Music DVD's

[David Houck]

Where is your favorite place to go to find a good list of what's available in music DVD's?

[lbpesq]

My favorite DVD seller, BY FAR, is www.deepdiscountdvd.com.  They not only have good prices, but there is no tax added, (at least to California) and they ship free if you can wait 5-10 days.  You can pay for quicker shipping.  I've used them for years with no problems.  A couple of times the DVD never showed up.  One call to the company and a replacement was sent out ASAP, no charge.  Two thumbs up!  They also have a site for CDs - www.deepdiscountcd.com
 
Bill, tgo

[David Houck]

Thanks Bill, I'll give 'em a look.

[kmh364]

Yes they are very good...I buy most of my stuff from them. Sometimes, though, you can get better deals elsewhere. While they will match or beat any DELIVERED to your door price, if you don't wanna bother going through the drill, try:
 
dvdpricesearch.com
 
it's a NFP site that compares everyone's prices (incl. S&H) to give you the best deal. They also have a companion website for DVD players:
 
dvdplayerpricesearch.com
 
Enjoy!
 
I've personally beaten deepdiscountdvd.com with amazon.com and overstock.com, as well as EBAY's buy it now vendors. I haven't had bad service yet.  
 
BTW, everyone ships faster than DDDVD.com...as far as the free shipping goes. Amazon is among the best.

[David Houck]

I noticed something today that is quite interesting and that I had never noticed before.  Perhaps some of you are aware of this, but it was news to me.
 
I was at Amazon.  I always have several things in the Saved Items--To Buy Later section of the Cart that I think would be nice to have but can't bring myself to part with the money.  Usually, when I go to the Cart, a message will be shown at the top of the page stating that the price of a particular title that I have in the Cart (which includes the Saved Items section) has been changed (not all of them, just one or two).  Today, I was preparing to make an order.  Had chosen one title, but wanted to choose another (to get the free shipping).  It took me a long time to settle on the second title; and I had the Cart open for a while.  During that period of time (maybe a couple of hours or so?) the price of one of the titles in the Cart changed at least six times (when I would leave and go back to the Cart or refresh the page).  It went back and forth between $16 and $18.  Another one went back and forth in a similar fashion maybe 4 times.  (These are the instances I know about by revisiting or refreshing the page; they probably changed even more.)  None of the other titles changed price at all.  This action of going back and forth in price over a short period time was surprising to me.  I have no idea why a title would change price in such a fashion so quickly.

[bob]

Were you buying new or used, 'direct' from Amazon (whatever that means) or from one of their associates?
 
I find it difficult to believe that Amazon would be trying that hard to optimize their margins, for a new item sold by them, though I can imagine more fluctuations based on the availability of used items or those with limited stock.
 
But then I try to very hard to avoid shopping when I'm not ready to spend the money, so I haven't watched this sort of thing :-)

[David Houck]

These items were indeed new 'direct' from Amazon.  I suppose it could be a glitch in their pricing software.  The title that changed six times in a couple hours is Branford Marsalis' A Love Supreme DVD.  It usually ships within 24 hours, so it's not a limited stock item.
 
If someone in the group recommends a CD, I'll go to Amazon and read the reviews and listen to some clips.  If I think it's something I might like to have, I'll add to the Saved Items--To Buy Later section of the Cart so I won't forget about it.  Subsequently, from time to time I'll go to the Cart to see what's there and may even reread the reviews on some of the titles there; but most of the time when I do this, I don't actually buy anything.  So I don't use the Cart for shopping as much as I use it as a handy place to store titles for future reference.

[bob]

Buy the Marsalis. Even for someone who thinks the original was one of the all time 10 best or most important jazz recordings ever (personally, I'd say top 5), this is a treat.
 
As it happens I bought mine from Amazon, and for about 17 bucks you get both a DVD of the concert, which is just gorgeously filmed with great sound, and a companion CD (same music, no video).
 
Plus, about a half hour interview of Branford talking to Alice Coltrane. Branford is not going to make a career as a talk show host, but the chance to hear Alice - not a bad performer in her own right - talk about John and his music is something you should not pass up.
 
I don't purchase DVDs as a rule. It's rare that I'll watch a movie more than once, and for music there just aren't that many that interest me. But this is an outstanding disc, visually, musically, and historically. If you are the least bit tempted, you won't be disappointed.
 
I'm still kicking myself for missing their performance here in SF a few months ago.
 
(We are still on topic here, sort of, right?)

[David Houck]

Yes, the topic is Music DVD's, so despite our attempts and inclinations, we are still on topic .  And yes, I did order A Love Supreme.  And yes, the original is amazing.
 
Generally, the only DVD's I purchase are music related; for unlike movies, I will continue to watch music DVD's just as I continue to listen to CD's.  Here is what I have and some thoughts on each:
 
- Round Midnight
 
This is actually a movie, but it's essentially about jazz.  It's a fictional story based on the lives of a couple of American jazz musicians.  The music is excellent and the people playing the parts of the musicians are themselves jazz musicians actually playing the music.  Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Billy Higgins, John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, etc.  I like it a lot.
 
- Thelonious Monk - Straight No Chaser
 
This is a documentary.  It follows Monk around in conversations, private moments, rehearsals, performances.  Pretty amazing stuff about an extraordinary musician.  I like this a lot too.
 
- Standing in the Shadows of Motown.
 
Documentary.  This is really good too.
 
- John Coltrane - Jazz Casual
 
Performance from the TV show.  This is great!
 
- Bela Fleck & The Flecktones - Live At The Quick
 
Live performance with many guest musicians.  This is amazing.  The music is beautiful.  The sound and video are great too.
 
- Chick Corea - A Very Special Concert
 
Live performance.  This is just great.  Stanley on upright; Lenny White on drums.  I love this stuff.
 
- Victor Wooten - Live At Bass Day 1998
 
This is great too!
 
- Marcus Miller - In Concert
 
I love this!!
 
- Jaco Pastorius - Modern Electric Bass
 
This is really good; especially the jam at the end.  It's really nice to be able to watch him play, especially in the jam.
 
- Joni Mitchell - Shadows And Light
 
This is a pretty amazing document.  This is from my favorite Joni Mitchell period.  The band here includes Pat Metheny and Jaco.  Another great opportunity to watch Jaco.
 
- Mark King - In Concert
 
I don't really care for this.  I guess the music is a little too pop for my taste.
 
- The Allman Brothers Band - Live At The Beacon Theatre
 
I love this.  And I really like watching Derek Trucks play!
 
- Steve Morse - Sects, Dregs & Rock 'n' Roll
 
I love Steve Morse.  This video has three parts: a live Dixie Dregs performance; some live solo, duet and trio stuff with Dave LaRue and T. Lavitz (and a tape); and live guitar solo from a Deep Purple concert.  The second section is real nice, especially the duos with LaRue (though I don't care for tape machines).  But the sound on the Dixie Dregs section is not good; which is too bad since the music is great.  (I keep hoping in the back of my mind that I just got a poor copy and there is actually a better sounding copy available; but I doubt it.)
 
- Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland
 
Wonderful!!
 
- Grateful Dead - The Grateful Dead Movie
 
Wonderful as well!!
 
- Gov't Mule - The Deepest End
 
Surprisingly, this didn't do much for me.  I probably need to give it another chance.  But I got the impression that it was too much guitar and that all the great guest bass players were just overshadowed.  Maybe I expected too much.
 
 
So that's what I have at the moment.  The Marsalis is on the way.  I'm thinking about some other things, especially some Coltrane and several Miles Davis concerts.

[lbpesq]

My favorite music DVDs are a couple from the Clasic Album series that originally aired on VH1, I believe.
 
Grateful Dead-Anthem to Beauty  
Like it says, the making of Anthem of the Sun and American Beauty.  Great interviews and insights, especially with Phil.
 
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=RDD030099
 
The Band - covering the making of the first album.  The Weight, Up on Cripple Creek, it's all there.
 
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=RDD030101
 
Another of my favorite music DVDs is Grateful Dawg, a documentary about Jerry and David Grisman put together by Grisman's daughter including a lot of home movie footage of Jerry and David hanging out and jamming in David's living room.
 
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=COL007168
 
And, of course, there is Festival Express  - well worth it for the Janis Joplin performances and the onboard train drunken party jams alone.  Great DVD!
 
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=WBD007573
 
My favorite concert DVD is probably The Last Waltz - The Band, Dylan, Clapton, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, 'nuff said.
 
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MGD003426
 
 
I also have VHS copied off the TV of the PBS series on the history of rock.  The segment on the San Francisco psychedelic era Blues in Technicolor is particularly fun to watch, though these days I usually don't want to watch VHS tapes.
 
I could probably keep going on, but there is some actual work to be done.
 
Bill, tgo

[dadabass2001]

Some DVDs I bought this spring are
 Weather Report: Young & Fine LIVE - excellent performance (the same lineup as 8:30, you can actually see Joe Z is playing his ARP 2600 wired right for left in the melody to Black Market) stereo sound, but there are no extras at all and the DVD is chapter marked into ten-minute segments (no song starts at the chapter starts except the first)
 
American Drummers Achievement Awards honoring Steve Gadd (a tribute event with interspersed wonderful performances and back stage/ rehearsal footage), as well as archival Gadd material. Jimmy Johnson, Tom Scott, James Taylor perform with Steve and/or Rick Marotta (a funny guy) and Vinnie Colaiuta  
 
and don't forget...
Fly Jefferson Airplane - practically every piece of film or video on the band (from the Smothers Brothers shows to promotional films circa After Bathing At Baxters) with lots of interviews.
Mike

[sfnic]

Dave -
 
My wife is an author and has several titles available on Amazon.  I check the sales rankings and the number of used copies available for her books daily to track trends and fluxuations in the market.  In doing this, I've made an interesting discovery:
 
Amazon uses multiple servers to balance the traffic load.  That's not terribly surprising, but it leads to an interesting propogation delay phenomenon when they update the individual server databases.  They generally update once every 60 minutes or so, just about at the top of the hour.  But they don't all update in sync, so to speak; there's a delay as each server's database is loaded and refreshed.
 
So I'll see a sales ranking for one of Deb's books at about 150,000.  Hit refresh on the browser and it's shifted to 150,478 or somesuch.  Hit refresh again, and the original 150,000 displays.  Back and forth, for up to about 10 minutes.  It's especially noticible around midnight or 1am, Pacific.  Near as I can tell, there are at least six and perhaps eight servers (or server clusters) in all.
 
Looks like your pricing ping-pong may have been one of those.
 
nic

[David Houck]

Thanks Nic!  That seems a reasonable explanation.

[David Houck]

Mike; I didn't know about the Weather Report.  Amazon doesn't have it, but I did find it on Audiophile Imports.  The price is a bit steep!  I really like Weather Report; but I may have to wait and see if the price comes down.

[David Houck]

There's a very enticing video clip on the Audiophile Imports site!