Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 29, 2018

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of bad news in the world, and anyone who pays attention to any of it may well be decidedly depressed. While it may not be the sole or even main reason to watch Sing for the Day!, a pairing of Tommy Shaw of Styx fame with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra, a Cleveland, Ohio consortium led by Liza Grossman which is (according to some press materials) the only youth orchestra in the United States devoting to performing contemporary orchestral scores, there is genuine joy to be seen, heard and (for some, anyway) felt watching these talented teens accompany Shaw. That joy may frankly not be enough to completely distract from the day’s headlines, but for me personally, anyway, it was a good beginning. It’s actually both funny and sweet for anyone who has gone to a “real” symphony performance to see these kids, dressed mostly in jeans and t-shirts instead of tuxes and gowns, give it their all as they make their way through a retinue of Shaw tunes. Fans of Shaw and/or Styx may recall that Styx itself had a previous collaboration with the Contemporary Youth Orchestra which was released on Blu-ray as Styx: One With Everything. While brief introductory comments seem to suggest that there wasn't a ton of rehearsal with Shaw and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra before the actual concert, there's a certain level of familiarity (despite the fact that of course the earlier concert would have featured different players), and palpable energy between the soloists (not just Shaw, mind you, there are some fantastic student musicians who have their moments in the sun as well) is evident from the get go.

According to some online data, the Contemporary Youth Orchestra was founded in 1995 and has since performed over 1000 world premieres, often with the composers present. The kids seem genuinely excited to be involved in a project like this (something you rarely witness in “professional” symphony orchestras, at least in my experience), and there’s a real feeling of ebullience that is evident on their faces as well as their playing (and singing, since there's a rather large choral assembly up in the balcony for some reason). Some of them are expectedly a bit goofy when they realize the camera may be on them (I’m pointing to you, percussion section), but the playing is by and large excellent. (As with many “learner” ensembles, there are occasional but rather minor intonation issues, mostly brass related.)

Aside from the opening couple of minutes, there are also some other arguably needless interstitials with Shaw, Grossman and collaborator Will Evankovich, but the highlight is really the tunes, all nicely orchestrated and sometimes playing rather substantially with the original versions.

Tommy, Will, Liza and the kids play the following tunes during this concert:

• 1. Overture
• 2. Girls With Guns
• 3. Too Much Time on My Hands
• 4. Fooling Yourself
• 5. Diamond
• 6. Crystal Ball
• 7. Boat on the River
• 8. Sing for the Day
• 9. Renegade
• 10. Man in the Wilderness
• 11. Come Again
• 12. High Enough
• 13. Blue Collar Man

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. While there's nothing seriously wrong with this presentation, there are a few niggling issues that videophiles may find slightly distracting. There are quite a few combing artifacts, especially because so many shots tend to show so many hands and instrument parts moving so quickly (it was actually hard to get screenshots without combing artifacts). Also, there are some kind of odd moments with elements like bows for strings where things almost look upscaled, with hints of aliasing or stair stepping intruding (some of these minor afflictions can be seen in some of the screenshots accompanying the review). Finally, there are some "arty" moments where contrast is pushed and highlights are boosted, leading to a kind of hazy effulgence which tends to eradicate some detail levels (see screenshot 6 for one example of this approach). All of this said, the bulk of this presentation is certainly more than acceptable, with nice detail levels and a warm and natural looking palette. Coverage is generally excellent, though there are a few little technical bumbles where what I assume were boom microphones or cables, as well as other cameras, can be spotted in frame at various times.

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks, and to my ears, there's simply no comparison between the two: the surround track is the all around winner in terms of amplitude, energy and reproduction across all frequencies. The stereo track doesn't have any real issues, it just sounds really anemic when compared directly to the surround track. The surround track offers smart and accurate directionality in terms of wide imaging of the orchestral forces, and Shaw's guitar and vocals are always well placed and easy to hear. Fidelity is fine throughout, and there are no problems with distortion, dropouts or other damage.

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Bonus Tracks (1080i; 14:59) is more accurately listed as Bonus Audio on the back cover, since this is in essence an audio supplement playing under stills taken during the concert. Interestingly, whoever authored the disc left two audio options on the supplements, though both of them are now LPCM 2.0. The songs included are:
  
  
  • The Night Goes On
  • Down the Highway
  • I'll Be Coming Home
  • The Great Divide

Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As many regular readers of my music related reviews know, I make part of my living with music and so I am perhaps more likely to find a concert like this "heartwarming", especially since I had my own tenure in youth orchestras growing up. But my sense is anyone with a kid learning an instrument or anyone with a fondness for Shaw and/or Styx will find this a most satisfying viewing experience even if there are some slight performance issues with the kids at times. Technical merits are very good (video) to excellent (audio), and Tommy Shaw and Contemporary Youth Orchestra: Sing for the Day! comes Recommended.