Whirlwind Media, Inc., a DVD only company,
asked me to review their soon to be released compilation DVD titled;

"Merl Saunders - Blues From The Rainforest"

Note: I'm a deadhead, I'm not a professional reviewer,
I'm not compensatated in any way for this review, outside of the DVD itself.
I've purposely made this page "plain vanilla" - Any colors used are for links only.

The Review Of "Merl Saunders - Blues From The Rainforest"

It should be noted at the start that this is a compilation of pre-existing works,
nothing new here.  All of the works contained on this DVD directly relate to the
rainforest.  With that said, know that this is now a valued part of my personal
DVD library - That I access more often than I thought I would.

It is very well done, and filled with, not only very professionally recorded, very high
quality music, but also, just as well done, video segments, including the 24 minute video
documentary of Merl Saunders and the Rainforest band's trip "Rediscovering The Amazon,"
along with a 25 minute "San Francisco After Dark" video, which includes the entire music video
"Blues From The Rainforest" with Jerry Garcia, which has only aired once before publicly,
and live concert footage from 10/24/90 at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.

The DVD also includes the usual "Interactive Program" that most DVD's have today,
except that this one really does take your web browser to related sites, not just hype-sites.

In the audio only segment, as a song plays, they give the full listing of the artists, and the
instruments used by each, a nice extra.  This particular segment's sound quality is at a level
normally not found on DVD's.  I'm lucky in that I do have a system that can play this quality.
I've never heard better audio reproduction on a DVD, (I've heard as good, but not better.)

The Set List: Video Segment      The Set List: Audio Only Segment
1. Introduction
2. Expressway To Your Heart 6:06
3. High Heel Sneakers 6:10      1. Blues From The Rainforest 15:26
4. Boogie On Reggae Woman 6:55      2. Sunrise Over Haleakala 7:22
5. Afro Pearl Blue 9:13      3. Blue Hill Ocean Dance 13:04
6. Finder's Keepers 7:50      4. Afro Pearl Blue 13:38
7. Dance Of The Fireflies 8:25      5. Dance Of The Fireflies 5:22
8. Save Mother Earth 7:40      6. Sri Lanka 9:15
9 Merl's Tune 9:32

Merl Saunders dedication to this project, as shown in his statements on this DVD, is magical.
Each of the individual segments are of an impressive professional quality.
The dedication to the music through out the DVD stands out.
For me - The music video with Jerry is a priceless jewel by itself.
A wonderful, and Grateful, compilation.  I highly recommend it.