Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9780780631472 Format: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC ISBN: 0780631471 Label: Pbs Home Video Manufacturer: Pbs Home Video Number Of Items: 10 Publisher: Pbs Home Video Release Date: January 02, 2001 Running Time: 999 minutes Studio: Pbs Home Video Theatrical Release Date: January 08, 2001 Sales Rank: 163
Description: The story, sound, and soul of a nation come together in the most American of art forms: Jazz. Ken Burns, who riveted the nation with The Civil War and Baseball, celebrates the music's soaring achievements, from its origins in blues and ragtime through swing, bebop, and fusion. Six years in the making, this "soundbreaking" series blends 75 interviews, more than 500 pieces of music, 2,400 still photographs, and over 2,000 rare and archival film clips. The 10-part musical journey spotlights many of America's most original, creative--and tragic--figures, including Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis.
Amazon.com essential video: Accompanied by a menagerie of products, Ken Burns's expansive 10-episode paean, Jazz, completes his trilogy on American culture, following The Civil War and Baseball. Spanning more than 19 hours, Jazz is, of course, about a lot more than what many have called America's classical music--especially in episodes 1 through 7. It's here that Burns unearths precious visual images of jazz musicians and hangs historical narratives around the music with convincing authority. Time can stand still as images float past to the sound of grainy vintage jazz, and the drama of a phonograph needle being placed on Louis Armstrong's celestial "West End Blues" is nearly sublime.
The film is also potent in arguing that the history of race in the 20th-century U.S. is at jazz's heart. But a few problems arise. First is Burns's reliance on Wynton Marsalis as his chief musical commentator. Marsalis might be charming and musically expert, but he's no historian. For the film to devote three of its episodes to the 1930s, one expects a bit more historical substance. Also, Jazz condenses the period of 1961 to the present into one episode, glossing over some of the music's giant steps. Burns has said repeatedly that he didn't know much about jazz when he began this project. So perhaps Jazz, for all its glory, would better be called Jazz: What I've Learned Since I Started Listening (And I Haven't Gotten Much Past 1961). For those who are already passionate about jazz, the film will stoke debate (and some derision, together with some reluctant praise). But for everyone else, it will amaze and entertain and kindle a flame for some of the greatest music ever dreamed. --Andrew Bartlett
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Ken Burns' Hyperbole Jazz
I saw some of this series when it first came out on PBS, and now I'm seeing it again, having finished "The Gift" up to this point. Frankly, I don't know how much more of it I can take.
Rating: - Ken Burns didn't S#@8 about jazz when he did this and it shows
My main issue is that Wynton suggested after seeing Civil Wars and Baseball that Burns should do a series about the only truly American art for that being Jazz (or black music from field hollers to blues ... Read More
Rating: - "A" for Entertainment, "C-" for History
Ken Burns is an effective filmakeer; if only he were an effective historian! Jazz is a deeply flawed project. The rise of recorded sound and the mass media compressed the history of Jazz. In less than a century, ... Read More
Rating: - What Do You Expect From Kenny-Boy?
Those people who panned this series, gave it only 1 or 2 stars are absolutley correct: Burns shows his limited, biased view of jazz by virtually ignoring everything that came after 1961.
Rating: - Very Worthwhile, Despite Some Flaws
Like other Ken Burns documentaries, this is a high-quality, entertaining, and educational film, well-worth viewing. However, if you expect adequate coverage of ALL the great jazz artists of the past 100 years, you'll surely ... Read More
- Ken Burns' Hyperbole Jazz
- Ken Burns didn't S#@8 about jazz when he did this and it shows
- Very Worthwhile, Despite Some Flaws