Paul Simon & Friends: Library of Congress Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Paul Simon & Friends: Library of Congress Blu-ray Movie Review

Time, Time, Time, See What's Become of Me

Reviewed by Michael Reuben March 23, 2012

For all the cynicism that's often attached to the awarding of prizes and honors, the selection of Paul Simon as the first recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song is hard to fault. Yes, other choices could have been made. Any of the subsequent honorees—Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David—would have been worthy of the initial slot. But one of the effects of watching this Blu-ray presentation of the awards festivities recorded at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. on May 23, 2007 (and broadcast on PBS the following month) is to be reminded of both the length and the durability of Simon's presence on the musical landscape. As sports announcer Bob Costas notes in introducing the evening, a list of Simon's hits is not only too long to fit into one evening, but it also spreads evenly over a career that has seen the singer-songwriter remain productive in each of five decades. And the songs have lost none of their power. Hearing them in this concert gala, whether sung by Simon or in covers by other artists, they get stuck in your head all over again.

One key to Simon's prolific output is his openness to diverse influences and his ability not just to imitate other styles but to reinterpret them with his own unique signature. That aspect of Simon's work is very much on display in Paul Simon and Friends, as an array of performers from different backgrounds (gospel, reggae, bluegrass) brings out undertones in Simon standards that we always knew, perhaps subconsciously, were there, but slipped in quietly under Simon's gentle vocals. Whether by accident or design, the program becomes a celebration of diversity by sheer juxtaposition of the performing styles on display.

Paul Simon and Friends was released on DVD in 2009 by Shout Factory, and on Blu-ray shortly thereafter by Summit Entertainment. No doubt due to the pressure of other releases, it wasn't reviewed at the time, but better late than never.

If you're old enough, you may remember a time when the singing group known as "Simon & Garfunkel" was known primarily as a folk duo prized for its delicate harmonies on songs like "The Sounds of Silence" and "Scarborough Fair". Whenever the pair tried anything non-folk, especially if it smacked of a rock beat, fans curled their lip and held their nose, much as Bob Dylan's fans had reacted a few years earlier when he switched from acoustic to electric guitars. The "folk" element in Simon's writing sounds loudly in this concert, but it gets a pronounced country twang in the fine rendition of "The Boxer" by Alison Krauss, Jerry Douglas and Shawn Colvin. (Krauss and Douglas return later for an equally fine rendition of "Graceland".)

Lyle Lovett's soulful rendering of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" also picks up the country strain and provides a bridge to another recurring element in Simon's work, which is gospel music. Lovett's performance is backed by the Jesse Dixon Singers, whose vocals reinforce the song's themes of regret and longing. The gospel element comes to the fore in "Gone at Last" as joyously performed by Yolanda Adams and Jesse Dixon, but not before Lovett has had a chance to provide a more secular version of Southern blues with a Dixieland rendition of "That Was Your Mother" with Buckwheat Zydeco. Completing the arc, Dianne Reeves brings her elegantly soulful delivery to "Something So Right" as if everyone has suddenly stepped into a dark, smokey after-hours jazz club.

Popular entertainers of all stripes can adapt to Simon's melodies and lyrics. James Taylor's fluid vocals pour easily into "Slip Slidin' Away" (with the Dixie Hummingbirds) and "Still Crazy After All These Years" (although I confess that I can never hear the latter without being reminded of Simon's own hilarious self-parody when he appeared on an early Saturday Night Live show to sing the song dressed as a giant turkey). Stephen Marley delivers an exceptional reggae version of "Mother and Child Reunion" that makes you wonder whether the song hasn't always been a reggae classic. (Well, hasn't it?) And after using his passionately Latin singing style to bring out the longing in "El Condor Pasa", Marc Anthony launches into a lively club version of "Late in the Evening" that could be a dance standard in any uptown night spot. Let's not forget the Muppets, either. When Grover and Elmo sing "The 59th Street Bridge Song", you suddenly realize that Simon was writing ideal Muppet songs a decade before there was a Muppet Show.

The influence on Simon of African musical forms is well-documented, and that too is represented here. A video clip from 1987 of Simon and Miriam Makeba performing "Under African Skies" in Zimbabwe precedes a stirring a capella performance of "Homeless" by the group known as Lady Black Mambazo. The group returns later to perform the lively "Diamonds on the Sole of her Shoes" with Simon, after the guest of honor emerges to applause and shouts of "thank you!" Compared to the vintage clips of Simon in Africa in 1987, performing with George Harrison in 1976 and at Yankee Stadium in 1999, Simon looks older but essentially unchanged. His voice has the same gently melodic quality that made even his angrier lyrics go down smoothly. But there's no anger in evidence for this occasion, as Simon reunites with his old partner, Garfunkel, and joins Stevie Wonder and the Dixie Hummingbirds for a career-spanning selection. In many of his early lyrics, Simon seemed to doubt his gifts ("I was so hard to please", says the poet-speaker in "Hazy Shade of Winter"). Clearly that's no longer an option.

The complete performance and artist list follows:

1. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (Lyle Lovett)
2. The Boxer (Alison Krauss, Shawn Colvin and Jerry Douglas)
3. Mother and Child Reunion (Stephen Marley)
4. Video clip from 1987: Under African Skies (Miriam Makeba and Paul Simon in Zimbabwe)
5. Homeless (Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
6. Video clip from 1999: Mrs. Robinson (Paul Simon at Yankee Stadium)
7. Slip Slidin' Away (James Taylor and The Dixie Hummingbirds)
8. Poetry recitation: Sunday Morning With The Sensational Nightingales (Billy Collins and The Dixie Hummingbirds)
9. That Was Your Mother (Buckwheat Zydeco and Lyle Lovett)
10. Video clip from 1976: Homeward Bound (Paul Simon and George Harrison on Saturday Night Live)
11. Still Crazy After All These Years (James Taylor)
12. El Condor Pasa (Marc Anthony)
13. Late In The EvenIng (Marc Anthony)
14. Gone At Last (Yolanda Adams and Jessy Dixon)
15. Something So Right (Dianne Reeves)
16. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (The Muppets, Grover and Elmo)
17. Graceland (Alison Krauss and Jerry Douglas)
18. Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes (Paul Simon and Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
19. Bridge Over Troubled Water (Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel)
20. Father and Daughter (Paul Simon)
21. Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard (Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder)
22. Loves Me Like A Rock (Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder with The Dixie Hummingbirds)
23. Sounds of Silence (Philip Glass)

Paul Simon & Friends: Library of Congress Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My frame of reference for evaluating concert Blu-rays is the high standard set by the Soundstage series published by Image Entertainment. Judged by that standard, Summit's 1080i, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is good but not great. Having been sourced from a hi-definition capture, the image is certainly clean and noiseless, with good black levels and strong colors (though the formality of the evening has caused the costumes to be somewhat toned down). However, the image, while decently detailed, is somewhat less sharp than what I am accustomed to seeing in concert Blu-rays. The difference is sufficiently minute that, if I were not spoiled by having reviewed so many Soundstage concerts, I might not even notice. I am convinced, however, that the quality of the initial image capture makes a difference, and a big advantage of the Soundstage series is that the technical crew has the benefit of repeatedly photographing performing artists, usually in the same venue; as a result, they understand the proper lighting, they choose the best angles, and they know how to get the sharpest images. Let a crew capture a few more galas in the Warner Theatre, and I'm willing to bet that this already good image would be even better. If the option had been available, I would have knocked only a quarter point off the video score, but since it isn't, I've dropped it by half a point.

In any case, interlacing artifacts were not an issue while the image was being played back. (Screencaps are a different issue.) I did not encounter any compression artifacts.

Paul Simon & Friends: Library of Congress Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The sole audio option is Dolby TrueHD 5.1. While one user review has complained of a "muddy" soundscape, that was not my experience. Like all the best live concert mixes, Paul Simon and Friends spreads the singers and instruments across the front soundstage, while using the surrounds for the sounds of audience reaction and to help expand the listening space for an added sense of dimensionality. The 5.1 mix on Paul Simon and Friends makes effective use of this three-dimensional listening environment in reproducing, e.g., the a capella version of "Homeless" by Lady Black Mambazo, in which the group's basses and baritones resonate thrillingly through the room as only human voices can do. I found it relatively easy to pick out individual instruments in the various ensembles that rotate through the evening's performances, but it no doubt helps that I'm using a Denon receiver (4310CI) calibrated with the Audyssey setup, which I've found greatly improves clarity and separation.

Paul Simon & Friends: Library of Congress Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Digital Booklet: The sole supplement is a "booklet", which reproduces what appears to be the evening's program notes. The printed text contains substantial information on the Library of Congress, George and Ira Gershwin, the Gershwin Award, Simon and each of the evening's performers. However, the format in which it is provided leaves something to be desired. In printed form, one could leaf to the appropriate page. Here, the entire document is provided in a single display that slowly scrawls from bottom to top of the screen for 20 minutes. The only way to find a specific portion is to fast forward or rewind. It's an impractical arrangement, especially when DVDs have been displaying text as individual pages for many years now.

Paul Simon & Friends: Library of Congress Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paul Simon is an original, and this concert is one-of-a-kind. The negative comments that I have seen about it are from people who labored under the misimpression that the concert would primarily or mostly feature Simon himself, which, with all due respect, is the fault of the purchaser's lack of homework, not the disc. Besides, the artists on the disc are first-rate (and yes, that includes Philip Glass and his piano variation on "Sounds of Silence", which is classic Glass, love him or hate him; I liked it). My issues with the disc's image are minor and not enough to prevent a recommendation. Anyone who loves Simon's music, and isn't unalterably attached to his renditions of the songs, should want this Blu-ray.