Eric Clapton - The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions (Blu-ray), Mercury Studios, Music & Performance

Eric Clapton returns with a remarkable new release, Eric Clapton "The Lady In The Balcony: Lockdown Sessions" via Mercury Studios on multiple formats, the 17 songs find Clapton and longtime bandmates Nathan East (Bass and Vocals), Steve Gadd (Drums) and Chris Stainton (Keyboards) performing acoustic renditions of Clapton standards and an assortment of other numbers encompassing blues, country and rarified originals. Overseen by Clapton's legendary longtime Grammy-winning producer Russ Titelman (James Taylor, George Harrison, Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Rickie Lee Jones) and recorded live at Cowdray House in West Sussex, England, the performance finds Clapton and company revisiting such timeless classics as "After Midnight," "Layla," "Bell Bottom Blues," "Tears in Heaven," "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" and "Key to the Highway." In addition to revisiting some of Eric's best-loved selections from his own extensive repertoire, Clapton and crew also offer their own versions of songs that had a profound effect on his career and those of his contemporaries including the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac tracks "Black Magic Woman" and "Man of the World." The project was initiated as the result of the forced cancellation of Eric Clapton's concerts scheduled for May 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall due to the continued disruption caused by the pandemic. Looking for a viable alternative and hoping to keep his options open, he reconvened with his band to the English countryside and staged a concert in the presence of only the participants themselves while letting the cameras roll. (Clapton's wife Melia, the sole outside observer inspired the Sessions title.) The mostly acoustic set was envisioned to be like an Eric Clapton Unplugged II, but not quite, as three songs are played with electric guitars. The result became far more than simply a sequence of greatest hits. Rather, it's one of the most intimate and authentic performances of Clapton's entire career, an offering flush with real insight into the make-up of his indelible catalogue.