Featured Release: Madeleine Peyroux: Somethin’ Grand
Rounder-11661-3282-9
Format: DVD

Musical Performance
Sound Quality
Picture Quality
Overall Enjoyment

When I heard Madeleine Peyroux’s first CD, Dreamland (1996), I wondered if the world needed another Billie Holiday. That now seems like an unfair assessment, given Peyroux’s own interpretive skills and her growing talents as a songwriter. In the documentary that accompanies Somethin’ Grand, Yves Beauvais, who signed Peyroux to her first recording contract, says the singer "seemed to be singing from another era, from another life." Peyroux’s music is, indeed, solidly based in tradition, combining a bit of ’70s singer/songwriter with the jazz phrasing of an earlier time, a combination that should in theory give her the kind of broad appeal that Norah Jones enjoys.

Somethin’ Grand features a performance by Peyroux and her band in Los Angeles in January 2009. Although the emphasis is on tunes from her latest release, Bare Bones, Peyroux also does a healthy selection of songs from her previous three CDs. Two compositions she co-wrote, "Our Lady of Pigalle" and "Love and Treachery," both from the recent disc, are lyrically and musically sophisticated, and Peyroux sings them in an engaging voice that’s enjoyable on its own terms, without referencing Holiday or any other singer. Her versions of songs she covers, such as Leonard Cohen’s "Dance Me to the End of Love," highlight her deep feeling for a lyric. Her exquisite readings of Serge Gainsbourg’s "La Javanaise" and Edith Piaf’s "La Vie en Rose" are reasons enough to watch the DVD.

Peyroux is a skillful acoustic guitarist, and the musicians who accompany her, including Larry Klein on bass, Dean Parks on guitar, and Jim Beard on keyboards, offer her beautifully subtle support. Director George Scott maintains the intimate feel of a club setting, shooting her up close while including shots of the other musicians at the right moments. The lighting, by Adam Biggs, is perfect for a small-club setting and enhances the warm atmosphere of the performance. The intelligent choices Scott and Biggs made in preparing this DVD underscore the understated beauty of her music.

For once, the bonuses on a music DVD are worth viewing. The documentary, also titled Somethin’ Grand tells the story of Peyroux’s career, beginning with her years as a teenager in Paris -- she moved there from the U.S. at age 13 -- and her experience as a street singer there. It goes on to look at the interesting career choices she’s made since then. Five bonus performances feature Peyroux accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, and she’s as compelling in that simple setting as she is with a band.

The sound for the main concert is in DTS 5.1 or Dolby Digital 2.0, and while I preferred the DTS mix, the instruments in two-channel had a bit more focus, especially during solos. The two-channel sound in the documentary is a bit muddy in spots, but not in a distracting way. I already liked Madeleine Peyroux when I watched Somethin’ Grand, but I came away from the DVD with even more admiration and affection for her.

. . . Joseph Taylor