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