Jazz Music Shows
The Swing Era
This Musical Kaleidoscope showcase presents the great swing orchestras of the 1930s and 1940s, who were filmed in motion pictures. The swing era was important in the history of both American popular and jazz music. We feature Louis Armstrong and His Harlem Hot Band performing “Dinah” and “Tiger Rag” (1933); Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra “You Can’t Pull The Wool Over My Eyes” (1936); Artie Shaw and His Orchestra “Begin the Beguine” (1938); Count Basie and His Orchestra with an excerpt from “Dance of the Gremlins” and “Swingin’ the Blues” (1941); From the 1942 Film Orchestra Wives the songs “Boom Shot” and “At Last” with Glen Miller and His Orchestra (1942); Will Bradley and His Orchestra featuring Ray McKinley on drums and Freddie Slack, the boogie-woogie pianist, performing “Boardwalk Boogie” (1941); Harry James and His Orchestra “Steppin’ Out Tonight” (1942); Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra “Tangerine” (1942); Benny Goodman and His Orchestra “Why Don’t You Do Right” (1943); Bob Crosby and His Orchestra “Big Noise From Winnetka” (1943); Cab Calloway and His Orchestra “Jumpin’ Jive” (1943); Kay Kyser and His Orchestra “I Never Knew I Could Love Anybody” (1943) ; “My Lost Horizon” with Les Brown and His Orchestra featuring Doris Day (1941); Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra “Marie” (1947); Stan Kenton and His Orchestra (1947) performing a medley of songs featuring June Christy and the vocal group called The Pastels.
The Great Louis Armstrong (1958 and 1959)
Rare footage from two performances by the great Louis Armstrong. The first performance took place on July 6, 1958 at the Newport (Rhode Island) Jazz Festival with Barney Bigard on clarinet, Trummy Young on trombone, Danny Barcelona on drums and Billy Kyle on piano. The songs are “Lazy River”, “Tiger Rag”, “Rockin’ Chair” and “When the Saints Go Marching In”. The second concert took place on February 15, 1959 at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Germany. The songs are: “Basin Street Blues”, “Tiger Rag”, “Now You Has Jazz”, “I Get Ideas When We Are Dancin’”, “Mack the Knife”, “Stompin’ at the Savoy”, “St. Louis Blues”, “When the Saints Go Marching In”, (und für die Deutschen Leute) “Der treue Husar” (The Faithful Hussar).
Count Basie - Concert in Sweden (1962)
“Billed frequently as the ‘most explosive force in jazz,’ this recently discovered 60-minute concert, taped in Sweden in 1962, highlights the legendary musical talents of this 18-piece band that included such luminaries as Marshal Royal, Freddie Green, Quentin ‘Butter’ Jackson, Frank Wess and sensational drummer Sonny Payne. (Jazz Icons)”
A Taste of Jazz Piano
Great video performances by the greats, beginning with Fats Waller and continuing through Art Tatum, Nat “King” Cole, Count Basie, Earl Hines, Teddy Wilson, Bud Powell, Erroll Garner, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, George Shearing, Dave Brubeck and Ahmad Jamal.
Erroll Garner in Europe - Winter 1963
Two fantastic concert films of the great jazz pianist Erroll Garner performing with his trio in Europe during the winter of 1963. The first performance took place in December, in Belgium, and the second during the following month in Sweden with Eddie Calhoun playing bass and Kelly Martin on drums for both concerts. The songs from the concert in Belgium are “I Get A Kick Out Of You”, “Fly Me To The Moon”, “Sweet And Lovely”, “It Might As Well Be Spring”, “Misty”, “Where Or When” and “Thanks For The Memory.” For the Swedish concert, Erroll performs “Erroll’s Theme”, “When Your Lover Has Gone”, “Fly Me To The Moon”, “Mambo Erroll”, “My Funny Valentine”, “One-Note Samba”, “Where Or When”, and “Thanks For The Memory”.
The Art of Wes Montgomery
Excerpts from three sessions with the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery filmed in Holland, Belgium, and England in 1965. These three sessions feature the guitarist with three different piano trios. The first session, filmed at the VPRO Studio in Hilversum, The Netherlands, took place on April 2, 1965 and featured Pim Jacobs (Piano), Ruud Jacobs (Bass), and Han Bennink (Drums) performing three songs: a blues tune by Wes variously called “I Love Blues”, “Blues” or “Blues in F”, followed by Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream” and “The End of a Love Affair”, written by Edward C. Redding. The second session was recorded in the Universal Studio in Brussels, Belgium on April 4, 1965, the trio consisting of Harold Mabern (Piano), Arthur Harper (Bass), and Jimmy Lovelace (Drums) performing John Coltrane’s “Impressions”, Wes Montgomery’s “Twisted Blues”, the Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke song “Here’s That Rainy Day”, followed by Wes’ “Jingles”, and then “The Girl Next Door”, by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. The third session took place on May 7, 1965 in London, with Stan Tracey (Piano), Rick Laird (Bass), and Jackie Dougan (Drums) performing two Wes Montgomery tunes, “Four on Six” and “Full House”.
Keith Jarrett - Live in Norway 1972
Keith Jarrett toured extensively in the 1970s, demonstrating his original style of improvisation, and winning international attention and praise.