JAZZ DOCUMENTARIES
Documentary films about jazz music and musicians
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27 titles
- DirectorRobbie CavolinaIan McCruddenStarsAnita O'DayLouis ArmstrongBuddy BregmanA tribute to jazz diva Anita O'Day, completed just weeks before her death in November 2006.
- DirectorBrigitte BermanStarsArtie ShawJohn BestLee CastleDocumentary cataloging the life and music of the band leader and clarinetist, Artie Shaw.
- DirectorFernando TruebaStarsMichel CamiloTito PuenteArturo O'FarrillA film featuring performances of several stars of the Latin Jazz music scene.
- DirectorDon McGlynnStarsCharles MingusGunther SchullerNine years in the making, CHARLES MINGUS - Triumph of the Underdog is the first comprehensive documentary about jazz bassist, bandleader and composer Charles Mingus. A lucid involving portrait showing the many faces and tortured heart of a music genius, the film also features an abundance of clips of Mingus in performance.
- DirectorJeff Swimmer
- DirectorClay WalkerStarsMonty AlexanderCarl AnthonyFreddy ColeA documentary on Chicago-native Freddy Cole, the lesser-known, yet equally talented younger brother of Nat "King" Cole.
- DirectorEdward BlandStarsGeorge WallerDorothea HortonMelinda DillonDiscussion of jazz and the role of African-Americans in the United States.
- DirectorBruce RickerStarsClint EastwoodStingBill CosbyA chronological look at the life and career of jazz musician, composer, and performer Dave Brubeck (December 6, 1920 to December 5, 2012), presented through contemporary interviews, archival footage of interviews and performances, and commentary by family, fellow musicians, and aficionados. Emphases include his mother's influence, his wife's invention of college tours, his skill as an accompanist, the great quartet (with Desmond, Morello, and Wright), his ability to find musical ideas everywhere, his orchestral compositions, his religious conversion, and his unflagging sweet nature.
- DirectorJean BachStarsDizzy GillespieMilt HintonMarian McPartlandThe documentary compiles interviews of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine.
- DirectorRon MannStarsPaul BleyBill DixonArchie SheppAn examination, shown through both interviews and performances, of the avant-garde free jazz movement which reigned during the 1960s.
- StarsKeith DavidWynton MarsalisGary GiddinsA survey of the musical form's history and major talents.
- DirectorBert SternAram AvakianStarsLouis ArmstrongMahalia JacksonChuck BerryThe highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
- DirectorMatthew BuzzellStarsDwayne Cook BroadnaxAmerica FerreraMichael KananAn intimate portrait of 76-year-old jazz vocal legend Jimmy Scott. The film explores Scott's odyssey of loss and redemption through reminiscence, song, and lush Japanese travelogue.
- DirectorBruce WeberStarsChet BakerCarol BakerVera BakerDocumentary on the life of jazz trumpeter and drug addict Chet Baker. Fascinating series of interviews with friends, family, associates and lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life and some modern-day performances.
- DirectorKarel ReiszTony RichardsonStarsChris BarberRon BowdenJim BrayA night at the Wood Green Jazz Club - an example of 'Free Cinema'
- DirectorJack SmightStarsJohn CrosbyHenry 'Red' AllenDanny BarkerSome of the best Jazz musicians in the country perform live on CBS in 1957. Count Basie, Billie Holiday and many more appear in this excellent one hour presentation.
- DirectorRob GuillemotStarsJudy BaileyHerbie MannLes McCann
- DirectorRobert MuggeStarsSun RaRobert Mugge filmed jazz great Sun Ra on location in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. between 1978 and 1980. The resulting 60-minute film includes multiple public and private performances, poetry readings, a band rehearsal, interviews, and extensive improvisations. Transferred to HD from the original 16mm film and lovingly restored for the best possible viewing experience.
- StarsLouis ArmstrongEdward R. MurrowLeonard BernsteinIn this 1957 biography film of the jazz-great Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, he and his band tour the world as American good-will ambassadors bring jazz at its best to the people of the world. Within the film, the life of Louis Armstrong is portrayed through the music. One of the outstanding scenes in this "biography/docudrama" shows blind songwriter W. C. Handy, with tears streaming down his face, as Armstrong, backed by Leonard Bernstein leading the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, play Handy's immortal "St. Louis Blues."
- DirectorBruce RickerStarsBuddy AndersonCount BasieEddie DurhamDuring Prohibition, Kansas City was wide open, and jazz was its music. Late in the 1970s, musicians of the Pendergast era gather at the union hall to play, sing, and talk. Some were part of Walter Page's Blue Devils, joined Bennie Moten's band, and stayed with Count Basie's Orchestra. Basie is on hand, as are Big Joe Turner, Jay McShann, and some of his big band. Highlights include Turner's vocals, McShann's sly piano playing, a drum clinic from Jo Jones and Baby Lovett, Jimmy Forrest solos, and remembrances of Lester Young and of how Charlie Parker got his nickname. Throughout is the Kansas City sound: cool and relaxed, blues meeting swing, an afterbeat that calls for dancing.
- DirectorCharlotte ZwerinStarsThelonious MonkJohn ColtraneJimmy ClevelandA documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
- DirectorDarren HoffmanStarsLucien BarbarinEric T. Calhoun Jr.Topsy ChapmanTradition is a Temple is a modern look at New Orleans music, drawing upon the city's unique heritage to examine the fragility of tradition.
- DirectorRobyn SymonStarsWarren BennisJeff BridgesJohn DenverIn his first public interview in more than a decade, pop culture icon of the 1970s and 80s, Werner Erhard breaks his long silence about his ideas, his life and his controversial program "est"that became "the thing" to do among celebrities and middle America and fueled today's multi-billion dollar personal growth industry. With exclusive and rare footage, you'll step inside controversial est seminars, hear provocative interviews with participants, family members, and experts. Viewers will be very surprised to learn how Erhard's transformational ideas are still in the mainstream today-in our language, advertising campaigns and in personal growth seminars yet few people know its origin.
- DirectorMarie Pierre Jaury
- DirectorJohn ScheinfeldStarsDenzel WashingtonReggie WorkmanRavi ColtraneAn exploration of the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane where the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds are revealed.
- DirectorPierre-Yves BorgeaudStarsYoussou N'DourMoncef GenoudBoubacar Joseph NdiayeBecause jazz is the miraculous product of the horror of slavery, Youssou N'Dour returned to the slave route and the music they created, in search of new inspiration. Accompanied by the blind Swiss pianist Moncef Genoud and the Director of the Gorée House of Slaves Museum, Joseph N'Diaye, the Senegalese singer wrote new songs during this initiatory voyage which took him to the USA then to Europe. At Gorée, an island just off the Senegalese coast and symbol of the slave trade, his memorable concert marked the end of this quest and the start of a new challenge: making today's generation aware of the tragedy of slavery, the importance of not forgetting and the need for reconciliation.