Ray Charles: Live at Montreux 1997 on Blu-ray Disc Review
By Brandon A. DuHamel
The Performance
Jazz, Blues, Country, Gospel, R&B, Soul, and Pop; these all define what made Ray Charles pure genius. Ray Charles Robinson, the "Genius" as he is so often referred to, was a classically trained pianist not happy to be pigeonholed into one genre. In 1997, Ray Charles gave his third and final appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival backed by a 15-piece orchestra and supported by the Raelettes.
The show has long been held as one of the greater performances of the latter part of Charles' life and it touched on all the stages of his career. The Ray Charles Orchestra provided the perfect Jazzy accompaniment to Charles' vocals and keyboard playing for the Montreux festival as Ray and co. went through 16 numbers that included his all-time favorites "Busted," "Georgia on My Mind," and one of his earliest crossover hits, the live improvisational "What'd I Say," which no Ray Charles concert could be without.
The Raelettes also get a chance to come out and strut their stuff on three featured numbers, "Watch them Dogs," "Shadows of my Mind," and "Smack Dab in the Middle." Still, as lively an evening as all of the aforementioned songs make, it's the slower numbers that are truly inspirational, and when Ray sings "Angelina," "Song for You" and the Country hit "I Can't Stop Loving You," it truly is genius.
Ray Charles was and is a large presence looming over the musical landscape and is one of the true musical legends of the last century. He is surely missed.
The Picture
Like most concert videos on Blu-ray,
Ray Charles: Live at Montreux was originally captured in high definition and it appears on this release in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The original 1080i/60 source is well presented by the AVC/MPEG-4 encoding. Colors are natural and contrast is bright but doesn't bloom. Blacks occasionally look more grayish than inky, but that is a minor issue. The presentation is clear, with only slight amounts of video noise apparent. The picture is quite detailed, with textures in clothing and skin all noticeable and, as our own forum member, Daylightdon, pointed out, even individual scratches on the brass instruments can be made out. This is another strong presentation from Eagle Rock.
The Sound
This release is provided with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, LPCM 2.0 and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio options, and despite being labeled as such on the packaging, there is
no Dolby TrueHD 5.1 option provided.
Apart from some obvious balance issues with Ray Charles' vocals in the mix early on in the show, both the DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options provide acceptable sound with detailed, well-balanced instrumentation, and good midrange. Unfortunately, the high frequencies are a bit tweaked, and the low frequency extension is a little on the weak side. The drums are a bit low in the mix and, late on in the show, the brass tends to overpower Ray Charles' vocals a tad. In the DTS-HD MA mix, there's a good amount of ambience sent to the surround channels to aid in deepening the soundstage and capturing the acoustics of the performance space.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding sounds like a colossal mess. The high frequencies are absolutely fatiguing and harsh, ambience sounds scattered, and the midrange sounds tight. My opinion would be, if you can, stay with the lossless DTS-HD MA mix if you'd like to listen to this one in 5.1, but the PCM option also offers a nice stereo sound.
The Extras
As a bonus there are three instrumental performances by The Ray Charles Orchestra included that anyone who enjoys Big Band music should appreciate:
- "Just Friends"
- "Beatrice"
- "Passeone Blues"
Final Thoughts
Ray Charles was a true musical genius and any lover of music should have some of his music somewhere in their collection. This fine 1997 performance from the Montreux Jazz Festival is as good a place to start as any, all the better for the wonderful high definition presentation on Blu-ray.
Where to Buy
Product Details
- Performer: Ray Charles
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0, English Dolby Digital 5.1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: NR (Not Rated)
- Studio: Eagle Rock Ent
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: December 9, 2008
- Run Time: 88 minutes
- List Price: $24.98
- Extras:
- Bonus Songs:
- "Just Friends"
- "Beatrice"
- "Passeone Blues"
