Staff Picks
Jazz Appreciation Month: Feature Films
- Keith B.
- Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Collection
Just because Jazz Appreciation Month is drawing a close, it doesn't mean your appreciating of Jazz has to end! Here are some movies to entertain you while enriching your understanding of one of America's finest cultural creations. Sit back, pour yourself a cool drink, and enjoy some swinging horns and moving pictures.
All Night Long
Published in 2010
The classic tale Othello is translated and retold to the world of 1960's London jazz clubs. Over the course of one eventful evening, during the anniversary celebration of the musical and romantic partners Aurelius Rex and Delia Lane, a jealous & ambitious drummer, Johnny Cousin, attempts to tear the interracial couple apart.
The Benny Goodman Story
Published in 2003
The music of Benny Goodman comes to life in this musical biography of the famed King of Swing. Featuring all the outstanding songs and instrumentals made famous by the immortal clarinetist, the story follows the innovative musician from his childhood in Chicago to his historic concert at Carnegie Hall in 1938.
Bird.
Published in 2010
The year: 1946. The event: Oakland's 'Jazz at the Philharmonic.' The music streaked into the unknown, daring listeners to grab hold and fly there, too. On stage was the creator of those new sounds, jazz saxophonist Charles 'Yardbird' Parker. In the crowd was the 16-year-old who would someday bring Parker's extraordinary story to the screen: Clint Eastwood.
Born to Be Blue
Published in 2016
Jazz legend Chet Baker's tumultuous life is thrillingly re-imagined with wit, verve, and style to burn. In the 1950s, Baker was one of the most famous trumpeters in the world, renowned as both a pioneer of the West Coast jazz scene and an icon of cool.
Chico & Rita
Published in 2012
Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and desire unite them as they chase their dreams and each other from Havana to New York to Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas. Bonus features include the U.S. trailer, the making of Chico & Rita, and audio commentary with Director Fernando Trueba.
The Cotton Club
Published in 2001
Dixie Dwyer, a jazz trumpet player who works in the Cotton Club, lives a life in which jazz, glamour and organized crime are combined.
The Cotton Club Encore
Published in 2019
Francis Ford Coppola's lavish, 1930s-era epic comes to vivid new life in this newly remastered and restored version featuring never-before-seen scenes and musical sequences.
The Cotton Club Encore
Published in 2019
In this lavish, 1930s-era drama, Harlem's legendary Cotton Club becomes a hotbed of passion and violence as the lives and loves of entertainers and gangsters collide. Now, Francis Ford Coppola's extraordinary film is brought tovivid new life with never-before-seen scenes and musical sequences thatdeepen and enrich the storylines.
Elevator to the Gallows
Published in 2006
Florence Carala and her lover Julien Tavernier, an ex-paratrooper, want to murder her husband by faking a suicide.
Elevator to the Gallows
Published in 2018
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
Kansas City
Published in 2005
Set in 1934 Kansas City. A telegraph operator named Blondie kidnaps Carolyn Stilton, wife of a powerful businessman who commutes to Washington to advise President Roosevelt. Blondie figures she can use Carolyn to gain safe passage for her husband Johnny, who is in the grip of the city's top gangster, a club owner named Seldom Seen. The movie unfolds in the dark streets of the downtown Kansas City night.
King of Jazz
Published in 2018
Long available only in incomplete form, this film appears here newly restored to its original glory, offering a fascinating snapshot of the way mainstream American popular culture viewed itself at the dawn of the 1930s.
King of Jazz
Published in 2018
"Made during the early years of the movie musical, this exuberant revue was one of the most extravagant, eclectic, and technically ambitious Hollywood productions of its day. Starring the bandleader Paul Whiteman, then widely celebrated as the King of Jazz, the film drew from Broadway variety shows to present a spectacular array of sketches, performances by such acts of the Rhythm Boys (featuring a young Bing Crosby), and orchestral numbers--all lavishly staged by veteran theater director John Murray Anderson. Presented here in the most complete form possible and restored to its early-Technicolor glory, King of Jazz offers a fascinating shapshot of the way mainstream American culture viewed itself at the dawn of the 1930s"--Container.
La La Land
Published in 2017
A jazz pianist falls for an aspiring actress in Los Angeles. This original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing dreams.
Lady Sings the Blues.
Published in 2005
Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages, and drug addiction are featured.
Mo' Better Blues
Published in 2020
A jazz trumpeter obsessed with his music and indecisive about his girlfriends finds his life is fragile when he must come to the aid of his manager.
Mo' Better Blues.
Published in 2004
A jazz trumpeter obsessed with his music and indecisive about his girlfriends finds his life is fragile when he must come to the aid of his manager. A film by Spike Lee.
Paris Blues.
Published in 2014
Two American jazz musicians living in Paris fall in love with two girls on vacation from America. They must decide whether to stay in Paris for their music careers, or move back to America for love.
Ray.
Published in 2006
Ray Charles went blind at the age of seven. Inspired by his mother, who insisted he make his own way, he found his calling at the keyboard. Follow Ray as he overcomes drug addiction while becoming one of the country's most beloved performers. Bonus materials included.
'Round Midnight
Published in 2008
Dramatizes the friendship between an aging alcoholic jazz musician and a young French jazz fan. Inspired by the real-life friendship between jazz pianist Bud Powell and Francis Paudras.
Shadows
Published in 2004
The story of an interracial romance and the obstacles it puts on family relationships. When appearing on Jean Shepherd's radio program Night People, Cassevetes mentioned the improvisation work he had done with his acting class, and asked for funding to film it. When listeners actually sent in money, he worked up a script based on the classwork, and with additional funding filmed his story of three siblings, two of whom can pass as white.
Whiplash.
Published in 2015
Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band.
Whiplash.
Published in 2015
Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school. Fletcher discovers Andrew and transfers the aspiring drummer into his band.
Young Man with a Horn
Published in 2005
A lonely little boy peeks into the window of a Skid Row dive. Mesmerized by the soaring magic played by a small jazz combo, he longs to create the same sounds. So with the guidance of a brilliant bluesman, the boy develops into a superb artist.