Is Jazz At Lincoln Center tiptoeing to territory pioneered by its neighbor, the Metropolitian Opera? It looks a bit that way.
This week, you may be able to go to the movies to see a performance by Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis and Norah Jones doing the music of Ray Charles (right). It won’t be live (not by a long shot — see below), like the Met’s simulcasts, but it will be in high-definition.
This is a “first” the JALC press office told me. The 90-minute concert, which includes “Unchain My Heart,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “Busted,” “Makin’ Whoopee” and 11 other Charles hits, was recorded last February (!!!) and was sold out. But the time lapse appears to have made possible a multi-format release.
A Canadian company called Digiscreen is offering the show, in surround sound, plus rehearsal footage and interviews (here’s a link to the Oct. 15 offering, including a video). It’s available Oct. 15 through Oct. 21 in the U.S., in many places, including Butte, Mo., Allentown, Pa., Chicago, El Paso, and Las Vegas.
On Oct. 18, you can see the program on HDNet or listen to it on Sirius satellite radio, and on Oct. 20, you can buy the DVD. Next spring, Blue Note will release a live album of the concert. JALC seems to have thought of everything.
But back to the cinema: I’m not sure there’s enough going on at a concert to engage movie audiences: for one thing, Met director Peter Gelb has always insisted that it’s the live part of the Met simulcasts that appeals to audiences.
Still, this is worth a try. I’m not sure if this is a test, the start of a new full-court-press audience development program, or a one-off occasion, and those questions, sent to the JALC press office, were not answered.
So we’ll have to wait and see whether the costs — there had to be some — are worth the results.
Photo: Courtesy Jazz At Lincoln Center