Results for "Documentary"

Documentary: Horace Parlan

The response to my Horace Parlan post earlier this week was enormous. Parlan really was special and should be thought of as one of the Top-10 post-war piano greats. So why not another post on Parlan. Though I posted the following documentary some years back, I thought I'd post it again for the thousands of readers ...

Jazz Doc: Stéphane Grappelli

European jazz starts with Stéphane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France Quintet. The violinist along with guitarist Django Reinhardt added Louis Vola on bass and Joseph Reinhardt and Roger Chaput on guitar. The group ended its run in 1939 with the onset of World War II. Grappelli was in London when war broke out and ...

Britain Plays the Blues

How did all those British rock bands learn to play the blues in the 1960s and why were they so fascinated by the form? What was the unlikely impact of the Yardbirds, the Animals, the Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, John Mayall, Cream and other British bands introducing white audiences to the blues in the U.S.? Most ...

Frech Doc: Bud Powell

To fully feel the beauty and grace of jazz at its highest level, you must appreciate the sadness that comes with the joy and the poetry that's baked into the music's history. They are one, like two sides of a coin. Virtually all of the exceptional jazz musicians had tragic sides, making one wonder whether greatness ...

Documentary: Grant Green

At his peak in the early 1960s, Grant Green was one of the most soulful, swinging jazz guitarists recording. Unfortunately, many of his albums weren't released until after his death in 1979. The business reasoning remains puzzling but the decision by Blue Note clearly had nothing to do with his playing. Green appeared on many albums ...

Doc: Sal Mosca (Un-Sung)

For years, cool-school pianist Sal Mosca labored as a student of Lennie Tristano, recording only sporadically. He avoided touring with top stars as their accompanist to be with his family and to teach his students. Before Mosca died in 2007, James M. Lester was able to make this wonderful short documentary—Sal Mosca (Un- Sung): To read ...

Documentary: Jim Hall

Doc: Gene Krupa, Jazz Legend

Doc: Buddy Rich, Jazz Legend

In 2002, Warner Bros. released one of the finest documentaries of drummer Buddy Rich. The film clips are rare and spectacular. Produced by Rob Wallis and Paul Siegel, and co-produced and written by Bruce H. Klauber, with Cathy Rich and Sandy Feldstein as co-executive producers, the documentary can be seen at YouTube in two parts. Bruce ...

Documentary: Lennie Tristano