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Jazz on a Summer's Day | Year: 1959 Classification: Music Video - Jazz Directed: - Aram Avakian - Bert Stern Actors/Actresses: - Thelonious Monk - Dinah Washington - Gerry Mulligan - Big Maybelle - Chuck Berry - Chico Hamilton - Louis Armstrong - Mahalia Jackson jazz on a summers day I live in Gloucestershire, England and could not find this DVD in UK. Thanks to Amazon and the Web, my copy arrived in (...)days! I first saw this wonderful film many years ago and I remember how it affected me. A passion for jazz AND photography makes this film the perfect vehicle to soak up the atmosphere of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. I would have been 8 years old when it was filmed and even at that early age, I was into Monk, Mulligan and Shearing. George lives just up the road from me and I know him quite well. He would have been 39 in 1958. The film is beautifully shot, focusing on the performances, the music and atmosphere, but without a documentary. It doesn't need one! The way Bert Stern moves from artiste to audience is superb. Cool performers and guys in the audience, young and old all on the "afterbeat". Wonderful to see Monk playing "Blue Monk", Anita O'Day singing "Georgia Brown". Dig that hat!! And Mr Shearing with quintet, performing a late slot - fantastic! The icing on the cake is an interactive journey, narrated by Mr Stern, behind the scenes of the film. He tells you his thinking, his emerging appreciation of jazz and his roots in photography. This is interlinked with specific sequences from his unique film. As the liner notes say "I was just . . . basically a photographer who wanted to make a movie before I was 30 . . . it was a form of a documentary and had a lot to do with photograhy . . . it wasn't something that I had ever seen before and it just intrigued me . . . it's more of of a happening. . . interpretive, happening . . ." The quality of the video and audio is brilliant. If you appreciate photography or jazz, or like me . . . both, this film is a real must. Highly recommended! Regards to all, JON' B. Great music -- decent movie I purchased this DVD with a bit of trepidation, unsure of whether my image of what could be with the DVD format and what this disk might use would match. From a musical standpoint, this is an outstanding addition to the collection. Theloneus Monk, in particular, stands out. From a movie standpoint, it's o.k. I was fascinated the first time I watched it for about a half an hour. After that, the crowd scenes and the boat races do not add as much to the musical landscape. And while it is interesting movie-making that there is no real narration, letting the sounds come from the artists, the crowd, and an occassional clip, some explanation of who we are seeing or what is going on might be helpful, if only for future reference. Perhaps the only downside to the DVD is that it provides a complete playlist for the festival which reads as a roster of jazz greats, with performances by Ray Charles and Chuck Berry thrown in. Yet the movie only plays a portion of those and I am left to wonder why so many great artists were left out of the final version--the production notes indicate the musicians signed on out of curiosity and does not mention any hold-outs, yet many are forgotten. While this is good, that additional knowledge makes me long for something more, where Miles Davis and others were included in the feature. Still, this is a remarkable musical piece with decent eye candy, making it much more worth the purchase price that the numerous movies that will only be watched once and then forgotten. As hip as they come Bert Stern has both an eye and an ear for jazz, par excellence, capturing the spirit of the Newport Jazz festival in its heyday. This is a wonderful showcase of performances, ranging from the detached Thelonius Monk to the super cool Anita O'Day. But, without doubt, the performance that stands out is that of Mahalia Jackson who brings the crowd to their feet with "40 Days" and then brings them to their knees with her closing psalm, so passionately felt. The movie takes you through a figurative day, capturing the sea air of Newport, the quiet practice sessions, the ebb and flow of the crowd as it grows to its evening peak, with a rocking performance by Chuck Berry. The Satchmo takes a wonderful turn at the mike with Jack Teargarden joining him in a fun duet. Chico Hamilton is there in all his seriousness with Eric Dolphy highlighting the band's performance. George Shearer looks like he could be playing at the Hollywood Bowl. I was hoping for more extras on the DVD. The movie leaves you craving for more music. The 50's were the peak of the hip jazz scene and this movie is as hip as they come. 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