Mario & Zelda Big Band Live

Artist: Original Game Soundtrack
Label: Sony/Columbia
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 4949168102965
ASIN: B0000QX2PE

Release Date: 2003-12-18

Mario & Zelda Big Band Live

Related Categories:

General

| Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Anime & Video Game Soundtracks

| Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Opening Theme Of Mario
Super Mario 64
Medley Of Super Mario Bros.
Mario Scat Version
Go Go Mario
Super Mario Bros.3 Ending Theme
Theme Of Athletic
Yoshi On The Beach
Legend Of Zelda
Theme Of Dragon Roost Island
Song Of Epona
Theme Of The Dolphic Town
Zora Band
Theme Of Goron City
Theme Of The Shop
Medley Of The Legend Of Zelda
Ending Theme Of Super Mario Sunshine
Encore (Slider)

Similar Items:

Zelda: The Music (Nintendo Sound History Series)
Mario the Music
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Rearranged Album
Zelda No Densetsu: Kaze No Tact

Album Description

MArio & Zelda Big Band Live CD - Live at Nihon Seinenkan Hall, September 14th, 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Another pro musician's opinion.......2007-01-16

I would certainly second Mr. Madsen's take on the music. This is obviously a group either happy amatuers or a band that is sight reading the music.

That said, I'm not sure that the quality of the performance was poor enough to bother me, but then again, maybe I have a different perspective. I tend to like albums with warts (*sometimes*) as long as they aren't intrusive. Listening this reminds me a little bit of something like Thelenious Monk's medium sized ensemble recordings, as he would often hand the musicians hastily penned arrangements. As a result, these performances often have some missed notes and other issues.

Of course, "The Band of Rogues" does not have the deep sense of swing that Monk's players did (which is always going to make up for other problems), but they do keep the groove tight enough that you aren't going to get too distracted. Of course, I suppose that depends on your tolerance for technical perfection.

The main element, however, to the big band's performance that wins me over is the enthusiasm and excitement in both the performances and audience. Everyone is having a good time, and I like that in a live album. An example: The Who's Live at Leeds is so good because it just sounds like everyone is enjoying themselves so darn much. So I like the "happiness" that is on this recording. As my wife put it, "it's cute!" (-:

The small group that plays the Yoshi's Island and Wind Waker material, however, is a different matter. They are very tight, and are clearly in a different class of musicianship than the big band players. Excellent stuff which makes this album worth the price (as long as you aren't paying the $40 "import" price that is! Yikes!).

Incidentally, on the first track: I heard somewhere that the opening number was actually Shigeru Miyamoto playing (which would certainly explain the good but not quite professional performance). I have not confirmed this.

Some good, some not so good..........2006-07-24

Shawn Watson is a tad misinformed. The opening solo rendition of the Super Mario Bros. theme is played on an electro-acoustic guitar and is very well arranged and played as far as I'm concerned. The big band isn't actually very good, but the tracks played by Yoshihiro Arita and his band are fantastic, but not worth this CD's ridiculous price. The highlights of this CD for me are: The Theme of Athletic from Yoshi's Island, The title theme and the Dragon Roost Island theme from Zelda: Wind Waker and the Delphino Plaza music from Super Mario Sunshine.

Overall, an average cd.......2005-10-15

First off, let me state that I have a Bachelor's and Master's degree in music. I have been a professional jazz saxophonist and pianist for about five years. I just got this cd, and I'm not very pleased with the product. The arrangements are pretty good, the band playing them is not. The trumpets miss quite a bit of notes and the saxophones have a tendency not to swing well. The scat arrangement of the Mario theme is very creative, but the singers keep going out of tune. My final verdict is that this is fun, interesting music done poorly.

[...] Not a great CD, but not the worst I've heard either. Hope this helps.

Not to be Underestimated.......2004-10-16

Mr. Watson's review of this album is his opinion, but I can assure you that his opinion is far from shared. First of all, gamers around the world recognize the Zelda franchise as having some of the best music to be found in games...probably second only to the Final Fantasy series and maybe a few others. That being said, many of these tunes have been arranged very well though the performances sound adolescent at times - a high school-aged group maybe? The various groups performing do have some issues with the technical aspects of the music at times (intonation), but I've noticed this to be common among Japanese ensembles and anyone who is reasonably familiar with music of this genre will no doubt be familiar with that as well. (There are just as many, if not more, really great moments...especially the solo work in the two WindWaker tracks, among others). Despite some performance flaws, this is a great album - not just because of the music but because of the energy and fun just oozing out of it. You can almost see these performers just having a blast playing some descent music that many people recognize and enjoy reminiscing to. Shawn Watson "God of Gods" (good lord!) is obviously too young to understand this. So what it boils down to is if you enjoy Nintendo music...and have since the mid 80's...and if you enjoy live performances, you'll enjoy this album. Without a doubt.

Very Cute CD.......2004-10-02

But very expensive and I'd only recommend picking it up cheap.

What you get is 18 tracks of Mario and Zelda tunes from Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, Legend of Zelda-Takt of Wind, Legend of Zelda-Ocarina of Time and Super Mario 64 played in concert on September 14th 2003 with a pretty over-enthusiastic Japanese audience (they clap and cheer at everything). Some of the tracks are great and some merely average. Only 7 of the 18 tracks are Zelda themes, which I am thankful for as the Mario franchise has always had better music.

All of your fave Mario themes are here and played out in various styles including country, jazz, big band, bluegrass, ragtime etc. The first track is of the main Mario theme and it's absolutely bloody awful and barely audible as it's played on a banjo very, very quietly.

Tracks 3, 4 and 5 are the best with some terrific energy and fun. The rest, usually the Zelda stuff, isn't so great. And why do we get a concert track of the Dolphic Town theme from Super Mario Sunshine? It was the most annoying music in the whole game!

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