JAZZ : Rare, Classic Videos Finally Distributed
Little by little, the audio-visual information that can contribute to our knowledge of the sight and sound of jazz history is becoming more generally available.
Some of the great documentaries, such as the recent two-part examination of Duke Ellington, are reaching us via public television. A few have been shown theatrically; others (including several of those reviewed below) languished on the shelf for many years before a distributor was found.
All of the following videos are available from Rhapsody Films Inc., Box 179, New York, N.Y. 10014. The first two are $39.95, the others $29.95, with a shipping and handling charge of $4 per order. They are unnumbered.
“THE LAST OF THE BLUE DEVILS.” 90 minutes. Color. This Kansas City classic is essential to every jazz library. It begins on a snow-clogged street outside the old Musicians’ Union Hall in Kansas City, where a group of old-timers (mainly Big Joe Turner, Jay McShann and Count Basie) gather to reminisce, 50 years later, about how it was in the Pendergast era, when night life was wide open and the famous Blue Devils (in which Basie began his move toward the big time) were flourishing.
Many of those who play or talk have left us since Bruce Ricker put this film together in 1979: Budd Johnson, Jo Jones, Eddie Durham, Jimmy Forrest, Freddie Green and, of course, Basie and Turner. It is hard to decide which is more delightful, the performance (particularly McShann’s ingratiating warmth both as singer and pianist) or the often poignant recollections, coupled with late and early clips of Basie bands, the one and only performance shot of Charlie Parker, anecdotes about Lester Young, Benny Moten and other legends. One might wish that this had all been done decades earlier. (Turner is so far past his prime that his lyrics are barely intelligible), yet the fact that it was done at all has enabled us to be transported to a magical moment when time seems to stand still for these hardy pioneers. 5 stars.
“NEW ORLEANS: TIL THE BUTCHER CUTS HIM DOWN.” 53 minutes. Color. Made by Philip Spaulding in 1971, with narration by the veteran New Orleans archivist William Russell, this is a window on an even earlier world, when men like Bunk Johnson, Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory were emerging. The central figure is Kid Punch Miller, a trumpeter said to have influenced Satchmo. Liberally sprinkled with river-boat scenes, sessions at Preservation Hall and the story of Miller’s return home after a long absence, the film reaches a moving climax as Miller, barely able to make it out of the hospital, takes to the stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival for what turned out to be his final performance. Though the music often sounds as tired and dispirited as the players, some of the sense of how it all sounded in the formative years comes across in this affectionate tribute. 4 stars.
“JACKIE McLEAN ON MARS.” 31 minutes. Black-and-white. McLean, who has been teaching for some years at a college in Hartford, Conn., discusses everything from how to keep your lip muscles in shape to his involvement with children; his drug bust is also dealt with (he later counseled drug addicts and appeared in the off-Broadway and film versions of “The Connection”). It might have been better to hear fewer pointless questions such as “How have you become a legend?” and more music not interrupted by voice-overs. Trumpeter Woody Shaw is heard along with the leader’s saxophone. 3 stars.
“LES McCANN TRIO.” 28 minutes. Color. Seen at Shelly’s Manne Hole around 1965, at about half his present weight, McCann plays early funk piano, makes his bow as a vocal balladeer in “With These Hands,” and plunges into a prehistoric version of his now famous “Compared to What?” He is backed by Jimmy Rowser on bass and Donald Dean on drums in this brief, mildly agreeable show, totally lacking in production values. 3 stars.
“SHELLY MANNE QUARTET.” 28 minutes. Color. Despite the presence of four superb musicians (the others are Ray Brown, Hampton Hawes and Bob Cooper), nothing happens except a lackluster jam session with mediocre camera work, barely adequate sound and color that is mainly pink. Somebody blew a great opportunity here. 2 1/2 stars.
“JAZZ: EARL HINES AND COLEMAN HAWKINS.” 28 minutes. Black-and-white. Shot in a film studio in 1965, Hines demonstrates the percussive style that established him as the dominant jazz pianist of the 1920s and early ‘30s. He sings one number, to little effect; later Coleman Hawkins, then far beyond his great days as the master of the tenor sax, gets through a couple of tunes, none too comfortably. Hines talks very little, Hawkins not at all. For the Hines piano footage, 3 stars.
“ZOOT SIMS QUARTET.” 28 minutes. Color. Undated, this has no narration, no dialogue, unimaginative camera work and production that takes less than full advantage of the distinguished company (Sims on tenor sax, Roger Kellaway on piano, Larry Bunker on drums and Chuck Berghofer on bass, all live at Donte’s). 3 stars.
“PASSING IT ON.” A Musical Portrait of Barry Harris. 23 minutes. Color. Conducting classes in his own theater-club at Harvard, pianist Harris emerges as an agreeable, articulate personality as this short but engaging film follows a day-in-the-life pattern, with visits by Red Rodney, Clifford Jordan and Pepper Adams (presumably circa 1984). As Harris points out, the average young American seems to know little or nothing about jazz, a situation he is trying hard to rectify. 4 stars.