Jazz Casual: Dave Brubeck

On October 17, 1961, the popular and pioneering pianist-composer Dave Brubeck performed on Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual, the television show that showcased some of the finest jazz artists in a half-hour of no-frills performance and conversation. Backed by the Lester Young-influenced alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Eugene Wright and drummer Joe Morello, Brubeck and his combo perform some of their odd-metered hits. Desmond's dancing ditty, "Take Five" is rendered in a faster tempo than the studio version. Brubeck's ragtime-flavoured "(It's a) Raggy Waltz," highlights his percussive piano lines, while "Castillian Blues" and the Turkish strains of "Blue Rondo a la Turk" reveal his multicultural, compositional genius. Gleason, the show's creator and host, was a well-respected, San Francisco-based jazz critic and author. He remarks during the show that Dave Brubeck was "a provocative, experimental, and interesting musician." That statement is still true today.

End of the Rainbow

A bittersweet musical drama set in London centers around a dejected jazz musician who is on the edge. He perceives a cold, black and white existence. In his heart there remains a ray of hope that will transport him to a warm and colorful world. Through the music, his spirit is renewed, if only for an instant, at the end of the rainbow.

Bewitched - Stacey Kent in Concert

Miles Davis Live At Tanglewood 1970

Miles Davis performing live at Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood Massachusetts on August 18, 1970. Miles Davis tp / Chick Corea el-p / Keith Jarrett org / Gary Bartz ss, as / Dave Holland el-b / Jack DeJohnette dr / Airto Moreira perc 1. Directions 2. Bitches Brew 3. The Mask 4. It's About That Time 5. Sanctuary 6. Spanish Key 7. Miles Runs The Voodoo Down

La opción cero

There are countless stories of Cubans reaching their dream destination of Florida as boat refugees. A lesser known route to the United States starts with a flight in a ramshackle plane to Guyana. Then the refugees travel to Colombia where they cross the jungle to arrive in Central America, from where they hope to reach the promised land of America—a hard and dangerous journey. Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltrán visits them in a refugee camp in Panama, where one of the residents gives him an idea. Many people here have filmed their journey, she says, and these videos tell their real story. These jerky, shocking videos are interspersed with Beltrán’s footage of the camp, tangibly illustrating the difference between the hectic pace of the journey and the insecure life at the reception center.

John Scofield Uberjam Band Live At The Jazz Fest Sarajevo

In early July of 2012, Scofield released, after ten years of record pause of ensemble Uberjam, a new and long-awaited album called Uberjam Deux...

Spirits of Havana

This feature documentary offers a glimpse of contemporary Cuba’s rich musical culture through the experiences of renowned Canadian soprano sax player and flautist Jane Bunnett. Jane and her husband, trumpeter Larry Cramer, are surrounded by the charm of Old Havana as they connect with some of the city's finest musicians—like singers Bobby Carcasses and Amado Dedeu —for a recording session. Bunnett and Cramer then venture to small towns like Cienfuegos and Camaguey, where they hook up with local musicians and visit music schools. Global music fans will be captivated by the performances of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, a celebrated Afro-Cuban rumba group, and Desandann, a 10-member a cappella choir that sings in Haitian Creole.

George Benson: Live At Montreux 1986

Recorded Live on July 18th, 1986 at "Montreux Casino", during the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland)

George Benson & Al Jarreau: Live at Montreux

Low Down

The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.

Starstruck: Gene Kelly's Love Letter to Ballet

In 1960, American dancer and actor Gene Kelly created for the Paris Opera Ballet an original choreography that was highly acclaimed at the time, yet rarely performed thereafter; a genius work that the Scottish Ballet, accompanied by the stirring and evocative score by composer and pianist George Gershwin, epitome of orchestral jazz, brings back to life sixty years later.

Sweet and Lowdown

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

The Lost City

In Havana, Cuba in the late 1950's, a wealthy family, one of whose sons is a prominent nightclub owner, is caught in the violent transition from the oppressive regime of Batista to the Marxist government of Fidel Castro. Castro's regime ultimately leads the nightclub owner to flee to New York.

Hockshop Blues

Musical performers put on a show in a pawn shop to convince a man to give them the money they need to buy back their instruments.

Sicko

A documentary about the corrupt health care system in The United States who's main goal is to make profit even if it means losing people’s lives. "The more people you deny health insurance the more money we make" is the business model for health care providers in America.

How It Breathes

Elijah Jamal Balbed grew up in Washington DC in the midst of one of its most difficult eras, as its identity was being tested. As the city changed around him, his budding career as a musician exposed him to the people and music providing a voice and an outlet to the people of DC. Now tasked with preserving and sharing that tradition, Balbed reflects on balancing that responsibility with creating a musical identity of his own.

The Blues Brothers

Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

La fabuleuse histoire du jazz à Vienne

The emblematic festival Jazz à Vienne welcomes each year more than 200 000 festival-goers and 1000 artists. This documentary retraces the history and relives the highlights of the festival, since its creation in 1981 by Jean-Paul Boutellier, Jean Gueffier, Pierre Domeyne, Jean-Pierre Vignola and George Wein. The greatest jazz musicians have performed there, such as Miles Davis, Michel Petrucciani, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Lionel Hampton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Herbie Hancock, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie. So much so that in four decades, Jazz à Vienne has become one of the most important jazz festivals in the world, open to all styles.

Ray

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

Daybreak Express

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.