Naxos Delivers Jazz on DVD

Because it’s impossible to check out Art Blakey (pictured) or Gil Evans in concert these days (what with them having passed away and all), the best we can do is to recreate the live experience the masters once delivered by firing up our home theaters. In fact, DVD may be better than the real thing. Think about it-no drink minimums and smoke-caked clothes. This month Naxos of America and TDK Mediactive add four titles to the growing list of jazz DVDs available to stay-at-home fans. The discs, by Blakey, Evans, Billy Cobham and Herbie Hancock, each include artist biographies, exclusive footage and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Full release info:

Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers features Blakey, David Schmitter, Bill Hardman, Mickey Tucker and Cameron Brown. Track list: Backgammon, Along Came Betty, Uranus, Blues March, All the Things You Are, Gipsy Folk Tales

Billy Cobham’s Glass Menagerie features Cobham, Michal Urbaniak, Mike Stern, Gil Goldstein, Tim Landers. Track list: Moon Germs, A.L.D.L., Flight Time, Vanessa, Crosswind, All Hallows Eve, Total Eclipse, Mendocino, Wrapped in a Cloud, Brooze

Gil Evans and His Orchestra track list: Hotel Me, Friday the 13th, Copenhagen Sights, Stone Free, Waltz, Variation On the Misery, Orange Was the Color of Her Dress, The Honey Man, Gone, Eleven

World of Rhythm Live features Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Billy Cobham. Track list: Toys, First Trip, Speak Like a Child, Little Waltz, Willow Weep for Me, Dolphin Dance, Ili’s Treasure, Princess, Eye of the Hurricane, Wa

Originally Published November 30, 2002