1. Arrival At The Concertgebouw + Interview
2. Satisfaction
3. Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream
4. Soul Serenade
5. Groovin’
6. A Natural Woman
7. Come Back Baby
8. Dr. Feelgood
9. Since You’ve Been Gone (Sweet, Sweet Baby)
10. Good To Me As I Am To You
11. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
12. Chain of Fools
13. Respect
Aretha Franklin – Vocals, piano
Jerry Weaver – Guitar
Miller Brisker, Donald “Buck” Waldon – Tenor sax
David Squire – Baritone sax
Donald Townes – Conductor, trumpet
Russell Conway, Ron Jackson, “Little” John Wilson – Trumpet
Rene Pitts – Trombone
Gary Illingworth – Piano
Rodderick Hicks – Bass
George Davidson – Drums
Carolyn Franklin, Wyline Ivey, Charnessa Jones – Background vocals
Aretha Franklin is generally considered to be a soul singer, so why am I reviewing this DVD under “Jazz”? I chose to review this DVD because I remember
Aretha’s early recordings, when she was definitely a jazz singer. There was an LP entitled Yeah!!!, recorded in 1965 before she moved to the
Atlantic label and became a soul singer. It caught her at the piano accompanied by a small group and showing her jazz credentials. Although I admire most
of her later work, I rather wish she had remained more of a jazz vocalist, a role in which she was as supreme as in the soul arena.
So the best parts of this DVD for me are tracks 8 to 10, where she goes to the piano and accompanies herself with her characteristic mixture of gospel and
jazz. There’s a gospel feel in every note. In a segment of Dr Feelgood, she slides slowly upwards on one magical note, as though reaching to
heaven. Good To Me As I Am To You is a nice slow number which lets us enjoy her incandescent voice.
The rest of the concert is marred by its unruly environment. The audience seems to be totally undisciplined and even walks across the stage while Aretha is
singing. Many of the onlookers crowd the front of the stage, jostling against one another and clapping their hands as if they are hip. It is almost
complete chaos, yet Aretha manages to ignore it and get on with the performance. She is also interviewed in a crowded dressing-room at the start of the DVD
and seems shy as she deals with the usual fatuous questions.
Eventually the audience is persuaded to calm down and the atmosphere becomes more placid, although Aretha still receives a very noisy reception. A Natural Woman is a good example of the singer’s soulful vocals. Her voice is a remarkable instrument: always completely in tune and fed by the
passion of her gospel roots. I Never Loved A Man illustrates her ability to improvise: possibly a factor from her jazz leanings. My copy of the
DVD jumped after Chain Of Fools but it managed to put itself right for the remainder of the programme.
The DVD is filmed in black-and-white and lasts for only 42 minutes. The camerawork is sometimes shaky and moves too quickly from one shot to another. The
backing band is frequently raucous and the trumpets miss notes rather too often. These drawbacks fade into insignificance because of the power of Aretha’s
singing, which overcomes all obstacles.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Red Bullet J 43324
