including three quirky, clip-packed video presentations plus a brief commercial for the Quantum Leap website. Rather than finished productions, these short videos seem more like samplers pieced together from diverse sources. The viewer never knows what will come next. The purpose of “Quantum Leap Propaganda” appears to be to sell other Quantum Leap releases. At the left side of each title bar in these segments is what appears to be a release number indicating the release on which that clip may be found. Here again, the visual quality is often less than desirable and the editing is rough and amateurish, but the viewing experience is interesting and sometimes even educational.

A seven minute feature that appears on a number of Quantum Leap releases, the “W.P.M.A.” video plugs the World Peace Music Awards, a large televised concert event that features hundreds of well-known musicians and is broadcast worldwide. This production appears to have been pieced together from two earlier pieces advertising the concerts in San Francisco, California (2002) and Nagasaki, Japan (2005) plus other, not always related, materials. Although now out of date, this short video is still interesting to watch.

“Pure Pop” also seems to be standard fare on many of the releases in this series. Almost seventeen minutes long, “Pure Pop” is a pastiche of interesting clips assembled in a chaotic attempt at a documentary film featuring a half-dozen or more popular stars in interviews, commentary and performance. The clips include part of a documentary on New York songwriters featuring Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield; a musical performance from The Frank Sinatra Timex Show featuring Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr. and others; a segment on Dusty Springfield featuring commentary from Petula Clark and others and a performance by Springfield of her signature song, “I Only Want To Be With You;” John Sebastian joking with his audience and then singing “What a Day for a Daydream;” very cool blues sung by Bonnie Koloc, a blues instrumental featuring the trumpet of Arturo Sandoval, and a long lost music video of “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel; and a dramatic segment from the movie “The Fabulous Dorseys.” Again, the purpose appears to be to sell other Quantum Leap releases. At the left side of each title bar is what appears to be a release number. Although the visual quality is inconsistent and often leaves a lot to be desired, this piece is interesting and perhaps educational to watch.

“Beauty & The Beast” is the least music-related of these bonus sections, featuring primarily documentary selections. At about seventeen minutes long, “Beauty & The Beast” includes segment on award-winning underwater explorers and marine conservationists Ron and Valerie Taylor, incuuding dramatic footage of sharks in their natural habitat; sections of travelogues on northern Australia’s wilderness, some of the more rugged areas of northern England, and the American desert, this last presented with only dramatic music and no narration; a singularly unfunny selection of bits by American comic Tom Green; a tour of the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show presented by a woman dour enough to invite parody from the likes of Monty Python; and black and white features, probably released during or very shortly following World War II, about the American submarine-hunting aircraft carrier USS Guadalcanal and about the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, when it was launched the only first line fleet carrier in the world. The usual cautions apply about segments having poor visual quality and being incomplete, apparently intednded as teasers to sell the complete releases.

If you want to hear two of the most influentual groups to bring R & B to American mainstream audiences, and ultimately to the world, and change forever the sound of what would become Rock and Roll music, this is a DVD for you. Cranked up loud, the fifteen songs on this release will rock your house. These two sets are filled with energy that may make it impossible for you to not get up and dance.

You can find information on the newest configuration of The Platters at the The Platters website and the history of The Platters since they formed in 1953 at Wikipedia. You can find a history of the coasters, information on the newest lineup, and other interesting facts at The Coasters Official Website and at Wikipedia and at various unofficial websites. Also check out the Quantum Leap Online Catalogue.

Music DVD Review: Martha Reeves (Greatest Hits Live)

Greatest Hits Live
Martha Reeves
Quantum Leap Group Ltd.
2005
Running Time: 54 minutes

This is the fourth of six reviews of DVD releases selected from the Quantum Leap series of “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” featuring stars of the late-Fifties and early-Sixties. This DVD series is quirky and uneven, yet manages to be both interesting and entertaining.

These nostalgic releases feature live performances by popular stars, often years after they were in their prime, mostly at Little Darlin’s, a nostalgia club in Florida, but also at other locations. Some performances are taken from television or movies, including a documentary from Canada’s National Film Board. A horde of other popular stars, and some not so well known, make guest appearances. The visuals, on clips often apparently dubbed from old film stock, range from disconcertingly blurry to quite good but never flawless. Usually, the music makes up for the lack of visual clarity.

There’s a “Fanzone” that includes biography, discography and other background information. As well, the “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section features a variety of interesting, sometimes documentary plugs for events and products as well as web links.

While this “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series includes other DVD releases, in these six alone, you can see performances by some 25 vintage artists, singing not only their own hits but other popular songs of the era. Any one of these releases provides an interesting, if eccentric, window on this past time. Together they present a fascinating pastiche of popular music as it was a half-century ago.

Although this release features only five of Martha Reeves’ hit songs, it provides almost nineteen minutes of energetic live performance by Reeves and her original Vandellas. Performed live at Little Darlin’s, The Rock ‘n Roll Palace in Orlando, Florida, these songs capture the spirit of the original hit recordings combined with the energy that can only come from a live performance. It should be noted here that order of performance on the DVD is not same as listed on the package. There are two different performances of “Dancing in the Street” included here, providing a sixth performance track. I would question inclusion of the first version, which seems to be performed with a lack of enthusiasm by all concerned. The second version is a powerful performance and perhaps the best in this set. This one could have stood on its own without inclusion of the weaker version earlier in the set.

Special guest star on this release is Sam Moore who, with his partner the late Dave Prater (1937-1988), had been very influential in soul and R&B music for more than a decade. Moore gives gutsy performances of four great Sam and Dave hits.

On this release, the “Fanzone” features an extensive biography of Martha Reeves and history of her career with The Vandellas along with a very limited discography of their album releases only. These sections make interesting reading but, the visual quality is far less than ideal.

The “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section is an eccentric mix of archival footage, rough edits and promotional material, including three quirky, clip-packed video presentations plus a brief commercial for the Quantum Leap website. Here again, the visual quality is often less than desirable and the editing is rough and amateurish, but the viewing experience is interesting and sometimes even educational. Rather than finished productions, these short videos seem more like samplers pieced together from diverse sources. The viewer never knows what will come next. The purpose of “Quantum Leap Propaganda” appears to be to sell other Quantum Leap releases. At the left side of each title bar in these segments is what appears to be a release number indicating the release on which that clip may be found.

A seven minute feature that appears on a number of Quantum Leap releases, “W.P.M.A.” is a plug for the World Peace Music Awards, a large televised concert event featuring hundreds of well-known musicians and broadcast worldwide. This promotion appears to have been pieced together from two earlier pieces advertising the concerts in San Francisco, California (2002) and Nagasaki, Japan (2005) plus other materials. While now out of date, this short video is still interesting to watch.

“Cool Soul” is a bit of a misnomer. Over its running time of more than 12 minutes, this musical section contains nothing that could properly be called soul music. Rather, it’s an eclectic sampler of a variety of musical genres, featuring clips of live performance and documentary footage. The clips include everything from solid funk through peaceful acoustic Spanish guitar, rousing big band swing, parts of three songs by Willie Nelson, and a segment from a documentary on the life of reggae master Jimmy Cliff. Misnamed or not, this segment is interesting and entertaining to watch.

At just over fourteen minutes long, “Sport” includes documentaries featuring archival soccer footage with voice-over commentary in Italian, surfers talking about a giant wave alternated with surfing footage in black and white and colour, a biography of soccer player Diego Maradona, a segment of a documentary about Formula One race drivers, a Sensei demonstrating the various stances in Shotokan Karate, brief footage of several Ultimate Kickboxing matches, and an excerpt from the movie Joe Louis Story Interesting? Yes. Educational? Probably not. The clips are just too short and clearly meant as a tease so that those interested will be tempted to buy the DVD release.

Featuring ten live performances by two of America’s most influential soul and R&B artists, this release combines pure nostalgia with the power of great performances. This release will be enjoyed by the generation who originally bought the records made the songs hits and by their children and grandchildren as well.

Find a treasure trove of information on the Martha Reeves and the Vandellas at the Miss Martha Reeves website or at Wikipedia. Read more about Sam and Dave at Wikipedia and at various unofficial websites. Also check out the Quantum Leap Online Catalogue.

Music DVD Review: Shirelles (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow)

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow
Shirelles
Quantum Leap Group Ltd.
2005
Running Time: 45 minutes

This is the third of six reviews of DVD releases selected from the Quantum Leap series of “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” featuring stars of the late-Fifties and early-Sixties. This DVD series is quirky and uneven, yet manages to be both interesting and entertaining.

These nostalgic releases feature live performances by popular stars, often years after they were in their prime, mostly at Little Darlin’s, a nostalgia club in Florida, but also at other locations. Some performances are taken from television or movies, including a documentary from Canada’s National Film Board. A horde of other popular stars, and some not so well known, make guest appearances. The visuals, on clips often apparently dubbed from old film stock, range from disconcertingly blurry to quite good but never flawless. Usually, the music makes up for the lack of visual clarity.

There’s a “Fanzone” that includes biography, discography and other background information. As well, the “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section features a variety of interesting, sometimes documentary plugs for events and products as well as web links.

While this “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series includes other DVD releases, in these six alone, you can see performances by some 25 vintage artists, singing not only their own hits but other popular songs of the era. Any one of these releases provides an interesting, if eccentric, window on this past time. Together they present a fascinating pastiche of popular music as it was a half-century ago.

In the world of popular music, the Shirelles are both important and
influential. The first all girl group to ever score a number one record, the Shirelles are touted as the first ever girl-group, defining the genre and becoming the template for all who followed. For a while, they had as powerful an influence on my generation as The Beatles had later. I can remember in my mid-teens sitting with a group of friends in the cafe of the main bus depot in downtown Calgary as we played “Soldier Boy” over and over on the jukebox, all of us singing along at the top of our lungs. Needless to say, we were finally thrown out of the place. There you have it, the ultimate girl-group as an incentive for rebellion.

This release features “Soldier Boy” and six other Shirelles hits performed live at Little Darlin’s, The Rock ‘n Roll Palace in Orlando, Florida. The sound is true to the original hit recordings, but with the energy that only a live concert can bring to the music. These are solid, well-written pop songs penned by some of the best songwriters of their era and they stand up very well to the test of time. This is a fun concert to watch and may even inspire you to get up and dance to the music. Who knows, you may even want to sing along, over and over again.

The four bonus tracks feature two more of the great girl groups of the Sixties, The Angels and The Dixie Cups. The quality of the performances by these two groups is also outstanding and well worth the time spent watching. I was especially taken by The Dixie Cups’ version of “Iko Iko” with its blend of African and Caribbean sounds and rousing rhythms.

The “Fanzone” On this release features a extensive history of the Shirelles along with a very comprehensive discography of their releases throughout their career. Even though the visual quality is far less than ideal, these sections do make interesting and informative reading.

Here, as on all of these releases “Quantum Leap Propaganda” is an eccentric mix of archival footage, rough edits and promotional material. It includes three quirky, clip-packed video presentations plus a brief commercial for the Quantum Leap website. The visual quality is often less than desirable and the editing is rough and amateurish, but the viewing experience is interesting and sometimes even educational. Rather than finished productions, these short videos seem more like samplers pieced together from diverse sources. The viewer never knows what will come next. The purpose of “Quantum Leap Propaganda” appears to be to sell other Quantum Leap releases. At the left side of each title bar in these segments is what appears to be a release number indicating the release on which that clip may be found.

“Cool Soul” is a bit of a misnomer. Over its running time of more than 12 minutes, this musical section contains nothing that could properly be called soul music. Rather, it’s an eclectic sampler of a variety of musical genres, featuring clips of live performance and documentary footage. The clips include everything from solid funk through peaceful acoustic Spanish guitar, rousing big band swing, parts of three songs by Willie Nelson, and a segment from a documentary on the life of reggae master Jimmy Cliff. Misnamed or not, this segment is interesting and entertaining to watch.

At just over fourteen minutes long, “Sport” includes documentaries featuring archival soccer footage with voice-over commentary in Italian, surfers talking about a giant wave alternated with surfing footage in black and white and colour, a biography of soccer player Diego Maradona, a segment of a documentary about Formula One race drivers, a Sensei demonstrating the various stances in Shotokan Karate, brief footage of several Ultimate Kickboxing matches, and an excerpt from the movie Joe Louis Story Interesting? Yes. Educational? Probably not. The clips are just too short and clearly meant as a tease so that those interested will be tempted to buy the DVD release.

A feature that appears on a number of Quantum Leap releases, “W.P.M.A.” is a seven minute plug for the World Peace Music Awards, a large televised concert event featuring hundreds of well-known musicians and broadcast worldwide. This promotional piece appears to have been pieced together from two earlier pieces advertising the concerts in San Francisco, California (2002) and Nagasaki, Japan (2005) plus other materials. While now out of date, this short video is still interesting to watch.

With eleven vintage hits and featuring live performances by three of the seminal girl-groups, this release is definitely a worthwhile addition to anyone’s collection of Sixties popular music. This is one that I’d definitely recommend, not just for fans in my generation but for younger listeners who’d like to discover some of their music’s roots.

Find a treasure trove of information on the Shirelles at the Official Homepage of The Shirelles and find even more at Wikipedia. You can learn more about The Angels at The Official Website of The Angels. You can find out about The Dixie Cups at The Dixie Cups Official Website or at Wikipedia. Also check out the Quantum Leap Online Catalogue.

Music DVD Review: Johnny Tillotson (Rock ‘n Roll Legends: Johnny Tillotson)

Rock ‘n Roll Legends: Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson
Quantum Leap Group Ltd.
2005
Running Time: 60 minutes

This is the second of six reviews of DVD releases selected from the Quantum Leap “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series featuring stars of the late-Fifties and early-Sixties. This DVD series is quirky and uneven, yet manages to be both interesting and entertaining.

These nostalgic releases feature live performances by popular stars, often years after they were in their prime, mostly at Little Darlin’s, a nostalgia club in Florida, but also at other locations. Some performances are taken from television or movies, including a documentary from Canada’s National Film Board. A horde of other popular stars, and some not so well known, make guest appearances. The visuals, on clips often apparently dubbed from old film stock, range from disconcertingly blurry to quite good but never flawless. Usually, the music makes up for the lack of visual clarity.

There’s a “Fanzone” that includes biography, discography and other background information. As well, the “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section features a variety of interesting, sometimes documentary plugs for events and products as well as web links.

While this “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series includes other DVD releases, in these six alone, you can see performances by some 25 vintage artists, singing not only their own hits but other popular songs of the era. Any one of these releases provides an interesting, if eccentric, window on this past time. Together they present a fascinating pastiche of popular music as it was a half-century ago.

This release features two live sets by Johnny Tillotson, a total of ten vintage performces at two separate clubs in Orlando, Florida. The first set of four Tillotson hits was recorded at Little Darlin’s, The Rock ‘n Roll Palace. The second set, including five Tillotson hits plus a lively interpretation of Arthur Crudup’s “That’s All Right, Mama” was recorded at the Church Street Station Theatre. While “It Keeps Right On A Hurting” is included in this second set, it’s not listed in the set listing on the case. These two sets are quite different from one another. The Little Darlin’s concert is pretty standard golden oldies revival material, with the performances pretty much replicating the sound and style of the original recordings. At Church Street Station, Tillotson seems more relaxed, less the pop music performer and more a guy enjoying playing his music and interacting with the audience. This is a country music concert complete with steel guitar and all the musical frills that entered country music in the Sixties. The performances here are Tillotson at the top of his form, performing some of his top country music hits.

The bonus tracks on this release feature two classic sets. In a blast from the past, The Dovells perform their rocking hits “The Bristol Stomp” and “You Can’t Sit Down” at Little Darlin’s. New Seekers’ vocalist Lyn Paul sings a slightly rocked-up version of Johnny Ray’s “Cry” then takes a softer approach on a pure country interpretation of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” to an appreciative country music audience at Church Street Station. Here again, the bonus sets are quite different from one another and make an interesting contrast.

The “Fanzone” on this release features an extensive biography of Tillotson along with a very limited discography of his album releases only. These sections make interesting reading but, once again the visual quality is far less than ideal.

“Quantum Leap Propaganda” is more than just propaganda. It includes three interesting, if quirky and a bit rough in many aspects, clip-packed video presentations plus a brief commercial for the Quantum Leap website. Rather than complete finished productions, these short videos have the look and feel of samplers pieced together from diverse sources. The viewer never knows what will come next.

Showing up on several of these Quantum Leap releases, “W.P.M.A.” is a seven minute plug for the World Peace Music Awards concerts, a large event featuring hundreds of well-known musicians and broadcast worldwide. This promo appears to have been pieced together from two separate pieces advertising the concerts in San Francisco, California (2002) and in Nagasaki, Japan (2005) plus other materials. While now out of date, this short video is still interesting to watch.

Like the W.P.M.A.” promo, “Pure Pop” seems to be standard fare on releases in this series. At almost seventeen minutes long, “Pure Pop” is a pastiche of interesting clips that comes across as a chaotic attempt at a documentary film. It features a half-dozen or more popular stars in interviews, commentary and performance. The purpose appears to be to sell other Quantum Leap releases. At the left side of each title bar is what appears to be a release number. The clips include part of a documentary on New York songwriters featuring Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield; a musical performance from The Frank Sinatra Timex Show featuring Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr. and others; a segment on Dusty Springfield featuring commentary from Petula Clark and others and a performance by Springfield of her signature song, “I Only Want To Be With You;” John Sebastian joking with his audience and then singing “What a Day for a Daydream;” very cool blues sung by Bonnie Koloc, a blues instrumental featuring the trumpet of Arturo Sandoval, and a long lost music video of “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel; and a dramatic segment from the movie “The Fabulous Dorseys.” Although the visual quality is inconsistent and often leaves a lot to be desired, this piece is still interesting to watch.

Perhaps the weirdest addition to the “Propaganda” section is the seventeen minute “How To” featuring a Holiday Spanish lesson, various artists in segments on painting with watercolours, a tutorial on Beginners Modern Jive, demonstrations of a boxing martial art called Muay Thai, a brief documentary on professional golfer Donna White meant to introduce a series of golf lessons, sailing lessons, lessons on playing acoustic guitar, and a video called “Women Fight Back” featuring martial arts training. Each of these segments is incomplete starting mid-stream and is clipped before the end. This video quality ranges from not very good to just plain awful. Again, there’s what appears to be a release number at the left side of each title bar So the purpose of this “How To” section may be to market other Quantum Leap releases featuring these various lessons.

Featuring thirteen live concert recordings, this release is worth owning for the music alone. As for the rest of it: well, those bonus segments do make for fun viewing. They’re silly and quirky enough to probably make good party-time viewing. I’d recommend this release for anyone who enjoys the old music and the stars who recorded it or for any Johnny Tillotson fan who’d like to see him in a live performance.

Find out more about Johnny Tillotson at the Johnny Tillotson Official Website or at Wikipedia. You can look up The Dovells at The Dovells Home Page or at Wikipedia. You’ll find information on Lyn Paul at The Lyn Paul Website or, again, at Wikipedia. Also check out the Quantum Leap Online Catalogue.

Music DVD Review: Bobby Vee (Rock ‘n Roll Legends: Bobby Vee)

Rock ‘n Roll Legends: Bobby Vee
Bobby Vee
Quantum Leap Group Ltd.
2005
Running Time: 45 minutes

This is the first of six reviews of DVD releases selected from the Quantum Leap “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series featuring stars of the late-Fifties and early-Sixties. This DVD series is quirky and uneven, yet manages to be both interesting and entertaining.These nostalgic releases feature live performances by popular stars, often years after they were in their prime, mostly at Little Darlin’s, a nostalgia club in Florida, but also at other locations. Some performances are taken from television or movies, including a documentary from Canada’s National Film Board. A horde of other popular stars, and some not so well known, make guest appearances. The visuals, on clips often apparently dubbed from old film stock, range from disconcertingly blurry to quite good but never flawless. Usually, the music makes up for the lack of visual clarity.

There’s a “Fanzone” that includes biography, discography and other background information. As well, the “Quantum Leap Propaganda” section features a variety of interesting, sometimes documentary plugs for events and products as well as web links.

While this “Rock ‘n Roll Legends” series includes other DVD releases, in these six alone, you can see performances by some 25 vintage artists, singing not only their own hits but other popular songs of the era. Any one of these releases provides an interesting, if eccentric, window on this past time. Together they present a fascinating pastiche of popular music as it was a half-century ago.

Rock ‘n Roll Legends: Bobby Vee features five of Bobby Vee’s biggest hits performed live at Little Darlin’s, The Rock ‘n Roll Palace in Orlando, Florida. The music is energetic and well-performed and the songs retain the sound of the original hit recordings. The audience is lively, filling the dance floor throughout the perfomance, and Vee is clearly having a ball interacting with them. There’s something a little off-centre about doing the bunny hop to “Walking With My Angel” or asking the dancers to twist to “Rubber Ball” but Vee and his audience carry it off. The track-listing on the package does not match the actual order of songs as performed.

Guest artists on this release are Danny and the Juniors, here called The Original Juniors, featuring three original members without the late Danny Rapp (1941-1983). Also performing at Little Darlin’s, The Original Juniors do a respectable job performing this music, sounding slicker and more “Vegas” than the original recordings I remember. Even so, this is good Rock and Roll, performed with sincerity and energy.

On this release, “Fanzone” features an extensive biography of Bobby Vee along with a comprehensive discography of his releases over the decades. These sections make interesting reading but, once again the visual quality is far less than ideal.

“Quantum Leap Propaganda” is more than just that. It includes three interesting, if rough in many aspects, clip-packed video presentations plus a brief commercial for the Quantum Leap website. Imagine the movie That’s Entertainment produced not by a professional but by a YouTube amateur and you’ll have a good idea what to expect in these video presentations.

Running almost seventeen minutes, “Pure Pop” is a pastiche of interesting clips that comes across as a chaotic attempted documentary film. It features a half-dozen or more popular stars in commentary and in performance. The purpose appears to be to sell other DVD selections. At the left side of each title bar is what appears to be a release number. Some of the clips you can see include part of a documentary on New York songwriters featuring Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield; a performance from The Frank Sinatra Timex Show featuring Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr. and others; a segment on Dusty Springfield featuring commentary from Petula Clark and others and a performance by Springfield of her signature song, “I Only Want To Be With You;” John Sebastian joking with his audience and then singing “What a Day for a Daydream;” performances by Bonnie Koloc, Arturo Sandoval, and Billy Joel (in a long lost music video); and a segment from the movie “The Fabulous Dorseys.” Here as well, the visual quality leaves a lot to be desired but is more than made up for in historical interest.

At about seventeen minutes, “World Music” is set up along the same lines as “Pure Pop”, including the embedded release numbers, but features concert and interview clips of a variety of contemporary artists from around the world. Also included are clips of a children’s entertainer (a character garbed as a large indefinable animal) and documentary clips of dance teachers at work. Because of the music, the visuals, and the tight, fast pacing, this selection maintains a high interest level. For the most part, this section flows better and seems more unified that “Pure Pop” until near the end, where, for no apparent reason, there’s a short documentary clip on the rise and fall of communism.

“W.P.M.A.” is a seven minute plug for the World Peace Music Awards concerts, a large event featuring hundreds of well-known musicians and broadcast worldwide. While this promotional piece seems more unified than some of the other material on this release, it also seems to be pieced together from two separate pieces advertising the concerts in San Francisco, California (2002) and in Nagasaki, Japan (2005). This now outdated advertisement is mostly of interest for the documentary content included to support its cause.

Combining the pop rock of Bobby Vee with sanitized versions of Danny and the Juniors’ rock and roll, this release is a worthwhile investment for anyone interested in this vintage music. The additional video segments, while clearly advertisements and not that well produced, are just plain fun. I’d definitely recommend this DVD to anyone seeking a couple of hours light entertainment.

You’ll find more information on Bobby Vee at the Bobby Vee Home Page or at Wikipedia.  You can look up Danny and the Juniors at the Official Danny and The Juniors Site or at Wikipedia. Also check out the Quantum Leap Online Catalogue.

CD Review: Music Written for Monterey 1965, Not Heard… Played in its Entirety At UCLA (Charles Mingus)

Music Written for Monterey 1965
Not Heard… Played in its Entirety At UCLA
Charles Mingus
Sue Mingus Music
2006
11 tracks

This is big music, not just in the size of the band but in the music’s emotional power. This is music with movements, like Mozart or Beethoven or any of the finest classical composers, music that moves you like the best jazz combos, music that draws your emotions to the surface like the most sultry torch-songs, music that lives on outside time and touches everyone who listens. If classical music had not ossified at the end of the Nineteenth Century, leaving only a few so-called modern composers to move it forward, this is what that music would have become.

In 1965, I was listening to new music by Charles Mingus on long-playing vinyl records released by specialized jazz labels. For me, the music was new and wonderful. I revelled in this innovative, powerful jazz that seemed to be moving the music forward. This new release of music written by Mingus and recorded in a live 1965 concert takes me back to that time but also allows me the perspective of hindsight. It’s through this prism of time that I’m now hearing this music.

After forty some years, I can hear the influence of Mingus in the music of so many other great artists, not just in jazz but across the spectrum of popular and more academic styles. More exciting is that today the music sounds just as fresh and exciting as ever, and every bit as innovative as it did so long ago. This refreshing music may continue to influence composers and performers for many decades to come, not just in America but around the world.

Although this release includes only 11 tracks of music, 19 total tracks if you count the bits of speech between the music, it gives the listener almost 90 minutes of music by one of America’s finest composers and his band. To listen is to be entranced by the beauty and power of this music as it carries the listener through highs and lows and from mood to mood. It’s electrifying and it’s elequent and it speaks to the world with the voice of America.

Like Ellington, Copland, Grofé, and only a few others, Charles Mingus has discovered the heart of America and set it to music that transcends time and space. This is the new music of the American spirit, the transition through the Twentieth Century, into the Twenty-First, and into the future. Jazz music will never be the same again.

While much and perhaps all of this music has a large, almost classical feel behind the jazz surface, two numbers near the end of the set stand out as different from the rest. Amid all the contemporary Mingus compositions, with “Muskrat Ramble,” written in 1926 by Ray Gilbert and Edward “Kid” Ory, the band swings into Dixieland mode as it shuffles toward the end of the set. Like a flashback in a movie, “Muskrat Ramble” fits right in and brings added depth and history to this otherwise modern set. The final song is a spoken word adaptation of “First they came…,” a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the failure of German intellectuals to oppose the Nazis. Mingus adapts this poem to address racism and other problems Americans face, giving a heartfelt spoken performance of “Don’t Let It Happen Here” over appropriately moving musical backing.

Besides Charles Mingus on bass and piano, this concert features Hobart Dotson and Lonnie Hilyer on trumpet, Jimmy Owens on flugelhorn and trumpet, Charles McPherson on alto saxophone, Julius Watkins on french horn, Howard Johnson on tuba, and Danny Richmond on drums. Among them all, there’s not a performance that is less than excellent.

Anyone who would like to travel to the epicentre of modern jazz music, to the point where American music’s past takes on a new polish and becomes its own future, should definitely give this concert a listen. Without this recording, no collection of jazz music is complete.

This album’s jewel-case insert includes delightful, very informative forward notes by Sue Mingus, further notes by Fred Cohen and Sue Mingus, and various other notes, illustrations and commentaries, including an excerpt from the autobiographical book Beneath the Underdog, written by Mingus. More than just an interesting read, these notes bring a certain historical perspective to the life and music of Charles Mingus.

You can find out more about the late Charles Mingus(1922–1979), at Charles Mingus: The Official Site or at Wikipedia.

DVD Review, Television Series: Twitch City, The Complete Series

They say that if you’re inside something, fully involved with it, you can’t really see clearly what it’s all about, what it is. You have to stand outside to get that sort of clarity. I’ve lived in Canada all my life. As an artist and as a reviewer, my vision has been affected by my intimate relationship with my people and our culture. For me to have greater perspective on who we are, perhaps to verify my own conclusions, I need in some degree to rely on the observations of outsiders.

It appears that, to the world, Canadians are a conservative people in most things they - we do. Whether this derives from our harsh northern climate, our dour Scots roots, our resistance to the rebellious attitudes of our neighbours to the south or other reasons, we appear to think things carefully through and, wherever possible, to take the safe road. Whether our families have been here a long time or just arrived (more Canadians are new immigrants than are not), We Canadians tend to believe this image and to take it to heart. Indeed, at times we seem to revel in the concept.

On closer inspection, our culture reveals great surprises. Our scientists have brought to the world wonderful innovations in medicine, in aviation and space technology, in communications, in energy creation and conservation, in the field of time itself. Our publishers and our manufacturers have become world leaders and leading innovators in many ways. Our political leaders have been innovators in health care and social support systems and the vast distances across our nation have led to fantastic innovations in transportation and communication. Yet we don’t celebrate these things as another nation might. Perhaps, more than cautious, we’re just humble.

When it comes to the arts and entertainment, it’s a whole other matter. While at some level we do celebrate accomplishments in these areas, the world beyond our borders discovers our artists and their creations and celebrates them even more than we ourselves would dare. If we are seen as perhaps over-cautious in other areas, then we are seen in the arts and entertainment as leaders and innovators. Our novelists, our pulp fiction and science fiction writers, our poets, our musicians, our cartoonists and animators, our comics and actors, our television producers and movie makers, all have made a powerful impact, and been influential in nations around the world.

This brings us to Don McKellar. For more than a quarter century, McKellar has been making films and television programs in Canada, early-on drawing the interest of critics and other artists around the world. A true renaissance man of his industry, McKellar is writer, director, producer, actor, and whatever else it may take for him to get his work to the screen. His work is original and creative, sometimes breaking down artistic barriers and sometimes simply reaffirming what’s already established. As with most brilliant creators, at times McKellar can be erratic and his work uneven, but the end result is mostly interesting and has been an influence to many others in his field.

This is the man who made the Canadian television series Twitch City. McKellar created, wrote, and starred in this quirky series, directed by his long-time colleague Bruce McDonald. Although many talented Canadians were involved in this series, every episode is ripe with the influence of Don McKellar.

The Series

One day I arrived home from work and turned on the television. It was the local affiliate of the CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, itself a supposedly conservative organization run by federally appointed bureaucrats. I was tuned into what appeared to be a talk show reminiscent of the worst of Jerry Springer. That was my introduction to Twitch City. I watched that complete show and I was hooked. Every week, I hurried home to see the next episode. If I knew I wouldn’t be home in time, I taped it.

Half a century ago, when I was just establishing my own particular perception of the world, I was continually amazed by the programs that showed up on Canadian radio and television, in particular on the CBC. Whether news-based or drama programming, it was often quirky, eccentric, or just plain weird. The ideas, the images, the wonderful use of language and imagination were a tonic to my young mind, urging me to look beyond the obvious and to seek out the unimaginable.

Canadian broadcasting in general lost that wonderful edginess many years ago, taking on more and more the bland sameness endemic to the American media beaming to us across our southern border. Over the past twenty or so years, the CBC appears to have become lumpen and middle aged, with ever-decreasing interest in supporting any programming that might approach seeming innovative or new. To me and to others, this has been a loss and a disappointment. Twitch City restored my joy in the strangeness of the Canadian creative mind and the ability of the Canadian audience to accept this insanity as part of normal life.

Supposedly, or so the promotional materials suggest and a lot of the reviewers buy, this series is a situation comedy about a man who is addicted to television. This is certainly a primary element of the storylines, with McKellar’s agarophobic character homebound and entranced by the characters on his television programs, mostly the Springer-like talk show. However, Twitch City is more controlled by an undercurrent of fantasy and weird science that takes it into the realm of the dime novel and even underground comics. While there’s certainly a lot of humour in both the writing and the acting, this is not comedy in the American I Love Lucy sense, and some of the scenes and themes are not really funny at all.

Born in the land of Marshall McLuhan, Twitch City rides a psychological roller coaster that resides just below the conscious, its underlying metaphors and themes undercutting the norms of both society and the unreal world that is television. The stories and characters here derive less from American sit-coms than from the wildly creative animations of Norman McLaren, the innovations of Ralph Bakshi, and the exotic cartoon worlds created by Vaughan Bode and Robert Crumb. Although this series was filmed in real locations with real actors, it is in fact an underground comic come out of the closet and into public view.

Although this series aired for only two seasons totalling only thirteen episodes, and those separated by a two year hiatus, Twitch City has enjoyed considerable critical success and a modicum of audience appreciation not just in Canada but around the world. It’s interesting to note that the series has become a cult favourite in several nations, most notably in Australia, where it became a smash hit.

This series features McKellar as Curtis, who pretty much does nothing, but does it very creatively; Daniel MacIvor as Nathan, the murderous room-mate; Molly Parker as the precocious and ever-patient, perhaps over-patient Hope; Bruce McCulloch and Mark McKinney of The Kids in the Hall both playing talk show host Rex Reilly; Lucky the cat in a recurring role; and a scattering of guests, including Al Waxman of Canada’s hit series The King of Kensington and Joyce DeWitt of Three’s Company

Here are just some of the elements that contribute to the weirdness that is Twitch City: scary Oriental gangsters apparently selling tainted cookies, a hit man hired by Nathan to kill Curtis, a cult of neo-Nazis who may or may not also be gay, Nathan’s murder of a hopeless man by hitting him on the head with a can of cat food, a possibly psychic cat who also talks from time to time, takeover of Earth by a cabal of cats from outer space, a talk show host who completely changes appearance between seasons because he’s received a cranial transplant. And there’s so much more. The mind boggles.

The Special Features

The somewhat limited special features that come in this two DVD set include compact biographies of Don McKellar, Molly Parker and and Bruce McDonald plus a scanty photo gallery that includes only five still photographs. There’s also commentary available by Don McKellar and others, but only on two of the episodes, so hardly worth the bother. I’d buy the series on DVD for the programs, not the features. The two DVD set definitely makes for interesting, mind-stimulating viewing.

Don McKellar

Influential Canadian auteur Don McKellar has been involved in a number of important films only some of which include his own Highway 61 (with Bruce McDonald) and Childstar, Atom Egoyan’s Exotica, and François Girard’s Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. In the process, McKellar been the recipient of many awards, including the Tony and Genie.

CD Review: Live at the Blue Note in Tokyo (Mingus Big Band)

Live at the Blue Note in Tokyo
Mingus Big Band
Sue Mingus Music
2006
8 tracks

Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, wife of the late Charles Mingus (1922 – 1979), the fourteen piece Mingus Big Band is unique in many respects. Since 1991, the band has performed the music of Jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus in new York City, first at the Fez under Time Cafe and, since 2004, at the Iridium Jazz Club and tours extensively in the United States and abroad. With almost fifty repertory members, the band operates like a formalized pick-up band, its membership made up of whichever fourteen members are available for a particular gig. This variegation of players has helped the Mingus Big Band keep its performances fresh and vital over the years.

In December of 2005, the Mingus Big Band played a week of concerts at the Blue Note Club in Tokyo. The final concert of that series, on New Year’s Eve, resulted in the recording of this exciting big band Jazz set. For that not to have happened would have been a great loss to the world of Jazz music and to American music in general. On this CD is some of the finest Jazz composition to come out of America, performed by fourteen of America’s finest Jazz musicians.

In turns, this music swings and swirls, jitters and jives, rocks and rolls, races and slows, and does it all over again. At times, it’s pure New York, with all the sense of traffic’s rush and ramble, stop and start, motors revving and car horns shouting out. At other times, it sweeps through the Orient, the Far-East and the Middle-East, becoming at once distant and exotic. There is praise here too, sometimes ecstatic and sometimes pure Gospel, to rock the listener’s soul. There are sound effects (a horse whinnies, birds sing), implicit visuals, and pure, wonderful music. It’s a marvelous cascade of sound that fills the room and washes the listener away into some jazz fantasy. It’s pure magic!

This is big music, symphonic in scale yet with all the heart and soul of American culture at its deepest and most powerful. The music of Charles Mingus speaks of and to the American people, and the players of the Mingus Big Band give his music a powerful, evocative voice that speaks not just to America but to the world.

Even though each song on this release is as wonderful as the rest, I do have some favourites. “Ecclusiastics” is the only song in this set with words and it’s also the longest at 10:33. A number with a certain Christian flavour and fervour, “Ecclusiastics” opens and closes with a Gospel-shouted spoken piece - you might even say sermon - featuring words from Ecclesiastes. The Preacher, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, brings to these ancient words all the energy needed to raise them up from a lovely poem to a power-packed exhortation to action. “Amen!” he says. Yes sir, amen!

Equal in every way to the exhortations of The Preacher, the music of “Ecclusiastics” is full, rich and dramatic and reaches into the corners of American music, echoing Ellington, Charles, Copland, Grofé, and a dozen others, yet always speaking in a single voice and always in the voice of Mingus. It’s something very special to hear.

“Prayer for Passive Resistance” is my other favourite. This song rocks with a drive that stirs the heart and moves the feet. It’s as much Rock & Roll as it is Jazz, shouting out of rebellion and resistance as it grabs at the listener’s soul. This is tough music, the kind you heard in The Blackboard Jungle or in Fifties detective movies. It’s big and symphonic in scope, shifting in tempo and swinging from mood to mood as it carries the listener through the imagined dusky city streets of America.

While I mention two songs that especially appeal to me, every performance on this release is of the same superior calibre. Each listener may have different favourites, but there’s unlikely to be a big difference between the favourite and the next song down the list. In my opinion, no collector of great American Jazz should be without a copy of this CD in his or her collection.

This album’s jewel-case insert includes interesting and informative liner notes by producer Sue Mingus. Reading these notes brings a certain historical perspective to this music and the Mingus Big Band.

You can find out more about the Mingus Big Band at Charles Mingus: The Official Site, the Iridium Jazz Club website, or at Wikipedia. You may also find it worthwhile and interesting to look up Charles Mingus and Sue Mingus.

CD Review: Soul Eclectic (Sophia Darcell)

Soul Eclectic
Sophia Darcell
GrooveCraft Entertainment Group
2006
12 tracks

Sophia Darcell is an interesting, talented singer. Her recording is well produced and professional, with a solid band backing up her vocals. It’s all there. Or is it? In my lifetime, I’ve known a lot of performers like Sophia Darcell, seen them perform and been impressed by their talent. They’re big stars in the hometown, perhaps even regionally, but they never break out of the box. Some intangible spark necessary to set the artist apart is missing.

Even though Darcell has had a respectable career to date, with tour dates up and down the U.S. east coast, one previous CD release, and reasonable amounts of airplay, her sound still feels like what one would hear in a local jazz club. There’s a comfort level that will bring in the hometown fans but may not be enough to hook the national audience in any big way.

Darcell has a full, rich voice and she uses it well, seeming to have a very good grasp of the essentials of popular jazz and R&B singing styles. There’s energy and often even passion in her singing. In some songs, she approaches but never quite achieves a level of sensuality usually present in torch songs. Listening to her sing is an enjoyable experience, but the emotions never reach out and grab the listener by the soul.

It’s problematic that, while this is Sophia Darcell’s album, I found myself as often listening to the backing musicians as I was her. In fact, at some points in some songs, the players in the band fully distracted me from her singing. To be fair, this is not so much that Darcell is not good at what she does but that the musicians are at least as good and sometimes add a lot more spice to this music than she does.

I was especially taken by the trumpet and saxophone tracks. Some of Ken Watters’ trumpet tracks are especially sweet, very reminiscent of vintage Freddy Hubbard. As soon as that horn starts blowing, I’m swept right out of Darcell’s vocal and into another lovely world. The sax tracks by Michael Burton and Sonny Calo are as sweet but, unfortunately, often too low in the mix and too often not there at all.

Some of the instrumentation is distracting for other reasons. The drumming sometimes tends toward the hokey, bringing memories of the bongos and congas in Nineties singer-songwriter folk music releases. There’s also a weird, distorted sort of electronic thing that shows up in some of the songs. I haven’t quite figured it out, but it could be created by electric guitar or by keyboard. However it may have been created, like some of the drum sounds it doesn’t belong in the cool, jazzy R&B sound being presented here.

It’s clear that Sophia Darcell has the talent necessary to succeed, and she certainly has access to talented musicians and a professional recording facility. She’s young, so may just need time and experience to discover that spark within herself that will set her on fire. Until then, I can’t see her rising above the regionality of the U.S. eastern seaboard. Still, that’s quite a respectable level of success for a young artist. Darcell has time to take it to the next level. I hope she’ll make the leap.

You can learn more about Sophia Darcell and her music at Sophia Darcell’s Joint or on MySpace.