Jazz On A Summer's Day [1958] (NTSC)

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Starring: ~ Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson Chuck Berry Chico Hamilton Gerry Mulligan
List Price: £15.99

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Product Details:

Studio: Snapper Music

Region: 0

Number of Discs: 1

Format: NTSC,

Rating:

Sales Rank: 11596

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Customer Reviews:

Perfection (16 November 2008)
In my opinion, this is the perfect movie. The photography is amazing thanks to Bert Stern being a stills man first of all, and a film maker second. His work shows the best of both worlds. The music is so fantastic that the audience actually listens to it!!!! A bit of a novelty nowadays. Mind you, I'm still wondering what Chuck Berry was doing there. Still he was fun!
I can't work out whether Mahalia Jackson or Chico Hamilton stole the show, but you could literally hear a pin drop during their performances, the audience was so entranced. I would put them equal first.
Watch it, listen to it, and make up your own mind. If you like wonderful music played with skill, love and talent, this is the DVD for you

wow amazeing this is fab and the soundtrack!! (04 September 2008)
my nana went to see the film in the 60s she loved it i love it too wow and the soundtrack both essential buy them both!! you cant go wrong mahalia jackson,thelonious monk,count basie fantastic stuff what you waiting for!!

absolutely marvelous (10 June 2008)
First of all, let me tell you how thrilled I am by this DVD
- it has amazing musical moment with, for instance, Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Mahalia Jackson, Dinah Washington and Louis Armstrong shining very brightly (although, yes, the Monk number is marred by some mood shots and other interventions...), Satchmo and Teagarden crooning and scatting magnificently... Actually, I don't think I've seen a more beautiful footage of Armstrong's performance; he was still on the top in the 50s and Bert Stern portraits him beautifully, with some fortunatelly stylized stage lighting.

And it goes beyond music; check out the glamour of O'Day's attire, the moment very spirited Dinah Washington grabs the battons and joins Terry Gibbs on the vibes, the look on great Jo Jones' face while he supports Chuck Berry or, for that matter, the bizarre clarinet spot on that number - someone said it's Peanuts Hacko (who is too caucasian, as you can see on Armstrong's numbers on some other DVD's), others mention Rudy Rutheford - I don't know how he looked like (I do know he played in Count Basie orchestra back in 40s or something like that, so I guess he might be African American)...

I would agree with those who say that cool jazz numbers don't fare here as well as the traditional jazz, blues, gospel, mainstream and some modern ( Thelonious Monk!) numbers, even with the annoying break in the middle of the Sonny Stitt-Sal Salvador performance.

The breaks in the performance grow rarer as the film reaches the end, so there is place for true climax and musical as well as cinemathic catharsis in the end. But, from strictly cinematic point of view, I must add that there are some really fine shots; even the notoriously disinterested lady eating ice-cream looks interesting - it probably is a picture of the festival culture in the 50s, as is the attempt to connect it with the entertainment and leisure industry in general....

All in all, this is a unique jazz experience (and an interesting although not perfect film), recommended (or, should I say indispensable) to all serious jazz fans and interested beginners.

a gem of a film (29 July 2004)
The greatest jazz film of all time. 1958 was a turning point in modern music and this film encapsulates the transition between the traditional and the modern. The Newport Jazz festival has been going now for 50 years but at no other festival was such a diversified line up of artists assembled. From Louis Armstrong to Chuck Berry, Anita O'Day to Theolonius Monk, this is a concert to savour. Shot by a fashion photographer and linked with stunning passages featuring the 1958 America's cup, this is more than a concert film. It is a study of 1950's America having a great time on a summer's day. Buy it.

A day not to be missed. (08 July 2004)
I was 16 and in Missouri when this movie was made and when I saw the film, it just told me that there was a great wide world out there and I wanted to get to it fast. I spent years and years trying to find a record of Jazz on a Summers Day, but nothing appeared. Copyright problems I was told. Well, there is no problem now! I can put the DVD on my computer and just listen to the magic of the day or sit and watch. The movie and music capture an America long gone, and I miss that. But at least the DVD gives me that day when the sun shone and the music was HOT.