**Exclusive Bonus Disc** Sonny Rollins: This collection includes
two Sonny Rollins 1959 European concerts in which he is
accompanied by recently re-discovered bassist Henry Grimes.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: performs Oliver Nelson's Stolen Moments
backed by a cream-of-the-crop European rhythm section consisting
of drummer Daniel Humair, pianist George Gruntz, and bassist Guy
Pedersen.
A super-modest Sonny Rollins is interviewed in Stockholm 1959
before he performs Ellington's It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't
Got That Swing at a blistering tempo with bebop-era standout Joe
Harris on drums and Henry Grimes on bass.
Nina Simone: This collection includes a no-holds-barred Nina
Simone live performance of Mississippi Goddamn followed by an
interview with the Swedish program host. Features a 12 page
booklet with liner notes by Ashley Khan, John Kruth and Rob
Bowman.
Review
------
A sequel to perhaps DVD's most revered jazz sets again plumbs
European archives. Nina Simone performs Bob Dylan's The Ballad of
Hollis Brown and sings movingly of Martin Luther King Jr. Saxist
Sonny Rollins offers two versions of St. Thomas. Bill Evans'
piano-playing can be intense, but the brow of seemingly looser
O Peterson is drenched, too. Also: Lionel Hampton, Cannonball
Adderley and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. -- USA Today, Mike Clark,
October 2, 2008
Few jazz experiences are more enjoyable than putting on a classic
Rahsaan Roland Kirk album and marveling at his ability to play
two and three saxophones at the same time. But a record like
"Rip, Rig, and Panic" or "Blacknuss" can deliver only so much
information. Actually watching Kirk do what he did elevates the
experience to a whole new level.
This is why the "Jazz Icons" catalog of DVDs has become so
invaluable. With its third series arriving this week, the "Jazz
Icons" project from Naxos has quickly become one of the most
ways to experience the full artistry of our jazz
legends. The seven new DVDs can be purchased individually or as
part of a box set, which comes with a bonus disc. This
installment features concerts and television s from
Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, Lionel Hampton, Rahsaan Roland
Kirk, O Peterson, Sonny Rollins, and Nina Simone, all filmed
in Europe between 1958 and 1975. -- Boston Globe, Steve Greenlee,
September 28, 2008
Jazz is America's most durable cultural export of all time, hands
down. I am admittedly biased, having grown up in the '60s when
jazz was a vital art form, stretching boundaries and ripping
envelopes clear in half. Names like John Coltrane and Ornette
Coleman meant more to me than Mick Jagger and John Lennon, though
I later learned to respect pop music as well as jazz. And now,
like a beautiful deja vu, comes the latest installment of the
"Jazz Icons" DVD collection from Naxos and Reelin' in the Years
Prods. It is a stunner.
The crisply black and white footage looks as good as it
sounds, gleaned as it is from live performances in clubs and
festival settings. Sonny Rollins, who famously refuses to listen
to or watch any of his old performances (knowing he'd hear
something he'd want to change, even all these years later!) is
caught in youthful mid-1960s form, filmed in Denmark and blowing
lyrically and muscularly all at once.
Rahsaan Roland Kirk has to be seen to be believed, playing three
reed instruments at once, then sw to flute and blowing his
breathy and funky lines at warp speed and maximum-swing. What a
force of nature and incredible showman. Seeing him is the bonus
-- that's what makes this collection so valuable. My favorite
pianist, the cerebral and intense Bill Evans, was filmed in
Denmark in European venues in the mid-60s and Nina Simone, the
imperious and unpredictable diva, is as beautiful as she is
self-assured. O Peterson, Lionel Hampton and Cannonball
Adderley round out the package, which ought to be Purchase One on
your Xmas list for any of your jazz-loving significant others.
Make your kids watch it!. . . You will be unable to resist buying
the whole caboodle. Blame me. -- InsideSoCal.com, By David Weiss
on October 9, 2008
Now the third box set of aural gold is coming our way, looking
crisp and sounding just as good as its two archival predecessors.
. . Everyone will have a favorite moment of some kind. This boxed
set is full of them. -- Tucson Citizen, Chuck Graham, November 6,
2008
Sitting in a jazz club I sometimes wish I could go back half a
century to witness the all-time greats in their prime. With
excellent sound quality and footage lovingly filmed in European
venues, Jazz Icons DVDs come close to making my wish come true.
Camera angles can make these discs better than live; watch Bill
Evans' and O Peterson's fingers as they work their magic on
the piano. Cannonball Adderley's band - with Joe Zawinul, Louis
Hayes, Yusef Lateef, Nat Adderley and Sam Jones - is astounding.
Sonny Rollins is on fire in trio and quartet settings. Rahsaan
Roland Kirk's horn section, consisting of Kirk playing two, or
three horns at once, is otherworldly. Seeing can be far better
than just listening; Nina Simone's rendition of "Four Women" is
riveting. And there's no shortage of wonderful surprises, like
when Lionel Hampton leaves the vibes to play fantastic piano and
drum solos. -- Rochester City Newspaper, Ron Netsky, October 22,
2008
The outstanding "Jazz Icons" DVD series of vintage jazz artists
in concert returns with another high quality feast for the eyes
and ears, This time the box set features seven individual DVDs of
black and white performances by singer Nina Simone, pianists
O Peterson and Bill Evans, saxophonists Sonny Rollins,
Cannonball Adderley and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and vibraphonist
Lionel Hampton. An eighth bonus disc features additional
performances by Simone, Kirk and Rollins. Highlights abound! --
Urban Network, A. Scott Galloway, September 2008
The sound quality is first rate, and the performances are
extraordinary. -- Newsweek Magazine
These wondrous performances highlight the individualistic
artistry of canonical jazz figures such as Sonny Rollins, O
Peterson, Lionel Hampton, Nina Simone, Bill Evans, Cannonball
Adderley, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. No doubt, this is an
inestimable gift to ity and to jazz pedagogy. . . These
deluxe-edition DVD's also underscore a high degree of technical
skill in the art of craft of moving image photography, and an
equal level of appreciation for jazz on the European continent.
-- eJazzNews.com, John Stevenson, September 2, 2008
This is the third release in the Jazz Icons series, bringing the
total up to 27 volumes, making it possibly the most complete
jazz-on-film library available. -- New York Sun, Will Friedwald,
September 29, 2008
Wild Applause: This is a smashing set of DVDs featuring
never-released live and studio performances by seven singular
artists: Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Nina Simone (left), O
Peterson, Cannonball Adderley, Lionel Hampton and Rahsaan Roland
Kirk (a bonus disc for boxed-set buyers has other rare tracks by
Rollins, Simone and Kirk). Taped for television in cities across
Europe, these club and concert performances capture the musicians
at peak moments in their careers. -- San Francisco Chronicle,
Jesse Hamlin, October 24, 2008
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From the Contributor
--------------------
Jazz Icons: Series 3 Boxset contains all seven new titles plus a
bonus disc, not sold separately, containing exclusive
performances by Sonny Rollins, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Nina
Simone. Each DVD features a 24-page booklet with an essay written
by an authoritative jazz historian as well as rare and unseen
photos. Jazz Icons DVDs are produced with the full support and
cooperation of the artists or their estates, who, in most cases,
are contributing rare personal photographs, memorabilia, and
forewords. **Exclusive Bonus Disc** Sonny Rollins: This
collection includes two Sonny Rollins 1959 European concerts in
which he is accompanied by recently re-discovered bassist Henry
Grimes. Rahsaan Roland Kirk: performs Oliver Nelson's Stolen
Moments backed by a cream-of-the-crop European rhythm section
consisting of drummer Daniel Humair, pianist George Gruntz, and
bassist Guy Pedersen.
A super-modest Sonny Rollins is interviewed in Stockholm 1959
before he performs Ellington's It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't
Got That Swing at a blistering tempo with bebop-era standout Joe
Harris on drums and Henry Grimes on bass.
Nina Simone: This collection includes a no-holds-barred Nina
Simone live performance of Mississippi Goddamn followed by an
interview with the Swedish program host. Features a 12 page
booklet with liner notes by Ashley Khan, John Kruth and Rob
Bowman.
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