Download - Downbeat

holiday gift guide 2011 ✽ DVDs
Must-Have
Jazz DVDs
Of 2011
By James Hale
Originally broadcast on U.S. cable TV in 2009,
Icons Among Us (Indiepix 3939; 219:00 HHHH)
could be an attempt to address what many
viewed as Ken Burns’ folly. Burns’ decision to
give perfunctory notice to the music of the past
30 years riled many viewers of his massive Jazz
project. Commentators like Matthew Shipp, John
Medeski and The Bad Plus legitimize contemporary
improvised music, while Bill Frisell, Dafnis Prieto
and Bugge Wesseltoft are superbly captured
in performance. Once past the Burns issue—
summarized in point/counterpoint statements
from Wynton Marsalis and Medeski—the four episodes
and accompanying study guide provide an
expansive look at the global jazz community.
Ordering info: indiepixfilms.com
Breezy and well-edited, In Good Time: The
Piano Jazz Of Marian McPartland (Films By
Huey; 85:00 HHHH) has all the elements of a
great biopic: a charismatic subject and entertaining
storytellers. Radio host McPartland is no
stranger to jazz biography, and she knows which
parts of her life are most interesting. Billy Taylor,
Diana Krall, Renee Rosnes, Elvis Costello, Nnenna
Freelon and others help tell the story. Perhaps
the most charming part of the film is its honesty
in emphasizing McPartland, unflinchingly, in old
age, more so than her younger years. A number of
performances from McPartland’s program Piano
Jazz are included, featuring Bill Frisell, Mulgrew
Miller and Mary Lou Williams. Another large segment
is devoted to McPartland’s interest in author
Rachel Carson and environmentalism, which she
turned into an elegiac suite. Queen Elizabeth II
and former President Bill Clinton also pay tribute.
Ordering info: filmsbyhuey.com
The fifth installment of Jazz Icons returns with
a slate of marquee names and a new partner in
Mosaic Records. Shot less than four months after
Wayne Shorter joined the group, Art Blakey’s
Jazz Messengers: Live In France 1959 (2003;
82:29 HHH) showcases the burgeoning talents
of Blakey and trumpeter Lee Morgan. Shorter’s
distinctive approach to improvisation gives a new
spin to tunes like “Blues March” and “A Night In
Tunisia.” Despite the disappointing evidence that
just 12 minutes of the only live performance of “A
Love Supreme” were filmed, John Coltrane: Live
In France 1965 (2001; 52:31 HHHH½) catches
the saxophonist’s quartet in Antibes near the end
of its existence and in top form. Coltrane fully
synthesizes the melodic structure of “Naima” and
“Ascension” with ecstatic, extended solos, and
Dizzy Gillespie’s walk-on for two bop classics
adds a spark. Johnny Griffin: Live In France
1971 (2004; 76:45 HHH½) has much to offer,
particularly the interplay with drummer Arthur
Taylor in concert and studio settings. Watching
Freddie Hubbard: Live In France 1973 (2005;
50:39 HHHH) is like seeing Willie Mays in his
prime: young, powerful and graceful. Leading
his CTI-era quintet—with an equally muscular
Michael Carvin on drums—Hubbard’s virtuosity
is nothing short of stunning. Saxophonist Junior
Cook and Fender Rhodes keyboardist George
Cables are almost superfluous. Taped in an exhibition
hall lobby, Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Live In
France 1972 (2006; 74:21 HHH) lacks the revival
tent atmosphere of some of Kirk’s other television
appearances from the era. There is blistering
tenor and rich clarinet on a piece dedicated
to Duke Ellington and some of his horn players,
but even a raucous “Volunteered Slavery” fails to
raise this above a one-sided conversation. From
its casual mise en scène opening to the closing
lurch from the piano bench, Thelonious Monk:
Live In France 1969 (2002; 55:34 HHHHH) is an
intimate view of solo Monk, up close and in color.
Ordering info: mosaicrecords.com
Released in celebration of the bandleader’s
centenary, Stan Kenton: Artistry In Rhythm
(Jazzed Media 9004; 117:00 HHH) starts with a
number of former band members acknowledging
Kenton criticisms over his career. It never fully escapes
his image as an underappreciated genius
and a somewhat tragic hero, which wears thin
over two hours. Commentators like Bill Holman
and Dr. Herb Wong have incisive things to say, but
the film would be stronger if the input of historian
Ken Poston had been used as a formal narration.
The extensive Kenton visual archive, however,
balances out the film’s shortcomings. DB
Ordering info: jazzedmedia.com
72 DOWNBEAT DECEMBER 2011