Jane Monheit DVD-As (1 Viewer)

[Felix Martinez]

Just letting everyone know - I rec'd the new Jane Monheit DVD-As from Silverline, and they are fantastic. Gary Lux did the 5.1 mixes, and they are very, very good. The legendary Joel Dorn produced the original recordings.

Jane's vox stylings recall a bit of Ella, Doris, a pinch of Linda, and of course, her own beautiful style. Highly recommended for jazz fans.

Cheers,

 

[John Kotches]

Felix,

I just got my copies in via mail order, and haven't had a chance to give them a spin.

I guess I better go put one of them in the system for some background music

Cheers,

 

[RobBenton]

I am considering these so if anyone else has some comments on them i would be glad to hear!

 

[Felix Martinez]

Jane's version of "Over The Rainbow," "Waters of March," and Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You" are just about the most amazing things I've heard from a singer in some time. These are all on the "Come Dream With Me" release, but the earlier "Never Never Land" release (also on DVD-A) is also stellar. I would pick up both without hesitation.

The only very minor issue I have on the sound mixes is that a hair of low end seems to have been rolled off Jane's voice - this is appropriate when the full band is playing (her voice fits right in perfectly), but during some of the acapella intros, a teeny bit of thinness is detected. I would have automated the eq to retain the full, natural low end on her voice for these "solo" moments.

I'm a huge picker of nits - please keep this in mind! After doing my first five or six 5.1 mixes, I have an amazing amount of respect for Lux, Waldrep, Scheiner, et al. Everything changes in 5.1 - EQ, effects, everything! Instruments complement and compete for frequency and ambient space in an entirely different way than in stereo, and its been just a beautiful learning experience.

Anyway, back to Jane - fantastic stuff! First heard her work on the Les Brown: Session 55 DVD-A from DTS Entertainment and I said; "What the (expletive here)?!" To find this type of maturity, tone, and delivery in a 20-something-year-old singer when everyone wants to screech blues coloratura at full volume with finger movement embellishments to rival Eddie Van Halen's fretting hand - it's just refreshing!

Cheers,