Music DVDs/Blu-Rays: Elvis, Jazz Icons, Kinks and more...

Elvis 75th Birthday Collection

Fox


As the first mega rock and roll and yeah, American Idol turned "actor," Elvis Presley actually wasn’t bad at all. It just depended on the film.  This seven-movie set issued in this year of what would’ve been his 75th birthday is not a best-of, because the still-great Jailhouse Rock, still-wacky fun (and with Ann-Margaret) Viva La Vegas and King Creole, considered his finest performance, aren’t included.  Still, there’s a wide range of roles here:  The Civil War-era Love Me Tender  and racially-themed western Flaming Star (where he’s half Native America/half white man); the riverboat romance of Frankie and Johnny; the everyday guy (yeah, sure) of Wild in the Country and Follow That Dream; the boxing setting of Kid Galahad and partytime of Clambake. Some of his leading ladies went on to or were already known in film or TV, including Donna Douglas (Beverly Hillbillies) Shelly Fabares (Donna Reed Show, Coach),Barbara Eden (I Dream Of Jeannie) and Tuesday Weld.  And of course, there’s the music, from the simple balladry of "Tender" to big burst-into-song production numbers -"Clambake" is a hoot - in some of the more lightweight films.  So, while far from the ultimate King movie set, there’s still a little something for anyone who’s an Elvis film fan.

Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense
IndiePix


Most jazz documentaries look at the music’s certainly rich past.  Icons Among Us instead focuses on artists playing in the here and now.  The director trio of Michael Rivoira, Lars Larson and Peter J. Vogt, look at musicians such as Terence Blanchard, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ravi Coltrane, Donald Harrison Jr., Anat Cohen, Medeski Martin and Wood and others with well-edited mix of performances and interviews that offer insight into the state of real jazz today  (not the watered-down likes of much so-called "smooth jazz").  These thriving artists are contrasted by talks with some genuine living icons of the form that include Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves and Wynton Marsalis.  Connections are also made with African-American history and culture.  Bonus material in addition to the film include the 2002 Living Daylights Mardi Gras Party and a quintet of complete live performances from Harrison, Matthew Shipp, Blad, The Roy Hargrove Quintet, and Bugge Wesseltoft. A essential movie for contemporary jazz fans.

You Really Got Me: Story Of The Kinks
ABC Entertainment


I had high hopes for this documentary of various eras of one of my favorite bands of all time – The Kinks. But the footage is too often grainy and just fair, the audio quality too dicey at times. Also, where a linear look would’ve been bast, the material skips back and forth between decades.  And while a few interview bits are charming or interesting, the Kinks dynamic between sometimes battling brothers Ray and Dave Davies is never truly captured here. Even the song clips are wrong-headed:  a full "Milk Cow Blues" and snippet of "Well-Respected Man? Yes, some of the band’s best or best-known tunes over the decades are here, but in an incoherent fashion.  And ‘80s videos like "Come Dancing" and "Do it Again" are not needed. Live clips of those and other songs are part of what's missing here.

The Rolling Stones - Rare and Unseen
Wienerworld
John  Lennon- Rare and Unseen
Wienerworld


The "Rare and Unseen" series does manage to find some historic footage and performance clips that offer both nostalgia and historical insight, but too often, the quality isn’t all there. And that’s the case with these two DVDs focusing on the Rolling Stones and John Lennon.  Still, on the Stones disc, you do get guitarist Mick Taylor talking about coming into the band, back around 1970 and longtime, founding bassist on finally retiring in the early ‘80s as well as Mick Jagger speaking about drugs and authority on a TV program.

Same goes for the Lennon DVD, which begins with Beatles interviews and appearances, then shifts to his solo years, though it all comes off a bit haphazard and not all chronological.  It’s Lennon, who was always captivating, but other documentary works have done this much better.  Really, both are for completists and extreme devotees only.


Free
Forever
Eagle Rock  Entertainment

This compendium covering British hard rockers Free boasts a wide variety of footage that ranges from home movies to choice performances that serve as a reminder of what  loss it was when guitarist Paul Kosoff died.  Pre-Bad Company Paul Rodgers on vocals and Simon Kirke on drums are here of course. And best of all are three numbers shot during Free’s appearance at the historic Isle of Wight Festival in 1970: "Mr. Big," "Be My Friend,"  and the band’s one big global hit, "All Right Now." While only those three songs were shot, the release also adds the rest of the set as audio tracks, accompanied by color and black-and-white photos, press notices, studio shots and other era pictures.

Michael Bolton
Live at Royal Albert Hall
Eagle Rock Entertainment

Blu-ray and DVD

Never was taken by Bolton’s emoting as he powered through big ballads, cover songs and light-rock originals. But his fans are legion, that’s for sure. If you’re one of them, this concert performance from 2009 is for you. The two-hour set includes his hits like "Soul Provider" and "Time, Love and Tenderness" along with cover songs galore such as versions of Percy Sledge’s  "When a Man Loves a Woman" and Van Morrison’s "Crazy Love” to his takes on "Fly Me to the Moon," "Summerime," "Georgia on My Mind" and "That’s Life."  Let’s be nice and say he’s an acquired taste. And if he’s yours, you’ll love this.