Jazz is not only heard but also seen—read our critics’ takes on live videos and documentaries.
In 1989, jazz writer-turned-director Gary Giddins crafted Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong, with Melvin Van Peebles as the craggy musical voice of America’s first … Read More “Sacha Jenkins: Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (Apple/Imagine)”
“It’s a little nest of happiness. All the recent wounds are all healed here … because there’s always somebody blowing something beautiful and blowing a … Read More “Ronnie’s (Greenwich Entertainment)”
There is an abiding paradox to the life of Billie Holiday, which is the core tenet of her art: In theory you should feel bad … Read More “Billie (Greenwich Entertainment)”
Starting with a zig-zagging trumpet’s blare to match the onscreen action of a canvas stroked repeatedly with colorful acrylics, John Scheinfeld’s documentary Herb Alpert Is… immediately … Read More “Herb Alpert Is… (Abramorama)”
Watching Ella Fitzgerald insist upon making her way from the streets of Harlem—and insist she does—to an outcome that anyone else would have thought beyond … Read More “Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things (Eagle Rock)”
Given guitarist John Abercrombie’s recent passing, you may be inclined to view Open Land, a film by directors Arno Oehri and Oliver Primus, as something … Read More “Open Land: Meeting John Abercrombie (ECM)”
Is it possible to be a fan of jazz and not be a fan of Blue Note Records? At once a kind of steward station, … Read More “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes (Eagle Rock) “
In the opening moments of Bill Evans, Time Remembered, a new documentary by Bruce Spiegel, bassist Chuck Israels admits that, despite his long tenure in … Read More “Bill Evans: Portrait in Jazz”
Viewed in retrospect, historic events tend to take on an air of inevitability: What we know happened becomes what had to happen. Lee Morgan’s tragic … Read More “Frankie & Johnny, Helen & Morgan”
Early in the new documentary Chasing Trane, Benny Golson recalls his friendship with John Coltrane, complaining that the iconic saxophonist made him do all the … Read More “John Coltrane: Love & Heart & Spirit”
