The Story of Jazz
Jazz has been called America’s greatest contribution to the arts; it has existed in a recognizable form for over one hundred years, but it has a much longer history. A colorful tale of cross-cultural influences that produced a constantly evolving, enduring music, The Story of Jazz is a rich ninety-minute weave of sounds, rare film clips, stills, and interviews that places the history of jazz into proper perspective, a captivating trek through the stylistic changes that have kept jazz so fresh for all these years. New Orleans traditions, stride, swing, boogie-woogie, big band, jump band, the singers, the dancers, the blues, bebop, Afro-Cuban, cool, free-form--it’s all here.
The Story of Jazz combines an authoritative narrative with the personal firsthand observations of dozens of great jazz artists:
Dizzy Gillespie
Joe Williams
Buck Clayton
Illinois Jacquet
Tony Bennett
Lester Bowie
Zilner Randolph
Bud Freeman
Randy Weston
Carmen McRae
Billy Taylor
Jay McShann
Roy Haynes
Wynton Marsalis
among others
Produced by Toby Byron and Richard Saylor
Directed by Matthew Seig
Written by Chris Albertson with Matthew Seig
Narrated by Lloyd Richards
A coproduction of Toby Byron/Multiprises in association with Taurus Film, Munich, BMG Video and VideoArts, Japan
97:00
Jazz has been called America’s greatest contribution to the arts; it has existed in a recognizable form for over one hundred years, but it has a much longer history. A colorful tale of cross-cultural influences that produced a constantly evolving, enduring music, The Story of Jazz is a rich ninety-minute weave of sounds, rare film clips, stills, and interviews that places the history of jazz into proper perspective, a captivating trek through the stylistic changes that have kept jazz so fresh for all these years. New Orleans traditions, stride, swing, boogie-woogie, big band, jump band, the singers, the dancers, the blues, bebop, Afro-Cuban, cool, free-form--it’s all here.
The Story of Jazz combines an authoritative narrative with the personal firsthand observations of dozens of great jazz artists:
Dizzy Gillespie
Joe Williams
Buck Clayton
Illinois Jacquet
Tony Bennett
Lester Bowie
Zilner Randolph
Bud Freeman
Randy Weston
Carmen McRae
Billy Taylor
Jay McShann
Roy Haynes
Wynton Marsalis
among others
Produced by Toby Byron and Richard Saylor
Directed by Matthew Seig
Written by Chris Albertson with Matthew Seig
Narrated by Lloyd Richards
A coproduction of Toby Byron/Multiprises in association with Taurus Film, Munich, BMG Video and VideoArts, Japan
97:00
Awards
1995--Swing Journal’s Best Music Program of the Year (Japan): "The Story of Jazz"
