Love For Levon Blu-ray delivers great video and decent audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
No synopsis for Love For Levon.
For more about Love For Levon and the Love For Levon Blu-ray release, see the Love For Levon Blu-ray Review published by Jeffrey Kauffman on March 26, 2013 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.
We live in a music world dominated by Fame by Lottery, courtesy of such shows as American Idol and The
Voice, with "instant winners" who disappear almost as quickly as they achieve overnight "superstardom". It seems
like the days of journeymen musicians are long passed, or at the very least largely unheralded. Does anyone even
read the credits on CD insert booklets anymore, that is if they even bother to buy a CD in the first place? It's so much
easier to download or to stream, making any in depth reflection or analysis of who exactly is making the music much
harder, if not downright impossible. Though my teenage sons are only too happy to inform me of my incipient
"geezerhood", I'm actually happy I grew up when there were actual long playing albums (soon to be supplanted by
CDs), where I became accustomed to, and in fact loved to, pore over the fine print on the covers or the insert
booklets to see who exactly had played, produced, arranged, orchestrated—you name it, I wanted to know it. I frankly
can't recall now if I stumbled across Levon Helm's name on a Bob Dylan album or with The Band, but both the inherent
unusualness of his first name at least, coupled with his instantly recognizable drumming style really intrigued me as a
youngster, even though I wasn't particularly enamored of either folk, or roots, or whatever exactly you'd want to call
Helm's work in those days. I was frankly more interested in mainstream pop and rock in terms of popular music (my
true tastes always ran more toward jazz and classical), and so I had always assumed that Elton John's "Levon" was in
some way connected to Helm, which in fact it is, albeit rather tangentially. But Helm, aside from the perhaps reflected
glory he received from John's Top 40 tune, tended to stay pretty much in the background, even if his distinctive vocals
were prominently featured on a number of Band recordings. Helm was first and foremost a player rather than a
star, and perhaps that's why he was so deeply loved during his lifetime and so very fondly remembered by so
many after his sad parting from cancer in 2012. Love for Levon is a heartfelt assemblage of musicians, some of
them bonafide stars, others accomplished journeymen, who joined together to honor the memory of Levon in a really
remarkable set of concert performances. While the general ambience here might be termed roots rock, there's a
startling variety of styles and influences running rampant through the many offerings, proving that Levon's spirit
touched a huge gamut of musicians in a variety of different genres and idioms.
There's a touching remembrance of Levon by Keith Wortman included in the insert booklet accompanying this release,
and it makes clear just what an influence Levon was to so many. What's perhaps most important, though, at least to
Wortman (who helped organize this concert) is how Levon used to open up his own home for what were called Midnight
Rambles, basically "come as you are" jam sessions that were attended by the general public. As Wortman rather
piquantly asks, "Know any other music legends that would do that?" Wortman and crew sought to recreate the "we
are family" vibe of the Midnight Rambles with this concert, and to a very large degree, they've succeeded admirably.
There's an obvious camaraderie between all the musicians on tap here, including those who have probably had little to
no prior contact with each other.
In an evening this diverse, it's hard to really single out individual moments as "best". What ties the evening together
so miraculously is the fantastic work of both The All Star Band (Kenny Aronoff, Drums; Larry Campbell, Guitars, Mandolin,
Fiddle, Vocals; Amy Helm, Vocals; Greg Leisz, Vocals; Brian Mitchell, Keyboards, Accordion; Don Was, Bass; Teresa
Williams, Vocals) and The Levon Helm Band (Larry Campbell; Justin Guip, Drums; Amy Helm; Byron Isaacs, Bass, Vocals;
Brian Mitchell; Jim Weider, Guitars; Teresa Williams), as well as an ace horn section (Steven Bernstein, Trumpet; Jay
Collins, Saxophones; Clark Gayton, Trombone, Tuba; Howard Johnson, Tuba; Erik Lawrence, Saxophone). Despite the
huge disparity of basic styles some of these artists bring to the stage, there's a homogeneity of sound here that
speaks directly to Levon's own love for Americana and so-called Roots Music. Love obviously brought these folks
together and love emanates from their performances out to the live audience as well as the virtual audience tuning in
courtesy of this splendid Blu-ray set.
Love for Levon includes the following songs and performers:
01. "The Shape I'm In", Warren Haynes with The All Star Band and Rami Jaffe
02. "Long Black Veil," Gregg Allman with Warren Haynes and The All Star Band
03. "Trouble in Mind," Jorma Kaukonen and Barry Mitterhoff with Larry Campbell, Justin Guip, Bryan Isaacs and
Jaimoe
04. "This Wheel's on Fire," The Levon Helm Band with Shawn Pelton
05. "Little Birds," Larry Campbell, Justin Guip, Amy Helm, Bryan Isaacs and Teresa Williams
06. "Listening to Levon," Marc Cohn with The Levon Helm Band and Greg Leisz
07. "Move Along Train," Mavis Staples with The Levon Helm Band
08. "Life is a Carnival," Allen Toussaint with The Levon Helm Bend and Jaimoe
09. "When I Paint My Masterpiece," John Prine and Garth Hudson with The Levon Helm Band and Joan Osborne
10. "Anna Lee," Bruce Hornsby with Larry Campbell, Amy Helm and Teresa Williams
11. "Ain't Got No Home," Jakob Dylan with The All Star Band and Rami Jaffee
12. "Whispering Pines," Lucinda Williams with The All Star Band and Rami Jaffee
13. "Rag Mama Rag,"John Hiatt with The All Star Band and Mike Gordon
14. "Don't Do It," David Bromberg and Joan Osborne with The All Star Band
15. "I Shall Be Released*," Grace Potter with Don Was and Matt Burr
16. "Tears of Rage," Ray LaMontagne and John Mayer with The All Star Band
17. "Rockin' Chair," Dierks Bentley with The All Star Band, Jessi Alexander and John Randall
18. "Chest Fever," Dierks Bentley and Garth Hudson with The All Star Band, Jessi Alexander and John Randall
19. "A Train Robbery," Eric Church with The All Star Band
20. "Get Up Jake," Eric Church with The All Star Band
21. "Tennessee Jed," John Mayer with The All Star Band and Steve Jordan
22. "Up on Cripple Creek," Joe Walsh and Robert Randolph with The All Star Band
23. "Ophelia," My Morning Jacket
24. "It Makes No Difference," My Morning Jacket
25. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Roger Waters, My Morning Jacket and G.E. Smith
26. "Wide River to Cross," Roger Waters and G.E. Smith with The All Star Band
Love for Levon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Time Life and Star Vista with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in
1.78:1. The bulk of this live concert video looks very nicely sharp and well detailed, with close-ups offering sometimes
excellent levels of fine detail (see the screenshot of Marc Cohn in profile for a fairly good example). What hobbles this
release at times is that old bugaboo of blue stage lighting. It's occasionally overly aggressive here, leading to a definite
diminution of fine detail, and leaving some of even midrange shots in a quasi-fuzzy territory. The concert is extremely well
filmed and edited, however, and best of all doesn't resort to the "quick cut" ethos that seems to inform far too many
live performance videos these days, meaning there's actually time to see the performers. Contrast and black levels
are solid and consistent throughout this high definition presentation.
One step forward, two (or more) steps back. Maybe Time Life hasn't gotten the memo yet about Blu-ray consumers
preferring (if not outright demanding) lossless audio, but rather bafflingly Love for
Levon comes with only lossy audio options, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0. (This is especially odd considering
the fact that some previous Time Life Blu-ray releases have had lossless audio.) This just seems like a kind of boneheaded
decision for a Blu-ray set that is all about the music. The 5.1 mix sounds fine within its lossy confines, but perhaps
surprisingly, I actually ended up liking the 2.0 mix more, as it offers a less diffuse rendering of the music and tends to focus
things in a much sharper way, with little if any "crowding" of the various elements. Fidelity is fine, if never overwhelmingly
brilliant, but even under the best of lossy circumstances, most fans are going to wonder why this set doesn't offer lossless
audio.
The second Blu-ray disc of this two disc set contains all of the bonus material (with the obvious exception of the two CDs):
Interviews (1080i; 1:41:00) includes segments with Allen Toussaint, Amy Helm, Byron Isaacs, David Bromberg,
Dierks Bentley, Don
Was, Eric Church, Grace Potter, Gregg Allman, Jaimoe (Johnny Johnson), Jakob Dylan, Jim James, Joan Osborne, Joe Walsh,
John Hiatt, John Prine,
Jorma Kaukonen, Keith Wortman, Larry Campbell, Lucinda Williams, Marc Cohn, Mavis Staples, Mike Gordon, and Ray
LaMontagne.
Rehearsal Footage includes:
Eric Church Rehearsing "Get Up Jake" (1080i; 3:32)
My Morning Jacket Rehearsing "It Makes No Difference" (1080i; 6:14)
In all but one way Love for Levon is a resounding success. Unfortunately that one way is fairly important: the
audio options here are lossy Dolby outings. If you can get past that dunderheaded decision (which will be a deal killer for
many), this set is simply a wonderful compendium of some amazing musicians performing some fantastic material. This
deluxe 2 BD/2CD set offers some really heart felt music and it's obvious from the first moment just how inspired this rather
eclectic cast is to be celebrating the life and legend of Levon Helm. The lossy audio issue is a major setback, and some may
simply refuse to buy this release due to it, but for those who are willing to overlook this admittedly head scratching
decision, Love for Levon comes Recommended.
Love For Levon: Other Editions
2-disc set $21.99
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