Duke Ellington

The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show: Unforgettable Performances Volume 1

The Story of Jazz (Masters of American Music)

Produced as the title segment to a six-part series, this 90-minute documentary traces the evolution of jazz from its 19th-century origins in New Orleans's Congo Square, where slaves first introduced American listeners to the complex rhythms and earthy textures of African music. How that cultural diaspora combined with European and American folk, classical, and popular styles to become jazz, "America's classical music," is an oft-told tale, but it's handsomely served here by an intelligent script shaped by veteran jazz journalist Chris Albertson, and a well-chosen array of performances: Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Willie "the Lion" Smith, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Charles Mingus, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, and Gil Evans all appear, representing as complete a pantheon of major innovators and influences as could be hoped for. Period footage, including both stills and rare film clips, and interviews with musicians and scholars round out a portrait equally appropriate for hard-core jazz fans and novice listeners looking for a point of entry. --Sam Sutherland

Norman Granz Presents Duke: The Last Jam Session

This new two-disc set, the latest addition to the Norman Granz collection, brings together two of the greatest names in jazz: Duke Ellington & Ella Fitzgerald. The first disc sees Duke performing live in the South of France with Ella Fitzgerald as his special guest and the second disc contains the previously unseen footage of Duke Ellington in one of his last ever live performances jamming with Joe Pass, Ray Brown and Louie Bellson.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE: Duke Ellington At The Côte d'Azur with Ella Fitzgerald & Joan Miró 1) The Opener 2) Such Sweet Thunder 3) Medley: Black And Tan Fantasy/Creole Love Call/The Mooche 4) Kinda Dukish 5) The Shepherd 6) The Old Circus Train Turn-Around Blues 7) La Plus Belle Africaine 8) Satin Doll 9) Something To Live For 10) Jazz Samba 11) Things Ain't What They Used To Be

DISC TWO: Duke: The Last Jam Session 1) The Brotherhood 2) Just Squeeze Me 3) Carnegie Blues 4) The Hawk Talks 5) Prelude To A Kiss 6) Cotton Tail 7) Everything But You 8) Love You Madly 9) Fragmented Suite For Piano & Bass

Bonus Features

Disc One: Nat Hentoff presents Duke & Ella / Photo Gallery / Portraits by David Stone Martin.

Disc Two: The last ever interview with bass player Ray Brown.

Jazz Icons: Duke Ellington Live in '58

Jazz Icons: Duke Ellington features the earliest-known filmed full-length concert by one of the 20th Century's greatest songwriters and bandleaders. Filmed at Amsterdam's famed Concertgebouw, this 80-minute concert features the 16-piece Duke Ellington Orchestra two years after their stunning performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival,which Duke considered his second birth. This epic performance includes legendary players Clark Terry, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Quentin Jackson and Ray Nance performing some of the most beloved American music ever written.

Harlem Renaissance / Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole

A fabulous look at Harlem and its greatest musicians of the 20s, 30s and 40s: with extraordinary archival, full song performances by Fats Waller (This Joint Is Jumpin', Ain't Misbehaving, Your Feets Too Big), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (Let's Scuffle), Dorothy Dandridge (Easy Street), Cab Calloway (We The Cats Will Hep You), Mills Brothers (Caravan, Cielito Lindo), Tiny Grimes (Romance Without Finance), Duke Ellington (Cottontail, Satin Doll) , Count Basie (The Start of Something Big, Take Me Back Baby)), Dizzy Gillespie (Salt Peanuts), Sidney Bechet (Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen), Nat King Cole (Frim Fram Sauce, I'm A Shy Guy, That's My Girl, Calypso Blues), Louis Armstrong (Swingin' On Nothin') and others. Featuring commentary by distinguished historians and the performers themselves, this program traces the roots of the music of the Harlem Renaissance, its social impact on society and its eventual acceptance in mainstream culture. 2004 Production.

Jazz 10 Movie Pack

Jazz 10 Pack - Paradise in Harlem Reet Petite and Gone Rhythm and Blues Revue Rock N Roll Revue Soundies Festival Check and Double Check Duke is Tops Hi-De-Ho Killer Diller Soundies CavalcadeSystem Requirements:Running Time 562 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/CLASSIC Rating: NR UPC: 683904504807 Manufacturer No: MV50480

Play Your Own Thing - A Story of Jazz in Europe

The music documentary Play Your Own Thing provides a comprehensive history of European Jazz. It explores the origins of the US-influenced Jazz clubs after the Second World War, the first steps independent of American jazz and the various changes of direction that have repeatedly occurred in European jazz in the search for that "own voice" that European jazz musicians have helped to form. Featuring the great masters of European jazz such as Chris Barber, Jan Garbarek, Juliette Gréco, Stefano Bollani and Till Brönner, to name but a few, the film provides a wealth of styles in Jazz. For his third documentary on jazz, film-maker Julian Benedikt travelled to a wide variety of European countries in search of an all-embracing documentation of European jazz music. His story telling is neither too sophisticated nor does he simply reproduce the known clichés, rather the movie engages its audience with very personal impressions of European jazz, past and present. Accompanied by rarely seen archival footage featuring such influencing American jazz legends as Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, this unique document offers a collection of sparkling musical gems from both sides of the Atlantic. A great music film!

A Duke Named Ellington

Council for Positive Images, Inc. presents the award-winning, universally acclaimed musical biography of one of the world s most influential composers and musicians, Duke Ellington. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON had its world premiere on network television in the United States, on the PBS American Masters series (1988). It has since traveled the world, garnering praise. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON was selected for screening in international festivals at Cannes, France; Gijon, Spain; Spoleto, Italy; Banff, Ontario, Canada; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Warsaw, Poland; and Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON has been awarded the C.I.N.E. Golden Eagle, the Golden Antenna, First Prize at the Bulgarian International TV Festival, and was nominated for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Informational Special. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON was acclaimed by the critics as A masterly portrait of a master. (Politiken, Denmark) In a class by itself... a triumph of film and tape research... what can you say but that it is achingly good... (Los Angeles Times) Can't be beat... a superb two-parter... the perfect example of just how an in-depth profile of an artist should be done... (New York Daily News) A Duke Named Ellington accomplishes something that very few documentaries of this sort ever accomplish. It leaves the viewer and listener with a deep sense of Duke Ellington s genius. No small achievement. (New York Post) Much more than a documentary about the Duke... an essential testimony about the music of our century. (Jazz Magazine, France). For the first time, the full panorama of the life and artistic accomplishments of that musical giant, Duke Ellington, has been brought to the television screen. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON is a unique study of Ellington s life and works, capturing the genius and charisma of a cultural phenomenon that transcended time, space and musical form. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON , an extraordinary two-hour program, is a bl

The Golden Age of Jazz, Part 1 - Jazz Legends

Whether it's the barrelhouse, ragtime, syncopation, scat, swing, bebop, hard-bop, re-bop, boogie-woogie or jive, it is still Jazz! Compiled from master recordings that lie forgotten in the vaults of Hollywood studios, The Golden Age of Jazz captures the m

Duke Ellington - Copenhagen Parts One and Two

As a composer, bandleader, and pianist, Duke Ellington is one of the most remarkable men who ever lived. At the peak of his powers, he was filmed at the Falkoner Center in Copenhagen for two TV specials now presented on DVD for fans of this remarkable jazz legend.