The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and it recently celebrated its fortieth year of continuous production in 2006. The event is held in July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva. Since 1967, many of modern music's most celebrated entertainers have performed at the concert and a lot of those shows were filmed for posterity's sake. Now, Eagle Rock Entertainment in the USA has begun releasing may of these concerts in DVD and DVD combo video packages. These historic fims document complete performances and give the viewer a front row seat for a truly hard to get ticket. We recently received two concerts in the series - Suzannne Vega Live at Montreaux 2004 and James Brown Live at Montreaux 1981.

Suzanne Vega broke through with her eponymous debut album in 1985 in both Europe and America. The album featured the hits "Marlene On The Wall" and "Left Of Center". She hit even greater heights with her second album Solitude Standing, which contained the hits "Luka" and "Tom's Diner". In many ways, she opened the way for the rush of female singer-songwriters that followed in the late eighties and early nineties. She continues to have hit albums and to play to packed houses on both sides of the Atlantic.

This special DVD + CD collector's edition captures Suzanne Vega making her second appearance at the Montreux Festival in 2004. Accompanied by a full band (her first appearance was as a duo), she plays many of her most popular tracks including "99.9F", "Marlene On The Wall", "When Heroes Go Down", "Left Of Center", "Solitude Standing", "Blood Makes Noise", "Luka" and "Tom's Diner". There are also three bonus tracks (Small Blue Thing, Room Off The Street, Knight Moves) from her performance in 2000 included on the DVD.

DVD Tracklisting: 99.9F, Marlene On The Wall, Caramel, When Heroes Go Down, Gypsy, (I'll Never Be Your) Maggie May, Penitent, Solitaire, Left Of Center, The Queen And The Soldier, Behind Blue Eyes, Solitude Standing, Blood Makes Noise, In Liverpool, Luka, Tom's Diner, Calypso, Have You Met Miss Jones

CD Tracklisting: 99.9F, Marlene On The Wall, Caramel, Gypsy, (I'll Never Be Your) Maggie May, Penitent, Left Of Center, The Queen And The Soldier, Solitude Standing, Blood Makes Noise, Luka, Tom's Diner

"Soul Brother No.1", "The Godfather Of Soul", "Mr Dynamite" are all titles that have been applied to James Brown over the years. A hugely influential figure in black American music, he was a driving force in the development of soul music in the early sixties and funk in the early seventies. He has had more R&B hits in the US than any other artist, and has charted singles in countries around the world.

One of the defining elements of James Brown's career has always been his electrifying live show, and his performances at Montreux give ample evidence of this. This special DVD + CD collector's edition focuses on his choice as the best of them all from 1981. It's a string of hits from start to finish delivered with all the flamboyant style and showmanship for which he is rightly famous.

DVD Tracklisting: Payback, It's Too Funky In Here, Gonna Have A Funky Good Time, Try Me, Get On The Good Foot, It's A Man's Man's Man's World, Prisoner Of Love, I Got The Feelin', Hustle (Dead On It), Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, I Got You (I Feel Good), Please, Please, Please, Jam, Sex Machine

CD Tracklisting: Payback, It's Too Funky In Here, Try Me, Get On The Good Foot, It's A Man's Man's Man's World, I Got The Feelin', Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, I Got You (I Feel Good), Please, Please, Please, Sex Machine

Related Links: For more information on Montreux Jazz Festival and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links -- MontreuxJazz.com | EagleRockEnt.com | James Brown | Suzanne Vega

(Originally Published on September 12, 2006)