Jazz (2001)
Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.
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Episodes
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1
1. Gumbo: Beginnings to 19172001-01-09 · 1h 22m"Gumbo" traces the roots of jazz from the 1800s to 1917. The viewer will catch glimpses of Jelly Roll Morton, who erroneously claimed to have invented jazz, and the tragic, though
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2. The Gift: 1917-19242001-01-09 · 1h 49mHow can one explain the genius of a Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington? Blessed with skill and talent far exceeding their peers, one can only define what they possess as a gift from
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3
3. Our Language: 1924 -19292001-01-10 · 1h 47mColorful characters like the tragic Bix Beiderbecke, powerhouse Bessie Smith, and the braggart Jelly Roll Morton, make the study of jazz fascinating. Perhaps most touching in this
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4
4. The True Welcome: 1929-19342001-01-15 · 1h 59m"The True Welcome" continues many of the stories begun in Episode 3, following several troubling years for Louis Armstrong (who was arrested for marijuana possession), Duke Ellingt
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5
5. Swing: Pure Pleasure - 1935-19372001-01-17 · 1h 29m1935 was the year that swing became the most popular music in the country and that the king of swing, Benny Goodman, became a matinee idol. Americans, stifled by the Depression, se
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6. Swing: The Velocity of Celebration - 1937-19392001-01-22 · 1h 40mSwing would be reacquainted with its blues roots by way of Kansas City, when Count Basie and the Barons of Rhythm brought their hot sound to the Big Apple. Basie would also give Bi
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7. Dedicated to Chaos: 1940-19452001-01-23 · 1h 53m"Dedicated to Chaos" finds jazz musicians teetering on the brink of the modern era, fighting against the straightjacket of clichéd, big band arrangements. The revolution started at
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8. Risk: 1945-19552001-01-24 · 1h 59mThe bop revolution’s influence would spread to other musicians, but unlike swing, it would never become a popular music. The rapid-fire solos and complicated chord structures made
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9. The Adventure: 1956-19602001-01-29 · 1h 55mCritics who had believed that Charlie Parker was "too much" musically, could not have welcomed the arrival of Ornette Coleman. Coleman and John Coltrane would edge jazz toward even
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10
10. A Masterpiece by Midnight: 1960 to the Present2001-01-31 · 1h 49mObviously Ken Burns knows that he can’t fit the last thirty-nine years of jazz history onto two hours of video tape, so from the outset, that shouldn’t be expected. There’s an exce
Cast
Keith DavidNarrator (voice)Sidney BechetSelf (archive footage)
Louis ArmstrongSelf (archive footage)
Duke EllingtonSelf (archive footage)
Benny GoodmanSelf (archive footage)
Artie ShawSelf (archive footage)
Billie HolidaySelf (archive footage)
Glenn MillerSelf (archive footage)
Dave BrubeckSelf (archive footage)
Art TatumSelf (archive footage)
John ColtraneSelf (archive footage)
Art BlakeySelf (archive footage)
Charles MingusSelf (archive footage)
Wynton MarsalisSelfImages
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