Lullaby of Harlem

Starring:Lullaby of Harlem
Studio: PASSPORT VIDEO
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
It's a smooth and gentle ride on the A Train to Harlem. Travel back to the early days of rhythm and blues at old haunts like The Apollo, The Savoy, and The Cotton Club in this one hour musical special "Lullaby of Harlem."

You'll get a thrill on Sugar Hill with the Delta Rhythm Boys, and swoon to the sultry sounds of America's number one songstress, Billie Holliday.

There's a lot of Misbehavin' going on when Fats Waller hits the stage, and the Good Times Roll with Louie Jordon and the Typani 5.

Swing and shimmy with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and that "Errand Boy of Rhythm," the one and only, Nat King Cole.

Thelma Middleton and George Washington join Louis Armstrong for a swinging duet, and Cab Calloway leads his orchestra in "Hi-De-Ho."

Travel up the lazy river with The Mills Brothers and melt into the velvety vocals of Billy Eckstine.

Beep & Bop with Dizzy Gillespie and dance the night away with the immortal Count Basie.

Re-experience one of the most delightful, colorful eras in America's history with "Lullaby of Harlem."

FEATURING

Count Basie Nat `King' Cole Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong Billie Holiday Dizzy Gillespie The Delta Rhythm Boys Billy Eckstine The Mills Brothers Cab Calloway Fats Waller Louis Jordan & The Tympani 5

Description

It's a smooth and gentle ride on the A Train to Harlem. Travel back to the early days of rhythm and blues at old haunts like The Apollo, The Savoy, and The Cotton Club in this one hour musical special "Lullaby of Harlem."

You'll get a thrill on Sugar Hill with the Delta Rhythm Boys, and swoon to the sultry sounds of America's number one songstress, Billie Holliday.

There's a lot of Misbehavin' going on when Fats Waller hits the stage, and the Good Times Roll with Louie Jordon and the Typani 5.

Swing and shimmy with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, and that "Errand Boy of Rhythm," the one and only, Nat King Cole.

Thelma Middleton and George Washington join Louis Armstrong for a swinging duet, and Cab Calloway leads his orchestra in "Hi-De-Ho."

Travel up the lazy river with The Mills Brothers and melt into the velvety vocals of Billy Eckstine.

Beep & Bop with Dizzy Gillespie and dance the night away with the immortal Count Basie.

Re-experience one of the most delightful, colorful eras in America's history with "Lullaby of Harlem."

FEATURING

Count Basie Nat `King' Cole Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong Billie Holiday Dizzy Gillespie The Delta Rhythm Boys Billy Eckstine The Mills Brothers Cab Calloway Fats Waller Louis Jordan & The Tympani 5

] Filmed Live at the Cotton Club, the Apollo Theater, and the Savoy Ballroom in the Golden Age of Harlem.

Customer Reviews:

Rare jazz videos from late 1930's to early 50's.......2007-01-26

This DVD is a strong and varied collection of music videos.

The visual and sound quality range from fair to very good. Video clarity and resolution are usually good, but several times there is the compression of dynamic range and loss of detail in the darker areas that comes when dealing with deteriorated masters or that can occur when making copies of copies.

This cheaply produced video has a playing time of just 49 minutes (not the one hour promised on the package). There is no background data presented for any of the performers. A one-sentence introduction for each number is it. No funds were sent on hiring a writer or on cleaning up the videos.

Other annoying minuses:
- There is no on-screen ID of specific musicians.
- The container notes are simply wrong about film locations. Allegedly containing live clips from the Cotton Club, Apollo Theater, and Savoy Ballroom, some clips are from TV shows, some from movies, and some are 'soundies' that were produced as extras to be shown in movie theaters. Passport Video makes no attempt to specify a source and date for each number.

The rewarding pluses:
- The Delta Rhythm Boys are amazingly powerful. Their singing is precise and tight. Their vocal arrangements are strong and the harmonies are sophisticated. Anyone enjoying jazz or even pop vocal groups should check these guys out. Wow!
- The Mill Brothers always swing. I love hearing their family harmonies.
- Fats Waller performs Ain't Misbehaving in a `soundie.' His clowning and mugging are there in strong measure. Man, he could sure play the piano!
- Rare footage of the Count Basie 7, probably from 1951, is a total gas! Basie played the piano much more aggressively than was the norm after he reformed his big band in 1952. Energizing music not to be missed!
- Duke Ellington with Ben Webster taking solo honors and a showy dance routine with Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. Fun music, exciting visuals!
- Billy Eckstine sings a ballad, and the video captures a powerful singer at the peak of his powers. He was probably the first romantic singer to cross the color barrier. Prior to Eckstine, most Black American vocalists concentrated on blues or novelty numbers.
- Dizzy Gillespie leads one of the first big bands to play bebop. Fun and historically valuable.
- Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan, Nat Cole, and Cab Calloway round out the offerings.

Bottom line: Fans of classic American jazz will wish the tunes went on forever! Production values and packaging accuracy deserve one or two stars. However, the music, the rareness of the visual treats, and the bargain price all help me overlook the annoyances and give the DVD five stars.

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