Jazz - A Film by Ken Burns

Starring:Wynton Marsalis, Keith David, Duke Ellington, Branford Marsalis, Gary Giddins, John Coltrane, Frank Sinatra, Matthew Broderick, James Lincoln Collier, Louis Armstrong, Stan Levey, Gene Krupa, Joya Sherrill, Fats Waller, Harry Connick Jr., George Wein, Jimmy Rowles, Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, Milt Jackson
Director: Ken Burns
Studio: Pbs Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video
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.

Amazon.com essential video

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.

Customer Reviews:

A slanted, one-dimensional view on a complex subject.......2007-05-31

The Ken Burns Jazz series attempts to compile the entire history of jazz and the world surrounding it into ten two-hour films. You have to give them credit for trying, but the series has some serious flaws and presents a view on jazz history that many, including myself, would consider inadequate or just plain wrong. Biased views are presented as fact (such as the comment that Miles Davis' electric period was not innovative and that he was "playing tennis without a net"). Also, much time is wasted on commentators who seem to have nothing interesting to say, and who present their opinions on the music and their musings on the musicians, most of which are entirely speculative and out of place. PLUS they try to cram everything after '61 into one film, while any jazz fan knows that a whole lot was happening to the music during and after that time. They spent three films on swing; couldn't they have given some of that time to the 60's and 70's?
All that being said, these films are informative in some parts and contain some AMAZING footage. Worth seeing, but be wary: this is just one way to look at jazz, and not a great one in my opinion.

Long and often interesting but finally a disappointment.......2007-05-03

Jazz is music. This documentary only occasionally notices the music. It focuses on people who were important to it, on racism, on the hardships of being a musician, on the historical progression of jazz musicians, but it seems like the music gets lost. It is as if one were to write a biography of Lincoln by studying the clothes he wore or the food he ate. The substance is just not there. There is also a sense that Burns is using the musicians to tell the story he wants to tell so that someone watching this will know that Stan Getz used drugs and little else about him, that Bill Evans was booed for being a white man in Miles Davis' group but not anything about his piano style or how it connects with other styles or how these styles evolve or vanished or blossomed into something entirely new. That is frankly because this is not a documentary about jazz. I am not sure really what it is about. Even as a history of the musicians, I doubt few could say that anyone watching this film in its entirety would be conversant on the subject. It is a really sad misfire. There is plenty of good stuff buried in here but I think it would take someone less focused on having social consequence and more focused on the enigma of music to make a film like this work. If jazz is the question, this film has not found the answer.

There is more to Jazz than just on Bourbon Street.......2007-02-25

After 7 years of stalling, with the help of a coupon, I finally completed the Burns' boys cycle by buying this set for myself for my birthday. I had only watched it in spurts previously, but after watching 1/2 of Episode 1 uninterrupted last night, I had to ask myself, "Pregosin, What the hell took you so long?" In that half hour alone I learned more about the New Orleans atmosphere of the late 19th early 20th century that I never knew before. And now with Louisiana still in recovery from the scars of hurricanes in 2005, it's important to know about that city's history as well as the music that was born there. This epic of our man Ken tells both stories at once and well worth the view for anyone (but especially those who like his work in general). Gerald Early was right back in Episode 1 of Baseball when he said that in 2000 years when the American civilization is studied in detail 3 things will standout; The Constitution, Baseball and Jazz. Although I think Kenny might have grinned if instead of the Constitution, Jerry would have said The Civil War. I'm glad I finally bought it, and am looking forward to buying his new work coming this fall on World War II (even if it hits the shelves before the telecast).:-)

Shockingly Revisionist and Doctrinaire View of Jazz History.......2006-11-20

Throughly dismisses all Jazz after 1960, including Fusion, Free Jazz, and everything thereafter. Marsalis actually calls Cecil Taylor's music "self-indulgent bullsh**" Apparently Taylor was not allowed to rebut this during the film. How was that allowed to air on the supposedly intellectual (but more likely agenda-driven) on PBS, I will never understand. If you think Swing is the only valid form of Jazz, you will love this series. If you think Coltrane is a God, you get five minutes' summary. So lets see here: 15 hours on Louis Armstrong and Duke, 5 minutes on Coletrane, and a total didmissal of everything after Duke's death. Reminds me of the Republisuck's "Fair and Balanced" nonsense. PBS, this is your wake-up call. Stop trying to rewrite history - Jazz ain't in a museum. Just ask the artists (most of whom are alive) whom Burns left out. Metheny, you out there?

Great Study on Black History.......2006-09-27

The best thing I like about this documentary is that it is a great study on black History. But it needed to deliver more on what it was supposed to be Jazz Music. I can't believe he left out the great jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Left out Roland Kirk and Keith Jarrett. very little on dave Brubeck. Should have talked about classic Jazz Albums like Kind of blue, Time out (with the song Take Five) A Love Supreme, My favourite things, bitches Brew etc. Also nothing on Milt Jackson and the great Modern Jazz Quartet. Ken burns must realize there's is more to jazz than just the big band swing era. But still a great study on black history which makes it worthwhile just for that alone. and nothing on jazz hip hop. songs like doo bop song(miles Davis) and Jazz thing (gang Starr)

Average customer rating:

A slanted, one-dimensional view on a complex subject
Long and often interesting but finally a disappointment
There is more to Jazz than just on Bourbon Street
Shockingly Revisionist and Doctrinaire View of Jazz History
Great Study on Black History

Jazz - A Film by Ken Burns
Starring: Wynton Marsalis , Duke Ellington , Keith David , Branford Marsalis , and Gary Giddins
Director: Ken Burns
Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Ken Burns's Jazz: The Story of American Music
Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues - A Musical Journey
Jazz: A History of America's Music
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Baseball - A Film by Ken Burns

ASIN: B00004XQOU
Release Date: 2001-01-02

Amazon.com essential video

Description

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.

Customer Reviews:

A slanted, one-dimensional view on a complex subject.......2007-05-31

Long and often interesting but finally a disappointment.......2007-05-03

There is more to Jazz than just on Bourbon Street.......2007-02-25

Shockingly Revisionist and Doctrinaire View of Jazz History.......2006-11-20

Great Study on Black History.......2006-09-27

Average customer rating:

A slanted, one-dimensional view on a complex subject
Long and often interesting but finally a disappointment
There is more to Jazz than just on Bourbon Street
Shockingly Revisionist and Doctrinaire View of Jazz History
Great Study on Black History

Jazz - A Film By Ken Burns
Starring: Wynton Marsalis , Duke Ellington , Keith David , Branford Marsalis , and Gary Giddins
Director: Ken Burns
Manufacturer: Pbs Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video