Average White Band - Live At Montreux (1977)
Performance
Production
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Average White Band - Live At Montreux (1977)
Performance
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What's stranger than a bunch of black guys playing heavy metal? How about a bunch of white guys from Scotland playing some of the funkiest R&B soul you have ever heard. Average White Band are those guys. Not only does their second album AWB, from 1974, debut one of the greatest band logos of all time, see above, but that album is one of the finest R&B masterpieces you can buy. They went on to release a few more nearly impressive albums throughout the 1970's until eventually sliding into creative mediocrity in the 80's and 90's. Live at Montreux features the Average White Band's first and only appearance at the famous Montreux Jazz Festival on July 10th, 1977, and shows them at their performing peak. The video quality looks every bit the 70's vintage that it is, but the audio has been brilliantly remastered for surround sound. Joining the six core members of Alan Gorrie (bass/vocals), Onnie McIntire (guitar/vocals), Hamish Stuart (guitar), Roger Ball (alto sax/keyboards), Molly Duncan (tenor sax) and Steve Ferrone (drums) onstage was Sammy Figueroa adding some muscular conga work to the mix. Ferrone, who ironically is black, had recently replaced the band's dazzling original drummer Robbie McIntosh, who died of a heroin overdose just before the recording of their third album Cut The Cake. After the standard introduction from the festival director Claude Nobs, the band boldly kicks things off with their most well know song, the instrumental funk masterpiece "Pick Up The Pieces". This led right into their muscular take on the Isley Brothers' classic "Work To Do" which they include on their seminal second album. The interplay between Ferrone and Figueroa on this song was a highlight of the show and cemented their status as two of the best percussionists in the business. After slowing things down a little with the haunting "A Love Of Your Own" from 1976's Soul Searching album, they delve right back into the AWB album with the Tower Of Power-influenced "Person To Person" followed by one of their finest non-instrumental songs "Got The Love". "Sweet And Sour", which sounded like an attempt to recapture the magic of "Pick Up The Pieces", was a brand new song that would later appear on their 1978 release Warmer Communications. After an outstanding run through of "Cut The Cake", where everyone gets to shine with a little solo spot, they close the show with their unique take on the Marvin Gaye classic "I Heard It Through The Grape Vine". Here they take you on a warm extended groove that overflows with improvisation, soul-drenched vocals, and compelling musicianship. The production quality was about as good as possible considering the quality of the dated source material. The video reminded me of watching a vintage Tonight Show performance. The band was decked out in their finest white, polyester, bell-bottomed suites, with the exception of McIntire who wore mostly black. The stage design looked like a low-rent discotheque and the light show was very dull, consisting almost entirely of fixed, white spotlights. The superb DTS surround audio track made me forget about most of the other flaws and I was able to get lost in the funk-fest before me. Three bonus tracks, "If I Ever Lose This Heaven", "I'm The One", and "T.L.C". are also included and they suffered an even worse fate as far as the video restoration went. They are mostly shown through a single camera that appears to be positioned near the sound board and captures the entire stage. Occasionally they would switch to a side-stage angle but the colors would usually be very washed out. This does add an extra 33 minutes worth of performance footage to the package which makes it easy enough to overlook these flaws. Everyone should have a little bit of funked-up, blue-eyed soul in their collection and this is certainly a great place to start. The Live At Montreux series has come through with another winner. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - October 2005 |
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Running Time: 97 Minutes (w/ bonus tracks) |
DVD Release Date - September 2005 |