Kinetic Hues is not a DVD in the normal technological sense. It does not provide surround sound, or a DVD-Audio layer, or extras like biographies, photo galleries or interviews. It is really a home movie, with all of that genre’s raw veracity and charm. One of the camera operators is seen crawling around among the musicians. The audio is PCM two-channel. But Kinetic Hues is more fun than most of the jazz DVDs currently available because the music is so strong.
It’s fun to get a glimpse of the Greenwich Village/Fat Cat scene, and it is especially fascinating to watch Ari Hoenig at work, one of the most maniacally obsessive, spasmodic and musical drummers in jazz. Also here are Jean-Michel Pilc, who could be described as the Ari Hoenig of the piano, bassist Matt Penman and Jacques Schwarz-Bart, a new name with a hip, dry tenor-saxophone language.
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