Suzanne Vega

This combination CD/DVD package, Suzanne Vega's first official live release, is logical from a marketing standpoint since after watching the DVD, you can play the CD in more portable devices. What makes less sense is the relative brevity of the CD, which clocks in at a conservative 46 minutes, when the DVD is over twice that, not including 15 minutes of extras. Why not fill up the CD's 80-minute playing time with more music? The audio version wisely eliminates much of the between-song patter, concentrating solely on the music -- and what is here is excellent. Since Vega's most recent album predating this show was 2001's Songs in Red and Gray, there is no new material on Live at Montreaux 2004, and only two songs in the middle of the concert are drawn from that release. So this also serves as a sort of greatest-hits live set, and as such, plays to Vega's strengths. She is an understated yet compelling singer/songwriter whose band, especially longtime bassist Michael Visceglia, adds flexible jazzy overtones to Vega's stirring folk-pop. This version of "Left of Center" with just vocals and bass is the perfect example as Visceglia skirts around the melody, underpinning and propelling Vega's voice. Electric guitarist Billy Masters generally gets lost in the mix, though, and some of these tunes, especially the more propulsive "Blood Makes Noise," his most potent contribution, might have benefited from a more aggressive attack. The versions stick closely to the studio arrangements, although there is a looser feel to these live performances as Vega and her band lock together yet leave plenty of breathing room. The enthusiastic audience interaction on the closing "Tom's Diner" brings the fans into the show, even if the song's varying tempos make it difficult for those in attendance to clap in time. Despite the short playing time, this is a well-recorded and performed performance, and a terrific addition to Vega's catalog. ~ Hal Horowitz, All Music Guide