All this Time – Sting(Universal Music) Rs. 495/-

Directed by Jim Gable

For me this is Sting’s best live concert I have ever seen, totally laid back with a jazzy feel to it, great to chill out to on maybe a rainy day.This is a two-part DVD incorporated in a single disc, the first (lasting seventy minutes) is a documentary about the concert; the second (lasting seventy-five minutes, with ten minutes extra footage as a bonus) is the concert itself.

We pan to 2^nd September 2001 and we're at Sting's beautiful Tuscan villa in Italy where we see him greet the arrival of various musicians from around the world (England, France, the US, Algeria, Brazil, Argentina) who are there to play in the concert.

The first set gives an insight into how the concert was put together, how the musicians rehearse and interact musically. It is great to watch how each musician contributes their work to make this concert such a success. The location itself is an amazing and makes it the perfect ambience for the rehearsing and the concert itself. The DVD shows you the interiors of the majestic house, the rehearsals and the making of most of the tracks. The music is fabulous, and Sting is, as always, amazing, first class musician. His choice of the music and the musicians that play/sing with him are impeccable. The documentary also includes interviews with the musicians. Dominic Miller being one major musician who shares his insight on Sting’s music and his concert recording.

Sting talks about the stories behind some of the songs, about the nature of songwriting, how he creates "stories in miniature", how he will be in fifty in a month's time, and how his wife Trudy (who wasn’t present at the villa) knew nothing about the concert.

It is though sad that the whole concert set had to be changed due to the 9/11 tragedy. Sting mentions the day’s awful events and rightly says they had to change the focus of the day keeping the sobriety of the moment felt all over the world.

We see the team re-act to the events of 9/11, sitting around a table trying to figure out what to do. At one stage they all seemed to agree only to perform Fragile and nothing more for those lucky neighbors and friends present at the gig and for the supposed millions who would be watching on the internet from around the world.

From then on we see the team record a re-arrangement of the song Fragile, as well as the general rehearsals. We catch a glimpse of the dress rehearsal on 10^th September where songs such as Desert Rose never made the cut following the cataclysmic events of the next day. Though we do get a chance to see it in the bonus song collection.

So the second part of this DVD, the concert, opens somberly with Fragile ("blood will flow when flesh and steel are one"). There is a standing ovation, and the crowd is soon clapping along to the music. There is a tender rather than desperate rendition of Don't Stand So close To Me and a quietly acoustic Roxanne.

Many of the songs deploy Sting's favoured jazz inflections: piano, trumpet, trombone, double-bass, but there is also cello, steel-guitar, and assorted percussion. All are brilliant musicians. The songs flow from one to another with classics like All this Time, If you Love somebody set them free, Brand New Day, Fields of Gold, Shape of My Heart, If I ever lose my faith in you and the best of all Every Breath You Take in total reinvented arrangement of some of Sting's most celebrated songs.The concert reflected the mood of the pitiful day. Sting handled the situation admirably. I recommend the CD of the concert too.

Media Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen

Release date: 7 December 2001

Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira