Editorial Review

In 1996, with his public image at a low ebb after a messy breakup with Mia Farrow, clarinetist and filmmaker Woody Allen set off on a tour of Europe with his New Orleans jazz band. Accompanying him were his sister, his soon-to-be wife Soon-Yi Previn, and Oscar-winning documentary maker Barbara Kopple. Like Allen says as the beginning of the tour, "Theoretically, this should be fun for us."Read more

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Reviews (16)

Dry yet Quirky...
In all honesty, I found this film only MILDLY amusing because of the "voyeuristic" pleasure of getting to see Woody Allen "off camera" - - but let's face it, a documentary crew was following the guy around... so when you see him and Soon Yi chatting away in their robes in the privacy of their hotel room, do you really believe they're alone and unwatched and not trying to ACT as they want to be perceived...? So the question is, who was doing the acting ?Based on the fact that both came across as rather dull and uninteresting and I'm sure like many viewers I spent most of the film sitting (unfairly) on the edge of my seat waiting for Woody Allen to say something funny or be more neurotic my answer would be either neither or both, and perhaps the film was merely made to simple counter the bad image of Woody Allen that were going around at the time.- - "Wild man, my tookus !" the viewer is expected to say.- - If the film were to be compared to CRUMB (which I found delightfully entertaining, if not dark and depressing beneath its hillarity at times), in terms of interest it would be like comparing SPEED to MY DINNER WITH ANDRE.
Music, fun, and an interesting look at being a celebrity
If you like music and Woody Allen, you will love this endearing documentary by Barbara Kopple. Go behind the scenes as Woody, Soon-Yi, and his band go on a European tour.Allen's wit and quirky but charming personality expose him for the humble and intelligent man he is.But, oy...his mother!

Un-Wild Man Blues
Barbara Kopple's "Wild Man Blues" is decidedly un-wild. That's its first fib. It is the un-intense and un-penetrating chronicle of Woody Allen's 1997 European tour with his New Orleans jazz band. Released in 1998, "Wild Man Blues" came hard on the heels of a period of public scandal for the notoriously private filmmaker, prompting critics to dub it a "public relations corrective". There is a whiff of mendacity about this film. Its motive is abstruse and its meaning convoluted. It carries an air of constructivism. It smells like propaganda. Lurking behind an obeisance to jazz music is a salve for moviegoers' indignation over Allen's romance with stepdaughter cum fianc�, Soon-Yi Previn. Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

In 1996, composer, producer, and guitar legend Ry Cooder entered Egrem Studios in Havana with the forgotten greats of Cuban music, many of them in their 60s and 70s, some of them long since retired. The resulting album, Read more

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Reviews (128)

The story behind the music...
Ok it wasn't exactly what I expected, which teaches me to read the reviews :D, but its still worth the watch to get a feel of those times and how the music came together. I bought it as a gift, and though more music would have been appreciated...it was a good blend of documentary and the music.

Superb music!
I rented this movie on DVD having little knowlege about the subject matter other than it was an award winning documentary. Essentially, for me, it was an introduction to a new type of music. Many years ago in junior high school in a small town in the Rockies my Spanish teacher was a newly arrived Cuban immigrant. He was an excellent teacher and that memory made me curious about this movie. This gathering of semi-retired musicians still has so much soul and if you don't get goose bumps at least once you are probably tone deaf. Unfortunately, I have seen only the Japanese edition here in Japan which has no English subtitles for my Spanish which has grown rusty. Although I can read Japanese subtitles I would prefer English ones for the lyrics.

Buena Vista Social Club
Great music! Great cinematography too. Loved the stories of the musicians. Watching the movie gives me the feeling of being in Cuba. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Foreign Film - Spanish/Misc Sa    3. Movie   

Editorial Review

When Read more

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Reviews (1)

Fabulous look into someone's head
The video is like opening the top of the artists heads and getting the chance to swim around in them a bit.The video leaves no questions as to the tremendous level of creativity that came from this particular time and place.I strongly recommend that this video be used at home and in the classroom. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Part concert documentary, part pop-cultural time capsule, Bert Stern's Read more

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Reviews (30)

For die-hard jazz fans
I appreciate the reviews in which it is suggested that viewers try to experience this film in a broader context--as a time capsule of an era. However, as an avid fan of Anita O'Day, I was deeply frustrated by the camera's focus on odd-looking (check out the chick eating the ice cream cone!), and apparently disinterested listeners in the audience, when the camera should have been focused on this amazing singer. Still, because O'Day--at the height of her sensuous form-- remains sadly undocumented on film, this is the best we've got.

Jazz on a Summer's Day
My personal 50s sci-fi favorite, "Invasion" is an ingenious nightmare vision that reflects the paranoia of the time created by McCarthyism.Absent of the effects that characterize more recent entries in this genre, the film remains genuinely creepy strictly on the basis of story, direction and performances.

Marks the end of the reign of Jazz
Bert Stein captures the Newport Jazz festival of 1958 in vivid color and with clarity. While jazz is the primary focus of the film, Stein does meander to the America's Cup race that was being contested off Newport at the time, along with some diversionary local flavor, which gives us a sense of what it was like to actually be there. Continuing along this vein, during the festival itself, Stein spends much of his camera time observing the audience caught unaware reacting to jazz on a summer day; after all, live music does not exist in a vacuum. It's this footage along with the incredible jazz music that makes this documentary really special. As a viewer we get to react to the music, and react to the audience reacting to the music. That girl with the seductively cute smile in the yellow dress, and that gruff man hiding behind the shades with the nervous twitch are people that we can connect to from our own personal experiences at open air summer concerts. The feeling of community one gets as the music breaks down the barriers and the sun begins to set. Stein allows his moving compositions to develop and flesh out the character of his subjects, giving us a nostalgic feeling for a time gone by that may have occurred long before we were even born. It does not matter because we are there! But this particular slice of time has special significance, because jazz would soon be replaced in popularity by Rock & Roll. We watch it happen before our eyes as a young Chuck Berry takes the stage. Backed by some excellent jazz musicians, all looking "amused" but not taking very seriously the music that would knock them off the charts for good within a couple of years. As Berry's classic Rock & Roll riffs project across the audience, young people spontaneously jump to their feet and start moving to the rhythm while their parents watch, perplexed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Drama    3. Movie    4. Music Video    5. Music Video - Jazz    6. Performance   

Editorial Review

Even casual jazz and blues fans know those seminal American styles journeyed north from New Orleans and the Deep South, along the Mississippi River. But that tributary's penetration into the nation's heartlands, and its passage through a much broader, more diverse array of cultures, affords a richer portrait of how root musical styles have merged, diverged, recombined, or survived against the potential regimentation imposed by mass media and a more mobile, modern society. It's this latter process that provides the thread for director-producer John Junkerman's four-hour documentary, Read more

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Reviews (3)

A matter of selecting good examples
Acorn Media has been issuing some really nice videos and one of their latest is of special valueto anyone interested in American music. With the supertitle "The Mississippi, River of Song: The Grassroots of AmericanMusic," this program is divided into four tapes of about 60 minutes each.The basic idea is that we start with "Americans Old and New" at thenorthern source of the great river and follow the stream through the"Midwestern Crossroads," the "Southern Fusion," and wind up in "Louisiana,Where Music is King." Basically the idea is a good one.The firstsection starts with the Chippewa Nation and a Scandinavian fiddle group,both of whose representatives have much to say about tradition. But when weget to Minneapolis, we have to listen to the claims of alternative rockgroups (the first one brags about not caring about success and annoyingtheir neighbors when they rehearse) who have not quite as much relation tothe Mississippi as do most of the other groups. For example, the Germanpolkagroup in Wisconsin seem to belong right where they are, while rockand jazz groups could have been interviewed just about anywhere in thesestates.Yet in the four hours, there simply has to be music you willlike. The interviews are always interesting; but after a while they beginto sound a bit the same-so I do not recommend watching all four hours atone sitting! The narration is always interesting, spoken as it is byfolk-rock singer Ani DiFranco. Still you are struck with the incrediblediversity of music we have not only in this country as a wholebut even inthe limited confines the producers of this series have chosen as theirfocal point. However you might quibble with the choice of groups usedhere, those selected are at least representative of the kind of music underconsideration. For example, the third set, which takes us from LA Center,Kentucky to Jackson, Mississippi, includes Boundless Love Quartet, SonnyBurgess, Memphis Horns and Ann Peebles, Little Milton, and the MississippiMass Choir among others. I cannot begin to comment on whether other groupswould have been better or worse choices. I would have preferred more ethnicgroups, but that's me.Co-produced by the mighty Smithsonian Institute,these tapes have a companion set of two CDs (without the interviews, Iimagine) and a "companion" book, "River of Song: a Musical Journey Down theMississippi." I think you will find the videos music very worthwhile.

I loved the variety of musicians covered in this title.
What a great set.This series explores the diversity of talented musicians along the Mississippi River.I had the opportunity to learn several new styles of music.

Real players, real music
After watching this series on PBS and buying the soundtrack, I'm hooked.Here's the premise:start at the top of the Mississippi and follow the musical heritage and current music on down the river until you end up inLouisiana.What makes this series so cool is that it is REAL music, playedby folks who love music itself and aren't just out to make money and becomefamous (though some of them have).They talk about how music reflects theplace where it was made.If you like blues, jazz or zydeco, you will lovethis, and if you want to learn more about music BEYOND what's on MTV, VH1or the radio, you will come away enriched. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie    3. Music Videos - Folk    4. TV Shows   

Editorial Review

In Read more

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Reviews (36)

Superb.
This is THE video to own if you are a fan of latin jazz, or any type of improvisational music for that matter. Each performance features a unique artist who has been instrumental in shaping the Latin music of today. There are performances on here that you won't find anywhere else.
a billion stars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bravo! Bravo! As my 3 year old daughter would say after watching Tito Puento, Titooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!Daddy Tito's rocking out! Yes Tito does rock out. So do Bebo and Chucho(her fvaorite). The CD is incredible. We watch it over and over. My little three year old is hooked on Bebo and Chucho. I love Fort Apache, Michael Camilo and so many more of the musicians. It is just a great album period!, latin or not.

Latin Jazz and its historical infusion of culture in the arts.......
This DVD was very informational. The interviewed artists, selected, introduced this music art form called Latin Jazz and the infusion, the connection, and combination of African, European, and probably to a lesser highlighted recognition, its Latin American indigenous relationship. One form cannot exit without the other, this is because, Latin Jazz, from the beginning had its foundation "seeds" early in history before it was called anything but sound or music without any particular label or form.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Accompanied by a menagerie of products, Ken Burns's expansive 10-episode paean, Read more

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Reviews (133)

Great Study on Black History
The best thing I like about this documentary is that it is a great study on black History. But it needed to deliver more on what it was supposed to be Jazz Music. I can't believe he left out the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Left out Roland Kirk and Keith Jarrett. very little on dave Brubeck. Should have talked about classic Jazz Albums like Kind of blue, Time out (with the song Take Five) A Love Supreme, My favourite things, bitches Brew etc. Also nothing on Milt Jackson and the great Modern Jazz Quartet. Ken burns must realize there's is more to jazz than just the big band swing era. But still a great study on black history which makes it worthwhile just for that alone. and nothing on jazz hip hop. songs like doo bop song(miles Davis) and Jazz thing (gang Starr)

Great Place to Learn about the Older Jazz
This series is fantastic.Many reviewers have criticized it as being dogmatic in its pandering to earlier styles of jazz while panning later ones.This criticism is valid to some degree.I think it provides a great service, howerver, despite its shortcomings.I loved jazz since I was a child, and started buying jazz records in the late 1970s at the age of about 19.Nobody in my family had a great appreciation of this music. At that time it was somewhat difficult to get a handle on the development of jazz through the swing period to the fusion period at that time.The older stuff was generally out of print, etc.Learing about bop was like an archeologist looking at shards of pottery.So a documentary like this is great in this instance; it advanced my knowledge of music before my time unbelievably. I would recommend this highly.It was also nice to watch the documentary with my elderly parents who grew up in the 30s and 40s.It was great to share this with them.I could not believe that they wanted to continue into the bop period watching the series (I always thought they hated my records like that).Finally, being from New Orleans, and surviving Katrina, it was great to see the New Orleans culture treated with such respect.
Great for Jazz fans
I think this film is not as accesible as some of his other works. Whether you like Baseball or not you'll be drawn in, whether you like boxing or not you'll won't be able to stop watching Unforgivable Blackness, I don't think the same could be said for Jazz.It is well made and detailed on the areas it covers, but it might not grab someone that isn't into the topic. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

The neo-pop divas of the late 20th century may have turned up the glamour, and a few even introduced formidable technical prowess, epitomized by Mariah Carey's seemingly helium-induced falsetto (the bane of canine fans everywhere) or Celine Dion's breast-beating, stentorian climaxes.Yet only a few verses from an earlier, charter member of the first-name-only club provides instant perspective: when Ella opened her mouth, that perfectly pitched, luminous voice could leap octaves without breaking a sweat, its tonal purity and immaculate phrasing creating that illusion of "effortlessness" achieved only through true artistry.Read more

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Reviews (12)

The First Lady of Song, from teenager to legend.
This exciting, 86-minute video of Ella Fitzgerald's life and career, directed by Charlotte Zwerin, highlights aspects of her private life and combines that personal story with extensive footage of some of her early performances.Narrated by Tony Bennett, and containing excerpts from her long interview with Andre Previn, the bio ranges widely in time and place, filling in important biographical information, at the same time that it focuses on her development as a singer.
"SOMETHINGTOLIVEFOR"ISELLA'SVOICE!!!!!
Luckily I was able to see Ella In Concert numerous times throughout the 70's and 80's and was honored to have her autograph two L.P.'s by her limousine after a concert she gave at the Junior College I attended at the time in 1972...Ella was kind and gracious and that quailty plus her brilliant artistry really come through and shine in this stunning documentary of her life and incomparable career.Tony Bennett is the perfect choice to narrate this magnificent "American Masters" production and his love of Ella comes through and adds alot of soul to the special.Performance footage is ultimately what becomes breathtaking to experience and when Ella sings the classic "Something To Live For" it is breathtakingly beautiful and completely haunting. The use of concert footage from the various stages of her career show that Ella found joy in sharing her gift with her audience and songs like "For Once In My Life" become life experiences that are emotionally engrossing and technically brilliant. This "American Masters" special is a keeper so for anyone who loves the legendary Ella get this historical work fast while it is available as this is the definitive work about the life and career of this wonderous and gifted talent...BRAVO ELLA and thank you are all the wonderful years of sublime singing and you are truly missed!!!

a must all the way
can't ever say enough about Ella Fitzgerald She is truly one of the Greatest Voices that I have ever heard.this DVD Captures so many elements of Her&you can't ever get enough once you are listening too Her Range&the way She handles the material.Highly Enjoyable.Classy like the Lady Herself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

Produced as the title segment to a six-part series, this 90-minute documentary traces the evolution of jazz from its 19th-century origins in New Orleans's Congo Square, where slaves first introduced American listeners to the complex rhythms and earthy textures of African music.How that cultural diaspora combined with European and American folk, classical, and popular styles to become jazz, "America's classical music," is an oft-told tale, but it's handsomely served here by an intelligent script shaped by veteran jazz journalist Chris Albertson, and a well-chosen array of performances:Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Charles Mingus, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, and Gil Evans all appear, representing as complete a pantheon of major innovators and influences as could be hoped for.Period footage, including both stills and rare film clips, and interviews with musicians and scholars round out a portrait equally appropriate for hard-core jazz fans and novice listeners looking for a point of entry. Read more

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Reviews (4)

The Story of Jazz
I teach a Music Appreciation course and this dvd was ideal for the introduction to jazz in this setting.I use more of the Ken Burns series in my American Popular Music course, but this dvd is an excellent overview. I ordered the dvd to have shown in class when I had to be away, and it was just right.If you are completely new to jazz, it's a good place to start.There is a good bit of attention given to bebop and basically ends there; I do wish that some had been given to jazz-rock and bossa nova. But in a dvd of this length, there is no way to cover everything. If you are fairly well versed in jazz already, you probably want something more comprehensive.

Great for survey-of-music courses
I use select bits of this video in both my Jazz History and Music Appreciation classes.Having real musicians talk about (and play!) the music really draws the students in, much more so than just talking about the players and seeing them in the book.The video is well-planned, well-directed and exceptionally well thought-out.

Fantastic Overview of Jazz
The best 90-minute look at jazz you can imagine. I used this in my music class and the kids were engaged all the way. Interviews are to the point and fun, clips are great. Hard to imagine a better succint treatment of the history of jazz. Highest recommendation! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Jazz Collections    3. Movie    4. Music Video    5. Music Video - Jazz    6. Performance   

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Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Jazz    3. Movie    4. Music Video    5. Music Video - Jazz    6. Performance   

Editorial Review

When a jazz musician plays a solo that lasts for a full 15 minutes, notone of which is less than inspired, powerful, and entertaining; and when helater, in the midst of an inventive and witty unaccompanied solo, exuberantlyleaps from the stage, breaks his heel in the process, and continues to playRead more

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Reviews (3)

Not enough music
While this video starts with an amazing performance at a stone quarry in Saugerties, New York; there's just way too little music.In a video I don't need to hear critics drone on and on about what makes Sonny great.That ought to be self-evident from the musical content.There are also interviews with Sonny and his wife that could have been condensed and offered as a "special feature."The japanese orchestral performance was interesting but, really, I'd like to see the rest of the Saugerties concert.Overall, there's maybe thirty minutes of worthwhile footage.

Sonny's playing makes up for some poor cinematic technique.
This 101 minute performance and documentary is taken from material mostly from 1986 (although there is a short clip from Sonny's "Jazz Casuals" appearance in the early 1960s). It features two very different performances: Sonny's working quintet and a special performance with an orchestra in Japan, "Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra." I have not found the latter released on CD. Sonny Interviewed! Sonny vintage footage...Sonny LIVE!
this is fabulous and filmed skillfully!I could have lived without the pontification from the jazz critics...but use that time to get some refreshments.Sonny is one of the GIANTS of the saxophone and thisdocument as his playing/recording will stand the test of time!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bop    2. Hard Bop    3. Jazz    4. Music Video - Jazz    5. Pop    6. Post-Bop   

Editorial Review

Given the often inextricable relationship between art and suffering,it's no coincidence that Billie Holiday, popularly acclaimed as jazz's greatest (if not technically best) female singer, was also one of its most tragic figures. While both triumph and tragedy are covered in this hourlong documentary, we are mercifully spared excessive details about the more sordid aspects of Holiday's life (her drug and alcohol addictions, her disastrous relationships with abusive men) in favor of careful consideration of her music. Testimonials are offered by those who played with her (pianist Mal Waldron and trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison), were influenced or inspired by her (singers Carmen McRae and Annie Ross), or worked with her (producer Milt Gabler). Together, they paint a portrait of a woman who was both tough and vulnerable, sad and defiant, an unschooled musician who became a supreme innovator. Read more

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Reviews (7)

Kultur, this time you missed it!
If you are interested in the (ever fashionable) approach to Jazz, via the contemporary interpretation of the social environment in which the Jazz artists created, then there is a good chance you may like this DVD. SO INFLUENTIAL!!!!
This Billie Holiday album was like a ray of light to me when I first listened to it!It's so inspiring!You can see why so many artists of today are influenced by it!The music really took me to the borderline.I thank my lucky star that this album came along.

If Your A Fan......
Billie Holiday is a figure of her time and this movie just about justifies that statment. Although the footage isent anything out of the ordinary...including 'Strange Fruit', the infamous 'Fine annd Mellow' and a personal favorite 'Please Don't Talk About me When I'm gone'. She shows no real emotion during these short performances, but you can tell what she is thinking and feeling, during them. Read more

Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Classic Female Blues    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Vocals    5. Music Video    6. Performance    7. Pop    8. Swing   

Editorial Review

This exemplary documentary about seminal jazz pianist and composerThelonious Monk reaps the benefits of multiple blessings, including the skillededitorial hand of director Charlotte Zwerin and the patronage of executiveproducer (and erstwhile jazz pianist) Clint Eastwood. Most vital is the use ofextensive 1968 footage, shot by Michael and Christian Blackwood, documenting thesometimes moody, sometimes puckish Monk in the studio, on tour, and off stage,which on its own would make this essential jazz viewing.Read more

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Reviews (26)

Thelonious!
An absolutely wonderful film by Clint Eastwood. Thelonious was an amazing man. He said things on the piano that we wordsmiths aren't able to communicate. His unusual character made for an interesting subplot. This film is footage of the man himself, usually playing his music. I'm just sitting here being stunned.

No sound!!
And no it's not the DVD player...everything else works fine on it. This is the second time this happened with Amazon. The first time was a real hassle since the replacement had no sound either..grrrrr! Not a big jazz fan but LOVE Monks music. I really wanted to see AND hear him play.

When musicians really cared about the music
This is the DVD I would give to all my friends who scattter when I go to play a Monk CD, saying "I just don't understand that music." Hopefully the glimpse it provides into the life of a genius and superb musician, the regard others had for him, and the respect he demanded for his art, hearing from him, and hearing and seeing him play that pianowill spur them to want to hear more. I rarely peer into the lives of musicians I love, but I am glad to have looked closer at Thelonius Monk. His was of the era when the music itself was what really mattered to the artists who created it, and Monk was champion at that. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie    3. Music Video    4. Performance    5. Post-Bop   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (36)

Superb.
This is THE video to own if you are a fan of latin jazz, or any type of improvisational music for that matter. Each performance features a unique artist who has been instrumental in shaping the Latin music of today. There are performances on here that you won't find anywhere else.
a billion stars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bravo! Bravo! As my 3 year old daughter would say after watching Tito Puento, Titooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!Daddy Tito's rocking out! Yes Tito does rock out. So do Bebo and Chucho(her fvaorite). The CD is incredible. We watch it over and over. My little three year old is hooked on Bebo and Chucho. I love Fort Apache, Michael Camilo and so many more of the musicians. It is just a great album period!, latin or not.

Latin Jazz and its historical infusion of culture in the arts.......
This DVD was very informational. The interviewed artists, selected, introduced this music art form called Latin Jazz and the infusion, the connection, and combination of African, European, and probably to a lesser highlighted recognition, its Latin American indigenous relationship. One form cannot exit without the other, this is because, Latin Jazz, from the beginning had its foundation "seeds" early in history before it was called anything but sound or music without any particular label or form.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary   

Editorial Review

And what a day it was: nearly 60 jazz musicians, gathered on a Harlem street one morning in 1958 for what photographer Art Kane rightly, if immodestly, calls "the greatest picture of that era of musicians ever taken" (incredibly, it was also Kane's first professional shoot). Like Ken Burns's Read more

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Reviews (15)

A Great Teaching Tool in Harlem
I bought the VHS Tape years ago with the poster of the photograph and have used it to teach about Jazz in my music classes.I am purchasing the DVD for easier navigation for specific instruction.However, the best thing is using the internet to go to the photo at www.harlem.org.There the kids can click on any person in the photo and find all sorts of info about the artist, the instruments, the music, and CDs available. And thanks to Amazon.com, when you click on a CD or album, you can get to hear a sample of the music.The kids love it!

Beyond wonderful
For just about everyone, but specifically jazz lovers, this account of the memorable photograph in Harlem in the late 1950's and is really a necessity, and also a wonderful record of the great jazz musicians of the 40's and 50's.This is like visiting the famous who you'd have loved to have been your friends.

very good.
yeah both these are good but its really all about thephoto. great to see some of milt hinton's cine footage from the day and other fotos too. the stories are all good from the musicians interviewed even if the photographer does come across a bit of a pratt sometimes. well worth it if you are a jazz fan or appreciate modern history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Documentary    2. Movie   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (7)

Bix may have been playing
In the Whiteman clip, it still is possible that Bix wasn't faking it.He was a self-taught trumpet player, and all of his fingerings are completely different from anyone else's.As for the different cut off, I'm not sure.But I don't think anyone should discredit the Bix clip entirely.He had his own style of playing.

Mixed Bag; For The True Devotee
A nice selection of rare material is undercut by the presentation here. Many films have been poorly framed so that people's heads are cropped - God, it's annoying, did no one look at this before it was released? Audio is generally as good as source material permits. As for the Bix clip - yep, there he (barely) is, in the brass section, FAKING his way through "My Ohio Home" (watch his fingering, it doesn't match the arrangement, and he stops playing before the rest of the section). So this is not the "only sound film document" of Bix playing - he ain't playing. There is no tray insert with any background info or even a track list, and nothing onscreen to indicate what you're watching, so you'll need to have the box handy. Nobody went out of their way to upgrade this for DVD, that's for sure. If you have the VHS, you don't need this. Four stars for material, docked one star for presentation.

Good Compliation-look for more
This is an excellent compilation of rare material, and it a must have for the great Boswell Sisters material, the shot of Bix in Whiteman's trumpet section (not soloing as the box says), the "dance contest" with Chick Webb's 1929 band (which released only 1 78), closeups of Duke's 1929 band-Wellman Braud, Sonny Greer, young Harry Carney and Johnny Hodges (soloing on soprano), Freddy Jenkins, Artie Whetsol, Cootie Williams...Read more

Subjects:  1. Big Band    2. Classic Jazz    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Collections    5. Music Video    6. Music Video - Jazz    7. Performance    8. Pop    9. Swing    10. V/a Compilations   

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Reviews (2)

A must have, for any jazz buff
this is an incredible movie. I was so moved by this documentary that I buy them now to give to loved ones, and any one that I feel will appreciate it's grandeur. A must have for any jazz buff.

This is a classic!
The Director, Bruce Ricker, may not be a household name in film, but some impressive credits in recent Clint Eastwood films are telltale and their collaboration is the result of the excellent way in which he put this filmtogether.Read more

Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Music Video - Jazz    3. Pop