4/5 Keiko Matsui in a small venue
  by R. Pegg (Ontario, Canada)
This provides an excellent opportunity to witness the amazing talents of this gifted lady; however, some of her arranging talents are lost in the smaller setting / group.

Still, an excellent performance.The Jazz Channel Presents Keiko Matsui (BET on Jazz)

5/5 Kieko is excellant
  by J. Gibbons (new york)
Excellant performance and good sound quality.Highly recommend purchasing this dvd if your a fan of Keieko's.

4/5 The Jazz Channel Presents Keiko Matsui
  by Paul K. Ma (Boston, MA)
Keiko Matsui is one of my favorites Jazz/New Age musicians. Saw her live in Boston Summer Concerts a few years ago. Have most of her CDs. This is my first DVD of hers. Don't expect too much of stage performance but music!

4/5 Excellent jazz show by a talented, gracious performer
  by J. Lizzi (Costa Mesa, CA)
Keiko Matsui brings to the stage of BET Jazz a solid performance of some of her more well-known songs (as of 2000), complemented by a good supporting band and the virtuoso bamboo flute playing of her husband, Kazu. Typical of most of Keiko's music, many of the numbers introduce a musical motif, move on to an improvisational middle section, then end with a more glorious layering of instrumentation. Any follower of smooth jazz will recognize her formula, and it plays well for this show.

I would describe most of the numbers as uplifting; however, some diversity is added with the heartfelt "Forever, Forever," written for Keiko's daughter, the ethereal compositions featuring Kazu's flute ("shakuhachi" in Japanese), and the jazzed up tempo to some of the hits. "Bridge Over the Stars" was noteworthy with it's altered (from the original studio version) tempo and much cooler ending. "White Gate" was really up-tempo with bass and drums alternating flourishes. Keiko works well with the other band members and trades off some hip riffs with sax-man Greg Reilly on a song or two. Personally, I'm not convinced that the shakuhachi works all that well as a jazz instrument, but I can't criticize the inventiveness in employing a traditional Japanese flute along with contemporary jazz instrumentation. Jazz aside, the last song is a BLUES number, trading off between featured soloists, including Kazu ("Wanna check it out?") with his breathy flute intro.

Overall, the camera work, editing and the sound quality are all very good. No major negatives with this disc, although the run time of 84 minutes left me wanting a bit more, and the DVD extras aren't that captivating (11-minute interview with Keiko and a 30-second TV spot). Still, this is a performance that any jazz fan can enjoy.

4/5 Almost Great
  by uthaman (Milford, MI United States)
Well, like other BET productions, this one has very nice video and DTS audio. Video still suffers from occasional shots of a completely dark crowd. Audio gripes include lame sounding saxaphone (D. Matthews Band - Live from Central Park is reference standard)

My main disappointment is that Keiko doesn't play the REAL PIANO on more tracks. I think about 5 tracks have real piano. It is very well recorded and beautiful sounding. Unfortunately all the other tracks feature electronic synth piano which pales in comparison.

Highlight is the gentleman playing the oriental flute. Wonderfully recorded. Fabulous control over the instrument.

Overall 4/5 due to the sax recording quality and the lack of more tracks with the majestic sounding real piano.