John Coltrane

Thelonious Monk - Straight No Chaser

Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser. Filmmaker Bruce Ricker couldn't believe his luck. Michael and Christian Blackwood's extensive 1968 footage of the groundbreaking modern jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk including the only footage of the very private Monk off stage was in excellent condition. The reels were in Ricker's words "just sitting there like the Dead Sea Scrolls of jazz." Ricker as co-producer joins director and fellow producer Charlotte Zwerin (Gimme Shelter) executive producer Clint Eastwood and others to bring these scrolls to astonishing life. Their Thelonious Monk: Straight No Chaser combines the Blackwood's rare footage of Monk in studio on tour and behind the scenes with new interviews archival photos and more to create a landmark aural and visual treat.Tunes in order of appearance: Evidence; Rhythm-a-ning; On the Bean; Round Midnight; Well You Needn't; Bright Mississippi; Blue Monk; Trinkle Tinkle; Rhythm-a-ning; Ugly Beauty; Ask Me Now; Just a Gigolo; Crepuscule with Nellie; I Should Care; We See; Osaka T.; Evidence; Epistrophy Don't Blame Me; Ruby My Dear; I Mean You; Lulu's Back in Town; Off Minor; Pannonica; Boo Boo's Birthday; Misterioso; Monk's Mood; Sweetheart of All My Dreams; Round Midnight. Year: 1988 Director: Charlotte ZwerinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. UPC: 085391189626

This exemplary documentary about seminal jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk reaps the benefits of multiple blessings, including the skilled editorial hand of director Charlotte Zwerin and the patronage of executive producer (and erstwhile jazz pianist) Clint Eastwood. Most vital is the use of extensive 1968 footage, shot by Michael and Christian Blackwood, documenting the sometimes moody, sometimes puckish Monk in the studio, on tour, and off stage, which on its own would make this essential jazz viewing.

In post-World War II America, few cultural upheavals matched bebop for sheer exhilaration. Spawned by jazz musicians whose paydays typically came with larger swing ensembles, bop was as much bastard as stepchild, refining the technical ambitions of its parent while breaking free of swing's formalism to play fast and loose with harmony, melody, and tempo. That mercurial spirit made heroes of high-flying, technically flamboyant players like Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell. Monk, by contrast, was as distinctive for his silences, crafting often skeletal melodies distinguished by unexpected, skewed harmonies. At one point dubbed the "high priest of bebop," he was more Zen archer, threading notes, warping chord structure, or stabbing "wrong" keys with a seeming looseness that in hindsight sounds as precise as haiku.

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser provides an intelligent portrait of this often reclusive, sometimes difficult artist, including telling glimpses of his volatility. A stormy studio session with Teo Macero, then Columbia Records' preeminent jazz producer, speaks volumes about Monk's very private approach to his muse. Perceptive interviews and glimpses of Monk's sunnier moments provide added depth, yet the real triumph is the generous catalog of classic Monk songs captured on camera. --Sam Sutherland

Jazz Icons: John Coltrane Live in '60, '61 & '65

As Ashley Kahn points out in his informative liner notes, there aren't many visual recordings of jazz giant John Coltrane in circulation--or, possibly, in existence. In capturing the saxophonist in three different phases in his too-brief career, this installment in the inestimable Jazz Icons video series performs a valuable service. The 92-minute DVD includes a 1960 performance in Dusseldorf, Germany, featuring Coltrane on tenor with his mates from Miles Davis's rhythm section, jamming on Miles's tunes; a 1961 performance in Baden Baden, Germany, with Coltrane on soprano and tenor, and Eric Dolphy on alto sax and flute, backed by pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Reggie Workman, and super-drummer Elvin Jones; and a surpassingly intense 1965 Belgium performance by "the Classic Quartet," with Jimmy Garrison replacing Workman. The black-and-white footage, some of it from broadcast sources, is sometimes striking, sometimes too shadowy (the dated camera effects, while evincing a certain period charm, still don't help). And a rare meeting of Coltrane and tenor great Stan Getz at the end of the Dusseldorf set is compromised by the poor miking of Getz. But we'll put up with such imperfections to hear the primal force of Trane's playing cut through the years, on songs ranging from "Autumn Leaves," to "Impressions," to "My Favorite Things." Trane lives. --Lloyd Sachs

Jazz Icons: John Coltrane provides an epic 95-minute overview of a true giant of 20th-century music. Three separate shows reveal Coltrane's ascending creative arc from hard bop innovator as a member of the Miles Davis Quartet in 1960 to consummate bandleader in 1961 to unrivalled jazz visionary in 1965. This DVD not only features Trane's classic quartet with Elvin Jones (drums), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and McCoy Tyner (piano), but also spotlights him onstage with other jazz legends including Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy and Oscar Peterson. Includes mind-blowing versions of his signature tunes "My Favorite Things" and "Impressions".

The Language of Music

TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC profiles the extraordinary life and legendary work of music producer / recording engineer Tom Dowd. Historical footage, vintage photographs and interviews with a who's who list of musical giants from the worlds of jazz, soul and classic rock shine a spotlight on the brilliance of Tom Dowd, whose creative spirit and passion for innovative technology helped shape the course of modern music. Tom Dowd's credits include recording sessions with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding, John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers Band, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Cream, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Booker T. & the MG's and countless other musical luminaries.

Includes Music & Interviews with Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, The Allman Brothers Band, Les Paul, Otis Redding, Thelonious Monk, Booker T. & the MG's & many more!

John Coltrane - The World According to John Coltrane

John Coltrane is easily one of the key innovators, visionaries, and virtuosos of American Jazz. Coltrane's spiritually influenced and challenging music not only turned the jazz world upside down in the 1960s, but directly impacted all modern music for decades to follow. It is this relationship between music and spirituality that is the core of John Coltrane: The World According to John Coltrane. Produced with his wife's cooperation, The World According to John Coltrane is truly a heartfelt documentary on his work and influence on the music community. The bulk of the 60-minute documentary focuses on Coltrane's eastern spirituality/musical direction in the 1960s as told through the voices of friends, fellow musicians, and admirers. Perhaps the most impressive aspects of this documentary are its live footage clips. Listening to Coltrane is extremely powerful, but watching him pour his heart and soul into his sax is absolutely awe-inspiring. These clips will leave you yearning to see the entire performances, unedited. Unfortunately, this is the DVD's one fault; no extras of the performances in their entirety. Oh well. A fan can dream. --Rob Bracco

Jazz - A Film by Ken Burns

Accompanied by a menagerie of products, Ken Burns's expansive 10-episode paean, Jazz, completes his trilogy on American culture, following The Civil War and Baseball. Spanning more than 19 hours, Jazz is, of course, about a lot more than what many have called America's classical music--especially in episodes 1 through 7. It's here that Burns unearths precious visual images of jazz musicians and hangs historical narratives around the music with convincing authority. Time can stand still as images float past to the sound of grainy vintage jazz, and the drama of a phonograph needle being placed on Louis Armstrong's celestial "West End Blues" is nearly sublime.

The film is also potent in arguing that the history of race in the 20th-century U.S. is at jazz's heart. But a few problems arise. First is Burns's reliance on Wynton Marsalis as his chief musical commentator. Marsalis might be charming and musically expert, but he's no historian. For the film to devote three of its episodes to the 1930s, one expects a bit more historical substance. Also, Jazz condenses the period of 1961 to the present into one episode, glossing over some of the music's giant steps. Burns has said repeatedly that he didn't know much about jazz when he began this project. So perhaps Jazz, for all its glory, would better be called Jazz: What I've Learned Since I Started Listening (And I Haven't Gotten Much Past 1961). For those who are already passionate about jazz, the film will stoke debate (and some derision, together with some reluctant praise). But for everyone else, it will amaze and entertain and kindle a flame for some of the greatest music ever dreamed. --Andrew Bartlett

The story, sound, and soul of a nation come together in the most American of art forms: Jazz. Ken Burns, who riveted the nation with The Civil War and Baseball, celebrates the music's soaring achievements, from its origins in blues and ragtime through swing, bebop, and fusion. Six years in the making, this "soundbreaking" series blends 75 interviews, more than 500 pieces of music, 2,400 still photographs, and over 2,000 rare and archival film clips. The 10-part musical journey spotlights many of America's most original, creative--and tragic--figures, including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis. Special features of the PBS DVD Gold include bonus performances and The Making of Jazz documentary.

Trane Tracks: The Legacy of John Coltrane

Elvin Jones' Jazz Machine / Elvin Jones, Ravi John Coltrane, Sonny Fortune

Elvin Jones is the archetypical modern jazz musician -instinct not intellect. This is the kind of music he has played to perfection since his days with John Coltrane. There are some heavy-duty side-men in his present "Jazz Machine", Sonny Fortune and Ravi John Coltrane, the son of the most influential tenor sax player ever.FEATURING:Sonny Fortune (saxophone, flute), Ravi John Coltrane (saxophone), Willie Pickins (piano),Chip Jackson (bass), Elvin Jones (drums)."Elvin Jones' ferocity and originality and subtlety on his instrument changed the nature of jazz drumming."-Whitney Balliett in American Musicians "Elvin was ready from the first time I heard him, you know, I could hear the genius there." -John Coltrane "The music (Elvin) played with Mr. Coltrane's band often burst with a tumultuous energy that, at the time, defied a whole set of jazz and social conventions. Nearly 30 years later Mr. Jones hasn't retreated: his music, loud and brash, keeps a transgressional quality to it."-Peter Watrous in the New York Times

Pride

Real animals are the stars of this groundbreaking live-action family film set against the visually stunning backdrop of East Africa. By combining breathtaking natural history footage cutting-edge animation techniques and a high-profile voice cast Prideallows the animals to talk to each other and tell the story themselves. Accepting the traditions of family life can sometimes prove too much for a mischievous young lion cub like Suki. But on the whole growing up in the Serengeti is good and it seems nothing can disturb the harmony of her peaceful pride. Then tragedy strikes and it tests her courage and exposes the laws and forces of nature in her struggle to survive.Running Time: 90 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY UPC: 794051192622

Lions speak with British accents while struggling with self-identity and turbulent relationships in this enjoyable--if sometimes scientifically questionable--live action drama. Combining documentary footage of a Tanzanian pride with tame lions and Jim Henson animation, the film tells the story of rebellious cub Suki (voiced by Kate Winslet) who wants to be a vegetarian and keep prey as pets, and her tentative brother Linus (Rupert Graves) who must learn to protect the pride. While its often cloying dialogue is aimed at young children, the 90-minute film may not hold their attention and some of the naturally violent lion life may be too much for them. Although the single lion death is discreet, there is plenty of fighting, hunting, and carcass-chomping. References to mating and nursing may also be too blunt for some parents, making it best for children ages 6 and older. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Charlie Rose with Quincy Jones (February 11, 2002)

A rebroadcast of an interview from November 22, 2001, with musician, producer, and composer Quincy Jones. Jones speaks about his new book titled Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, a new PBS segment of American Masters on his life, and some of his most notable work with musicians including Michael Jackson and John Coltrane.

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Jazz Casual - John Coltrane and Dave Brubeck