Dado Moroni – Live in Beverly Hills, Blu-ray (2011)
Performers: Dado Moroni, piano; Marco Panascia, bass; Peter Erskine, drums
Selections: Ghanian Village, Django, Where is Love, I Hear a Rhapsody, Einbahnstrasse, Vitti Na Crozza, Nose Off, Jamal, Set Closer Blues, Just an Old Song
Studio: Resonance Records RBD-4012
Video: 16:9 1080p HD color
Audio: PCM Stereo
Length: 76:52
Rating: *****
Jeff Krow reviewed this fine piano trio video last month, and I put it in the DualDisc section because the standard DVD version comes with a CD of the exact same program. That review has most everything you need to know about the video, so I’ll just link to it.
The Blu-ray passes on the bonus CD, but it benefits greatly from the improved definition and sonics of Blu-ray and only costs $3 more. Producer George Klabin decided not to go with the standard DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 option, probably because the session wasn’t recorded in surround to begin with. Instead the disc has a PCM stereo track of extraordinary fidelity; I didn’t notice if it was 48K or 96K rather than standard 44.1K, but the sound of Moroni’s Fazioli piano is gorgeously reproduced. Being Italian and having recorded his first album at age 17, he naturally favors this native instrument, which I think is the best-sounding grand piano heard on recordings today.
— John Sunier
