The Cry of Jazz

Mar 22, 1959

0h 34m

★ 5.9

Overview

Filmed in Chicago & finished in 1959, The Cry of Jazz is filmmaker, composer and arranger Edward O. Bland's polemical essay on the politics of music and race - a forecast of what he called "the death of jazz." A landmark moment in black film, foreseeing the civil unrest of subsequent decades, it also features the only known footage of visionary pianist Sun Ra from his beloved Chicago period. Featured are ample images of tenor saxophonist John Gilmore and the rest of Ra's Arkestra in Windy City nightclubs, all shot in glorious black & white.

Genres

Documentary

Music

The Cry of Jazz Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Alex Johnson

George Waller

Natalie

Dorothea Horton

Faye

Melinda Dillon

John

Andrew Duncan

Louis

Leroy Inman

Bob

James Miller

Bruce

Gavin McFadyan

Carl Dupree

Goldina Rojas

Alan Leavitt

Carl McCormack

Lettie Mae Randolph

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

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0.0

Miles Davis Live At Tanglewood 1970

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6.5

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6.8

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0.0

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0.0

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0.0

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No overview available.

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6.0

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0.0

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No overview available.

No Image Available

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Sunny's Time Now

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0.0

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No overview available.

0.0

Musician

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Common sense says you can't make a living in America playing avant-garde improvisational jazz. But Ken Vandermark does it anyway. Among musicians, Vandermark's work ethic is almost mythic. The Chicago reed player has released over 100 albums with nearly 40 ensembles, spends over eight months per year on the road, and lives every other waking moment composing, arranging, performing—and trying to discipline his two hyperactive canines. Though Vandermark was the recipient of a 1999 MacArthur genius grant, he still spends most of his life in smoky clubs and low-budget recording studios, hoping people will plunk down hard-earned cash to hear his wholly non-commercial music. Following the artful cinéma vérité style of the internationally acclaimed Sheriff (Work Series #1), Musician (Work Series #2) forgoes all interviews and voice-overs. It is a fly-on-the-wall time capsule that expertly captures every subtle sound and texture of this most American of art forms.