Home » Jazz News

Video / DVD News

Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Mars Explorer

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
August 18, 2013

Today, let's look at some videos featuring saxophonist Mars Williams, who's coming to St. Louis to team with bassist Darin Gray and drummer Tyler Damon for an concert at 7:00 p.m. Friday, August 23 at the St. Louis Art Museum. The event is sponsored by SLAM and New Music Circle. Williams, who grew up in the Chicago area and studied with Roscoe Mitchell and Anthony Braxton, is a versatile player who first became known to rock fans as a member ...

Continue Reading...

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Remembering George Duke

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
August 11, 2013

Today, we keep our usual St. Louis-centric format on pause for one more week to pay tribute to keyboardist George Duke, who died this past Monday, August 5 at age 67. Though Duke, a native Californian, had no direct personal connection to our town, he played many gigs here over the years, the last being two years ago at the Touhill with St. Louis' own David Sanborn and bassist Marcus Miller. And although it's not the usual practice here to ...

Continue Reading...

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Newport Jazz Festival Moments

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
August 4, 2013

With the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival happening this weekend, this edition of our video showcase pays tribute to one of jazz's longest-lived and best-known events by looking at some choice performances given there by various jazz greats over the years. The first video is actually a full-length movie: Jazz On A Summer's Day, the film about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival by Bert Stern that generally is considered the first important jazz documentary. It features performances by Louis Armstrong, Mahalia ...

Continue Reading...

Video / DVD

Fred Astaire: Jazz Pianist

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 25, 2013

At his dancing best, Fred Astaire had the grace and cunning of a fencer. His swing-era manner, daring routines and silky steps still captivate. Less well known (or too easily forgotten) was Astaire's ability as a pianist. His keyboard moments in film are easily overlooked because his ballroom moves steal the show. Here are three clips from movies that feature brief interludes of Astaire pounding the ivories—thanks to JazzWax reader John Cooper... From Follow the Fleet (1936)... From Let's ...

Continue Reading...

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Jazz Film Festival Summer 2013

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
July 21, 2013

It's summer vacation time, and today we take a respite from the usual routine of previewing upcoming jazz shows in St. Louis to present our own little online jazz film festival. Up above, A Great Day in Harlem is a 1994 documentary film that tells the story behind one of the most famous photos in the history of jazz: the 1958 B&W group portrait of 57 notable jazz musicians photographed by Art Kane, a freelancer for Esquire magazine, in front ...

Continue Reading...

Video / DVD

Jazzdoc: Art Tatum

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 19, 2013

Video / DVD

Ron Isley: Who's That Lady

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 18, 2013

The Isley Brothers' That Lady was released 40 years ago this summer. It has always been a favoritee of mine—with its wailing hard rock guitar and Ron Isley's falsetto. It packs a funky, psychedelic punch. So when I spent time with Ron at his home in St. Louis a few weeks ago for my Wall Street Journal profile, I had an opportunity to talk to him about it: Marc Myers: Most people aren't aware that the Isley Brothers' That Lady ...

Continue Reading...

Video / DVD

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis: 1985

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
July 17, 2013

A year before his death in 1986, Eddie Lockjaw" Davis was in Copenhagen on tour with a quartet. For those unfamiliar with Lockjaw (or “Jaws"), the tenor saxophonist was a spectacular soloist dating back to the '40s, when his gruff, pushy style was admired and adopted by R&B honkers. Originally an East Coast bebopper, Lockjaw recorded many small-group albums in the '50s with organists and with saxophonist Johnny Griffin. But Jaws was always most comfortable soloing in front of a ...

Continue Reading...