“The Rhythmic Construction of World Music” – Featuring Steve Thornton |
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This DVD is introduced by Martin Cohen, founder of Latin Percussion Inc. purveyors of quality percussion instruments, and seems to me to be not much more than a clever way of promoting his company and the instruments they produce. The idea seems to be to enlist a world-class percussionist and a couple of his mates (i.e. Steve Thornton, Little Johnny Rivero and Luisito Quintero) and then get them to play a few tunes using only Latin Percussion instruments. The knockout punch is that they then get you to actually pay for this “talking product catalogue” – list price $19.95 no less. This is a region 1 DVD so if your DVD player cannot play region 1 (USA) DVDs then you have a perfect excuse for not shelling out. (Actually most DVD players can be made “multi-region” if you know how. I can’t tell you how to do that here but the Internet, as always, is a great source of information!). |
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| The production work on the DVD is also not great. The filming of the playing sections are fine, but during the intro sections before each tune where Martin Cohen talks to Steve Thornton the camera work is very unsteady and jerky in places and is quite uncomfortable to watch as a result. These sections also feature so many dodgy edits that at times it reminded me of the Harry Enfield “Chumley Warner” sketches and as such were perhaps the most enjoyable sections for me. I jest – I did enjoy the playing on show but the tunes do verge towards the blander side of the musical spectrum.
Most DVDs contain “Special Features” and I wonder if sometimes this practice isn’t a bit cynical. For instance one of the “special features” on this DVD is a “Chapter Selection” which I would have thought is a basic requirement for any DVD. You also get biography pages for the musicians but I don’t know many people who actually enjoy reading text off a TV screen. This DVD is called “The Rhythmic Construction of World Music” but really only gives the briefest explanation of how to construct the rhythms involved. I suggest it would be more accurately titled “Latin Percussion Inc. Instruments showcased by Steve Thornton” and be given away free as a company promotional item. I certainly wouldn’t buy it. Price: Web links: |
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Steve
Thornton is undoubtedly a very fine player who has worked with Herbie
Hancock, Miles Davis and Michael Jackson among others and his playing
on this DVD is of the highest calibre. We are treated to tunes which
incorporate rhythms from Cuba, Africa, Brazil and Malaysia and which
feature a whole range of percussion instruments including congas, timbales,
cuica, various shakers, djembe, talking drum, cajon and many others
too numerous to mention. This is no tuition DVD though so don’t
expect to be shown how to play any of the instruments, your part is
simply to marvel at the talent on show, then go buy some LP kit and
have a go yourself.