Traffic - The Last Great Traffic Jam (with Bonus CD)

Where to start? As a long-time Steve Winwood fan, I've grabbed everything I could get by Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith, solo material and side projects. Among these include several live concerts, such as Traffic Live in Santa Monica (released on laserdisc), a live 1987 concert for the German RockPalast, and the Austin City Limits performance for PBS. I've also seen Traffic twice, in 1973 and in 1994 (from which tour this was filmed).The 1994 concert tour, promoting `Far from Home', was one of the best concerts I'd ever seen, and I've seen many. I was hoping the energy and musicianship I saw then had been captured for this DVD, and I'm happy to confirm it was.Before commenting on the music itself, it should be noted that this is more than just a concert DVD. Woven into the film is footage of the band as they traveled the U.S., just being normal people (well, famous rock star normal), with such images as Winwood shining his shoes, or Bramlett and Winwood playing air guitar to the drone of a livestock auction show on TV. It's clear that the band enjoyed good rapport and had fun doing the tour.With Winwood and Capaldi of the original band (more on that later), joined by Roscoe Gee (from `When the Eagle Flies'), Randall Bramlett, Mike McEvoy and long-time Winwood collaborator Walfredo Reyes, Jr. (who played on the live RockPalast, the Austin City Limits show and the About Time CD), these guys cook!Concentrating their set on mainly Winwood/Capaldi compositions, they kick off in fine form with `Pearly Queen' and `Medicated Goo', giving freshness to these classic tunes with tastefully extended jams, Winwood blazing on guitar. ` Mozambique', from Far From Home, offers a glimpse as to the direction Winwood would take on About Time. An instrumental, it has a world-music type feel with fiery guitar work. The classic song `40,000 Headmen' has Winwood switching to organ, and the band pure perfection. Bramlett's flute work was true to the original, but was not merely derivative. Exquisite!Another favorite, the instrumental `Glad', moves Winwood to piano for a rousing version, with an extended piano solo. The band offers a letter-perfect take on `Walking in the Wind' from the 1974 release `When the Eagle Flies), a song rarely done live.The crowd was enthralled to silence as the opening chords to `Low Spark' began. I've heard this song countless times over the years, but this is the definitive version. It has never sounded better! With energy to spare, they kick into `Light Up' (they use abbreviated names instead of the full song title), with the late Jim Capaldi on lead vocals. To be honest, this is one Traffic song that I never really cared for, usually skipping it when I played `Low Spark'. While it's the same song, what a difference this performance makes! Capaldi's exuberant stage persona created an almost intimate atmosphere in the large auditorium, and the song segues into a long, rhythmic boogie jam with each band member giving a brief solo, followed by a mind-numbing Winwood guitar solo. No guitar player has anything on this guy! Amazing.The version of `Dear Mr. Fantasy' found here is notable for two reasons. First, it was captured at an outdoor daytime concert in California; the other footage was from night performances in concert halls. Secondly, it had Jerry Garcia playing guitar with the band. Now, Deadheads will probably like that, but for me, it was no great shakes. Garcia looked really bad physically (as another reviewer noted), and frankly, I didn't think he added anything. His countrified slide noodlings didn't really fit the song, and when Winwood played his guitar solo, he virtually blew poor Jerry out of the water.Closing the disc are two crowd-pleasers. First, the lovely `John Barleycorn', with only Winwood on acoustic guitar, Bramlett on flute and Capaldi on tambourine, presenting yet another textbook offering of superb musical craftsmanship. The final song, which must end every concert Winwood performs, was the obligatory `Gimme Some Lovin'. This version was reminiscent of the performance captured on `Welcome to the Canteen', with an extended, polyrhythmic arrangement, with lots of percussion.To those that think Dave Mason's absence was a big loss, I disagree. Although he was an original member, his song contributions were weak, apart from the classic `Feelin' Alright'. And, while he was a gifted guitarist, he wasn't particularly distinquished. Moreover, he wouldn't collaborate with the other band members on songs, which was a source of tension throughout their relationship. It's no musical loss that he's absent.While this release was under the Traffic name, it really is more of a Steve Winwood/Traffic hybrid performance. Winwood is much more energized and in command here than in any other live performance mentioned earlier. He has great musicians who work flawlessly together, and this DVD captures that dynamic perfectly.I paid less than $14.00 for this, and it included an excellent bonus CD with acoustic versions of '40,000 Headmen', `John Barleycorn' and `Low Spark'. I cannot recommend `The Last Great Traffic Jam' highly enough. It's a joy to have.

Thought the DVD was very entertaining when it shows the artists on stage, doing their thing or off-stage clips of the players. Steve is so very talented and gifted. Jim is a hoot in most of the clips. I laughed out loud at times while he was playing and goofing around. You can almost feel him sweat while performing. And during performances on stage and off-stage antics and interview clips, you can tell these guys like what they do and have a good time. I thought Garcia looked old and out of place there. He did not seem to contribute that much; Steve steals the show!! The editing at times is distracting and annoying. It feels like someone wants you to feel like you are on some really mind-altering psychedelic drug and you are seeing halluicinations or LSD like highs. Let the musicians and their performances on stage, along with short-clips of dicussions or videos off stage do the work alone.

Here is a GREAT DVD from one of the most important groups of Rock history. For those who know & love TRAFFIC, this DVD is a must. Great performance from Winwood and Capaldi with new guys after their comeback in 1994.For those who doesn't know Traffic before, this DVD will create them a big chance to discover such a legandary Rock wizards...Also the quality of DVD vs price is amazing.Demir Pekel, Izmir - Turkey.

I'm sure there's a fine concert in here somewhere, it's just hard to find. This is like "Traffic Meets MTV." It ain't pretty. It's pretty much a video editor's wet dream.....the music itself is secondary at best. All the technology in the world is out there for the using these days, but does that mean they HAD to use it? How about a well-shot record of a fine concert....with the extraneous crap saved for the bits between song perfs (if even then)? I'm a big fan of Traffic and have been so for over 40 years, and my recommendation to you if you are considering this purchase would be to stick with the CD version - if there is one - and forget this monument to someone's ego. The music itself is fine, as I'm sure the live performance was....if only we could see it!Later edit: 11/4/2011...The "bonus CD" is unusable on my machine, and some tracks on the label aren't even viewable. My offer to you: I will gladly send mine to you FOR FREE, you pay the postage. No kidding.

Yeah, it wasn't designed to just be a Live Concert....and there are some flashbacks and such...but the Bottom Line is this: If you are a fan of Traffic, you are missing the boat BIGTIME if you don't have this DVD...Because the music is what it's all about...AND THIS ONE RULES...

I bought this for a present so I have no idea whether it is a good DVD or not. As long as he likes it...all is good with me. The shipping and packaging were good and came as promised...what more can you ask for?

One of the best "Tour" films I've ever seen. Great insight into the creativity and camaraderie of the band and crew.

Für Fans von Traffic und Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi ein Muss. Die Tonqualität ist sehr gut, die Bildqualität unter Berücksichtigung, dass das Aufnahmen von 1995 sind, wenn ich es richtig verstanden habe, sehr akzeptabel. Es sind viele optische Effekte eingearbeit. auch zeitbezogen. Der Eine oder Andere wird nicht mögen, dass viele Aufnahmen von der Fahrt durch die USA eingearbeitet sind. Ich persönlich fand das gut, erinnerte mich an meine Reisen in den USA.Die DVD wird aus den USA verschickt. Bei mir war sie innerhalb einer Woche.Bei lief die DVD unter Win 7 und im Recorder, nicht aber unter XP. eine passenden Decoder muss ich da noch installieren.

My husband is a Traffic fan and he loved this DVD.