Improvisational jazz performance filmed in 1950 by Gjon Mili plus Duke Ellington Trio filmed in July 1966, Count Basie at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1977, Joe Pass 1979, Ella Fitzgerald 1979, and Oscar Peterson at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1977.
Willie Ruff, musician, composer, educator, filmmaker, and Yale School of Music alumnus was on the faculty of the Yale School of Music from 1971 until his retirement in 2017. He directed and produced this short film which follows Dizzy Gillespie and Ruff’s musical partner Dwike Mitchell on a tour...
Documentary exploring the meaning and history of cool through the American music that started in the 1940s in the bars of New York and LA, and became known as cool jazz.
Dizzy Gillespie is one of the major figures of the 20th Century's music scene. Everything was once said or written about this genius musician, founder of the Bebop. Whereas his public life is known from most, many ignore about the modest side of his character and the story of his long and deep...
At once a high-level musician, member of the October Group, entertainer, theater artist, film actor, mountaineer, and skier, Maurice Baquet, always on the move, structured his life around two common threads: the cello and the mountains. He once defined himself as a "cellist-skier," "all alone" in...
One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time, Dizzy Gillespie dazzled the world with his talent as one of the pioneers of be-bop and Latin jazz, but with his puffed-out cheeks, bent trumpet and quick wit, he also was a great showman.
This Easter, Billy has plans to help PJ find his first Easter egg. Dolly helps but Jeffy wants to catch the Easter Bunny. When he does, the entire family is surprised, even Sam. In the end, PJ is happy and the day is another wonderful Family Circus Easter.
Chronicling the Harlem Renaissance era, this retrospective documentary tracks the origins of the soulful music of the period, along with the challenges many of the genre's artists faced when trying to gain recognition within conventional society. Included are anecdotes from musicians and...
Profile of Duke Ellington featuring performances and interviews with the legendary bandleader. The performance footage was recorded in a number of places from The Basin St. West Jazz Club, the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival, and his first Concert of Sacred Music at Grace Cathedral. This program was...
Didn't We Ramble On is a documentary about the tradition of marching bands in African-American culture. It focuses particularly on the historical roots of marching bands in West African culture and features narration by Dizzy Gillespie.
A journey into the BBC archives unearthing glorious performances and candid interviews from the golden age of jazz. Featuring some of the greatest names in American music, including the godfather of New Orleans jazz Louis Armstrong, the King of Swing Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson,...
Carved to the beat verses of Allen Ginsberg and his eponymous poem, A Supermarket in California paints the most surreal contours of an America watched, dreamed, filtered through the eyes of a poet who meets Walt Whitman in a supermarket and pines for a world that may not exist.
This is Les Blank’s earliest music film, focusing on the renown trumpet player, Dizzy Gillespie, who along with Charlie Parker, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins and others sparked the change from traditional Jazz to “Bebop” in mid-1940s America. The film includes rare images of Gillespie playing...
The picture brings interviews with the participants of the 1st São Paulo Jazz Festival that occurred in Anhembi Conventions Palace in September 1978 and reunited musicians, composers and singers from all around the world.
