The Jazz Channel Presents Bobby Womack

This disc is another in the Jazz Channel Presents series and features singer, writer, guitarist and producer Bobby Womack.

Bobby Womack was born in 1944 in Cleveland Ohio and like many black performers of the 50's and 60's was exposed to music through gospel singing at the local church. He was one of the original members of the Valentinos and played guitar and sang with Sam Cooke until Cooke was killed in 1964. Womack moved on to session work which led to an association with Wilson Pickett who he wrote several successful songs for. During this period he also re-established himself as a solo performer recording hits like 'It's Gonna Rain', 'How I Miss You Baby' and 'More than I Can Stand'. Womack was very successful in the early 70's producing chart topping hits like 'That's The Way I Feel About Cha' and 'Women's Gotta Have It'. However, his work in the latter 70's wasn't as popular and he slid out the charts which resulted in the loss of his recording contracts with CBS and Arista.

The 1980's saw a return to form for Womack when he signed a record deal with a small label, Beverly Glen and recorded 'The Poet' which featured the hit 'If You Think You're Lonely Now'. He followed that album with 'The Poet II' that featured a number of duets with Patty LaBelle including the hit 'Love Has Finally Come At Last'. He continued to write and record with other artists such as Santana, Tod Rundgren, Percy Sledge and The Rolling Stones as well as producing for others.

On this disc we see a live performance filmed at the Black Entertainment Television Studio in Washington DC to an appreciative audience. Womack has that dynamic, sex machine style not dissimilar to James Brown that can really get you going and in some songs, the audience is on their feet clapping and singing along. At 55 years of age, Bobby is starting to show signs of slowing down with some songs working better than others. Still I'm glad I got to see this performance as he is one of the best R&B singer/songwriters ever.

"This is the kind've song that makes you want to make love to someone!"

The playlist for this particular performance is:

1. Nobody Wants You When You're Down	10. If You Think You're Lonely Know
2. Daylight	11. No Matter How High I Get
3. I Wish He Didn't Trust Me So Much	12. Facts Of Life
4. That's The Way I Feel About 'Cha	13. He'll Be There When The Sun Goes Down
5. Love Has Finally Come At Last	14. Across 110th Street
6. Women's Got To Have It	15. I'm Through Trying To Prove My Love To You
7. You're Welcome To Stop By	16. I Can Understand It
8. A Change Is Gonna To Come	17. Amen/This Little Light Of Mine
9. Looking For A Love To Call My Own

 

Recorded at the same venue as the recently reviewed Lou Rawls disc, this full-frame transfer is of identical quality. The close to middle distance shots show an acceptable amount of fine detail but with longer shots things are down right unclear. Along with the lack of detail comes some video noise and pixelization in the background. There is some very minor moiré effect on the microphone and minor aliasing is often seen on amps and some of the other instruments.

The colour saturation of this transfer is high with strong reds, blues and purples saturating the stage as well as the tables of the audience. There is a small amount of colour bleeding which contributes to the loss of detail in the image.

Overall this is an OK transfer that is just good enough to allow you to sit back and enjoy the performance.

There are DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks on this disc. Talk about spoilt for choice! I listened to the DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 offerings.

DTS

This transfer exhibits the same, somewhat quirky mix as the other Jazz Channel Presents disc that I've reviewed. As with the Lou Rawls disc, this audio track is excellent with a great live sound. I think high fidelity would apply to this track with individual instruments easy to distinguish even when they are not playing a solo. The vocals were always clear but Bobby speaks very quickly at times and on a couple of occasions I couldn't make out what he said. The soundstage is very open and involving with all instruments present in both main channels at all times. During solos that particular instrument is mixed higher in one channel so as to draw attention to it.

The rear channels are used to carry reverb or echo which adds to the live feel as well as drawing the sound away from the front speakers somewhat.

Dolby Digital 5.1

My DVD player reported this as a 5.1 mix although the centre channel level, like the DTS version, is too low to be considered active.

This track has the same sound design as the DTS version but has a slightly "closed" sound to it when compared to the other. However, the difference is very subtle and if you played this track in isolation, you would be perfectly happy.

There are two extras on this disc. There is a 1 page biography about Bobby Womack and a 9 odd minute interview spoken over performances from the concert.

The interview is an odd feature as a small window is shown on the bottom right hand side of the screen when Bobby is talking with the rest of the screen showing the concert footage. While he is talking, the concert sound is kept in the background.

One thing I did find interesting about this interview and the one with Lou Rawls is that both performers are not pleased with the direction of modern black music. Womack is a little more outspoken being openly critical of the use of the term R&B for the current crop of Rap/Dance music out there. I couldn't agree more. The stuff out there now has some rhythm, no blues and definitely no soul.

This is a good disc and while the concert is a little patchy, it is still fun to watch and listen to. The sound quality is excellent while the video quality is acceptable.