 | Thelonious Monk - Straight No Chaser
Buy used from: $56.49 As good as any documentary film ever made. Monk is intense and engrossing both as a musican and a person.
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 | Sun Ra - A Joyful Noise
Buy used from: $33.98 The legendary Sun Ra art film Space is the Place is, in my opinion, pretty boring. But this documentary makes a great case for this bandleader's genius.
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 | Trane Tracks: The Legacy of John Coltrane
Buy new: $15.99 / Used from: $9.18 Not a particularly well-made documentary, but the footage of the classic quartet is breathtaking.
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 | Notes from a Jazz Survivor
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $10.25 I've never read his infamous autobiography, but this film does a good job of documenting the music / life of this troubled and important musician.
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 | Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $5.99 Good introduction to the music of Charles Mingus.
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 | A Great Day in Harlem
Buy new: $12.49 / Used from: $11.85 A wonderful film. Anyone passionate about jazz should watch this.
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 | Jazz Scene USA - Cannonball Adderley Sextet/Teddy Edwards Sextet
Buy used from: $19.98 A good reminder of just how great Cannonball Adderley was. Yusef Lateef is particularly intense here.
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 | Masada Live at Tonic 1999
Buy new: $26.99 / Used from: $10.80 Some of what I've heard from John Zorn hasn't particularly interested me, but he sure sounds great here as do all the musicans in Masada.
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 | Keith Jarrett - Art of Improvisation
Buy new: $22.49 / Used from: $16.95 This really sold me on Keith Jarrett.
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 | The Art Ensemble of Chicago - Swim: A Musical Adventure
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $7.20 These guys sound great as does the orchestra they're playing with. But can someone tell me what the heck the off camera swimmers are doing? I'm very confused.
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 | Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra - Live in Montreal (Montreal Jazz Festival)
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $15.44 Great footage, but I couldn't help but wish I was watching the Liberation Music Orchestra of the 70s.
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 | Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie)
Buy used from: $18.88 The classic Coltrane quartet is at their prime here. But were they ever not at their prime?
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 | Jazz : A Film By Ken Burns
Buy new: $54.99 / Used from: $60.00 Of course there are flaws and oversights. To me the biggest problem was the contempt displayed for the avant-garde jazz of the late 60s. But still, this is a great documentary film.
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 | Master of the Soprano Sax
Buy new: $18.99 / Used from: $12.38 A good introduction to the music of Steve Lacy (although the footage featured of his then-current band really didn't do much for me).
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 | Jazz on a Summer's Day/A Summer's Day With Bert Stern
Buy used from: $45.25 There's so many momorable performances here. Anita O'day, Monk, Chico Hamilton, and much more. The quality of the film apart from the performances is also very high.
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 | One Night With Blue Note
Buy new: $12.47 / Used from: $7.99 Some of these artists are not in their top form, but others sure are. Johnny Griffin and Jimmy Smith were memorable, as was Cecil Taylor playing the only new composition of the night.
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 | The Miles Davis Story
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $7.25 Not an artistic success as a documentary, nor is the information particularly groudbreaking (at least to someone whose read some biographies), but still, for the fan the music footage really makes this worth watching.
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 | Miles Davis - Cool Jazz Sound
Buy new: $9.95 / Used from: $6.63 No description can really depict the power that is in this music. First there is so what (with Wynton Kelly instead of Bill Evans) and then they are joined by the Gil Evans orchestra for another few tunes. Some of the best jazz ever captured on film.
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 | Miles Electric - A Different Kind of Blue
Buy new: $11.47 / Used from: $7.85 Like a lot of these jazz documentaries, this is not an artistic success as a documentary film. Some of the information presented about the controversies surrounding Miles' going electric is interesting, but it is the live footage of that makes this worthwhile.
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