JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY [1959 /2021] [Blu-ray] [UK Release]
Probably The Best feature length Jazz Concert Movie Ever made!
The Newport Jazz Festival was created in 1954 by Rhode Island socialites Elaine and Louis Lorillard, and it couldn’t have come at a better time in history. With a few exceptions, the big band jazz scene had waned in the early 1950’s and, in its place, smaller groups and solo performers took centre stage, which suited the nature of a festival perfectly, and Newport achieved immediate success. By its fifth edition, the talent line-up reflected Newport’s status as one of the pre-eminent music festivals in the USA.
Photographer Bert Stern and director-editor Aram Avakian’s film of the 1958 iteration of the festival captures many of the key performances across its four-day affair. Performers included Dinah Washington, Gerry Mulligan and Art Farmer, Chico Hamilton and Eric Dolphy, Anita O’Day, Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong and the extraordinary Mahalia Jackson, who would go on to give one of the most moving performances at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, featured in the documentary of that event, with the “Summer of Soul.”
A key element of ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY,’ which would come to inspire subsequent concert films, was its focus on the audience. Through cutaways interspersed throughout the performances, the filmmakers present a time capsule of the USA as it edged towards the New Frontier of the Kennedy era. It was this moment – the hope of change – that so many jazz artists had been pushing towards. The resulting combination of performance and observation makes ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ one of the greatest jazz concert documentaries ever made.
FILM FACT: The film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ premiered at the 1959 Venice Film Festival. In 1999, the film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ was selected for the National Preservation Board in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and was created in consultation with Shannah Laumeister Stern as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Performers: Louis Armstrong, Aram Avakian (credit only), Mahalia Jackson, Gerry Mulligan, Dinah Washington, Chico Hamilton, Anita O'Day, George Shearing, Jimmy Giuffre, Chuck Berry, Jack Teagarden, Thelonious Monk, Big Maybelle, Sonny Stitt, Eli's Chosen Six, David Baily, Danny Barcelona, Bob Brookmeyer, Buck Clayton, Bill Crow, Eric Dolphy, Art Farmer, Harold Gaylor, Nathan Gershman, Terry Gibbs, Urbie Green, Henry Grimes, Jim Hall, Peanuts Hucko, Jo Jones, Ray Mosca, Armando Peraza, Max Roach, Rudy Rutherford, Sal Salvador, Willis Conover [Emcee / Interviewer], Patricia Bosworth [Disgruntled redhead in audience] (uncredited) and Martin Williams [Jazz Critic in Audience] (uncredited)
Directors: Bert Stern and Aram Avakian (co-director)
Producers: Bert Stern, George Wein (uncredited) and Harvey Kahn
Screenplay: Albert D'Annibale and Arnold Perl
Cinematography: Bert Stern (Director of Photography), Courtney Hesfela (Director of Photography) and Raymond Phelan (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color By DeLuxe)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 82 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Curzon Artificial Eye
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: With this classic film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ [1959] I was really excited to read about the availability of a newly restored version of this legendary jazz concert film and it has been a totally influential jazz music film and was created in 1958 documenting the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island that year, and the film was put together by then an unlikely candidate, noted fashion photographer Bert Stern and now especially cinematography Bert Stern who really captured the atmosphere of this brilliant jazz festival that was filmed over four days.
There is a quite a fantastic back story on how this film came together told in a great essay included in the new Curzon Artificial Eye Blu-ray Disc edition of ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ with the Music Journalist Natalie Weiner about this amazing Newport Jazz Festival, so I will not want to spoil this fascinating story for you.
But in short, this film was created to help elevate the status of jazz as a popular art and music form in the public eye. They wanted to show that jazz music wasn’t just limited to dark basement clubs and late night party culture — I suspect the genre had at that time gotten some bad press, what with the substance abuses of noted Jazz icons like Billie Holiday, Lester Young and Charlie Parker probably not helping matters much in terms of public acceptance at the time.
Where the film takes some fascinating artful turns begins with its producer/director who came from the Madison Avenue fashion photography universe. So Bert Stern knew how to deliver a sense of close up elegance through a camera lens.
Coupled with skilful storytelling editing by Aram Avakian — brother of Columbia Records executive George Avakian who was integral to this film’s genesis — ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ is wonderfully successful on multiple levels.
A clever combination of extremely tight handheld camera work and creative cutaways to people in the audience — and other mood setting scenes — delivers a tale of the boundary breaking possibilities of the music.
How amazing to see Gerry Mulligan leading his band in all its jumbo Baritone Sax wielding glory. We even get a glimpse of Chuck Berry at the peak of his initial popularity, young and vivacious best, sparring with a Clarinet player in the house band. Called The Newport Blues Band, the group includes the great Jo Jones on drums and Ray Bryant on Piano.
It is perhaps the first time I’ve seen a Clarinet solo rock! I’m not sure who the player is but I think it might be saxophonist Buddy Tate although Tony Scott is supposed to have been in that band too and according to the original event program.
Probably my favourite moment is watching Louis Armstrong perform his classic “Rocking Chair” with his lifetime friend Jack Teagarden. You can feel their love for one another which just embodies everything that event was about. Ray Davies of The Kinks once sang how “celluloid heroes never really die” and this is one of those instances where, indeed, they feel so fresh and alive on screen it is almost unnerving at times.
Anyhow, the main reason you should want to buy JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY is simply to enjoy it for what it is: a classic music documentary — arguably the first — that looks better now than it ever has been, especially if you want to listen to some music from the Newport Jazz Festival.
For purists, the film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ is both a miracle and a tragedy. On the one hand, it is a rare document of the time that features jazz icons like Thelonius Monk, Dinah Washington, Sonny Stitt, Anita O’Day, Chico Hamilton, and Louis Armstrong who alone took $25,000 of the film’s budget in clearances.
On the other hand, the film neglects performances by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra, Willie “the Lion” Smith, the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, Ray Charles, and the Miles Davis Sextet with Cannonball Adderly, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans. Criticisms for these omissions are sometimes laid at the feet of Bert Stern, who had essentially no knowledge of the artists in attendance. Bert Stern relied on George Avakian to identify the relevant acts to dedicate their film stock toward and so it is George Avakian who is more often the focus of accusations of poor judgement, commercialism, and even a subtle racism. It is important to note however that filming did not begin until Friday (missing the Thursday program) and that part of George Avakian’s role was to also select performances that were likely to clear rights, thereby adding to the challenges he faced in vetting and organizing the production’s resources and perhaps giving some preferential treatment to Columbia artists.
One thing that really stood out for me was viewing the audiences watching the artists on the stage, and the amount of people smoking and wondered if a few years later anyone of them survived a really serious cigarette illness, whereas today you would not see audiences smoking because they know how dangerous smoking is and a really nasty bad habit.
At the start of the film we are informed that is was photographed in Newport that is the City in Rhode Island during the Jazz Festival and The America Cup Trials [which is the competition for the oldest trophy in international sport and dates back to 1851].
JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY MUSIC TRACK LIST
TRAIN AND THE RIVER (Music by Jimmy Giuffre) [Performed by Jimmy Giuffre]
BLUE MONK (Music by Thelonious Monk) [Performed by Thelonious Monk]
LOOSE WALK (Music by Sonny Stitt and Johnny Richards) [Performed by Sonny Stitt]
BLUE SANDS (Music by Buddy Collette) [Performed by Chico Hamilton]
SWEET GEORGIA BROWN (Music by Ben Bernie and Maceo Pinkard) (Lyrics by Kenneth Casey) [Performed by Anita O'Day]
TEA FOR TWO (Music by Vincent Youmans) (Lyrics by Irving Caesar) [Performed by Anita O'Day]
RONDO (Music by Carlos Federico) [Performed by George Shearing]
ALL OF ME (Music by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons) (Lyrics by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons) [Performed by Dinah Washington]
CATCH AS CATCH CAN (Music by Gerry Mulligan) [Performed by Gerry Mulligan]
I AIN’T MAD AT YOU [Performed by Big Maybelle]
SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN (Music by Chuck Berry) (Lyrics by Chuck Berry) [Performed by Chuck Berry]
UP A LAZY RIVER (Music by Sidney Arodin) (Lyrics by Hoagy Carmichael) [Performed by Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden]
TIGER RAG (Music by Edwin B. Edwards, Henry Ragas, Larry Shields and Nick LaRocca) (Lyrics by Harry DeCosta) [Performed by Louis Armstrong]
ROCKIN’ CHAIR (Music by Hoagy Carmichael) (Music and Lyrics by Hoagy Carmichael) [Performed by Louis Armstrong]
WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN (Traditional) [Performed by Louis Armstrong]
WALK ALL OVER GOD’S HEAVEN (Traditional) [Performed by Mahalia Jackson]
DIDN’T IT RAIN (Traditional) [Performed by Mahalia Jackson]
THE LORD’S PRAYER (Music by Albert Hay Malotte) [Performed by Mahalia Jackson]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Curzon Artificial Eye presents us the film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ with a wonderful 1080p image, and is shown in the 1.37:1 aspect ratio that was the presentation format in 1958. The film was restored from best available sources in a 5K transfer and the look is quite spectacular, with all things considered. The density levels of the visuals, their stability and overall look of the film are very good solid viewing appearance to make ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ that has now been given a new lease of life. The colour scheme is wonderful and very convincing as well and the restoration was done by a 45 master. As we have been informed the current project for the film was finalized with preservation in mind, and they have done a really outstanding work on the film. For a film released in 1959, there is great sharpness and clarity of the image that is totally stunning and the colours you view are totally natural and an amazing experience and especially seeing the entire wonderful multitude of colours of the clothes the audiences were wearing which was the height of fashion 1950’s America. There are no traces of problematic digital work, apart from now and again near the start of the film you get a thin black line down the centre of the frame and what a shame they could not of digitally remove it. Despite the age of the film and the film stock they used, it is still really good to view this very historic event in 1958 and well done Curzon Artificial Eye for releasing this ultimate jazz classic film. This motion picture was digitally restored by IndieCollect at the Laboratory for Icon & Idiom, Inc., using a 5K Kinetta Archival Scanner. The 35mm Interpositive were scanned and combined to yield the best result. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Curzon Artificial Eye brings us the film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ with just one standard 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio experience. It actually sounds really amazing experience and the clarity is outstanding, because you get hear the dialogue 100%, especially anyone talking or the MC announcing the artists appearing on the stage, as well as when anyone in the audience says some dialogue. Also good is hearing all the notes played by the wonderful various professional musicians. With some of the Region A/1 Blu-ray reviewers I have read, they talk about how the sound was taken from original recordings and that there are minor fluctuations in terms of balance, depth, and clarity that emerge from time to time, well to me is a load of rubbish and of course this Blu-ray is Region B/2 and I heard no audio problems and is to me outstanding and is spread beautifully with the two front speakers. So once again, well done Curzon Artificial Eye for releasing this ultimate jazz classic film.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Archival Interview with Bert Stern [2011] [1080p] [1.78:1] [2:41] It is nice to finally see what Bert Stern looks like, but the person interviewing him did not have a microphone so you have a job hearing what they are sating when asking the questions. Also I wish they had put the camera on tripod to keep the camera steady and also annoying is they kept on zooming the lens in and out. But Bert Stern is basically talking about how he went about filming ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY.’ The really annoying aspect of this interview is that it suddenly ends abruptly and it is far too short, I am sure there must have been much longer film footage.
Theatrical Trailer [1959] [1080p] [1.37:1] [1:16] This is the original Theatrical Trailer for the film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ and really gives you a good flavour of what the Jazz Festival is all about.
Special Feature: Photos of Louis Armstrong by Bert Stern [1958] [1080p] [1.78:1] [3:15] Here we get to view some wonderful and stunning 19 black-and-white photographs of the late great Louis Armstrong and in the background we get to hear Louis Armstrong and His Band live at the Jazz Festival doing the song “UP A LAZY RIVER.”
Special Feature: Contact Sheets of Photos by Bert Stern [1958] [1080p] [1.78:1] [4:14] Here once again we get to see a plethora of wonderful and stunning black-and-white contact sheets of different artists that appeared at the filmed Jazz Festival and they are Chico Hamilton and His Musicians, Sonny Stitt, Jack Teagarden and Dinah Washington. In the background we get short snippets of those particular artists that appeared live at the Jazz Festival.
Audio Commentary by Music Journalist Natalie Weiner: Here we are welcomed by Natalie Weiner, who is here to talk about the film ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY.’ Natalie Weiner loves the opening credits, and feels they set the stage in what amazing artists we will see performing at the Jazz Festival, and feels the moving abstract images you see in the water, that really sets the scene by Bert Stern who originally was an outstanding photographer. As we see the start of the concert, Natalie Weiner comments on glowing terms about the artists that appear on the stage, but unfortunately with equally silent gaps for the journalist, which actually Natalie Weiner comments, “I’m gonna not try to talk too much during the music performances itself, because of course that’s why you are watching this film, and it is you know, kinda like classical music [referring to the first jazz musicians you see] and that was a bit like chamber music of an intimate arrangement.” Natalie Weiner feels ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ really set a high standard for a film documentary about a Jazz Festival, and helped future documentary filmmakers to follow in style of filming, and also comments that she is annoyed by a couple at the start of the concert who made stupid ignorant comments on why they have come to see the Jazz Festival. Natalie Weiner also comments on the great fashion clothing of the time that the audiences are wearing, and also comments that the artists we get to see perform are not in the actual order they appear at the Jazz Festival in 1958, and is very happy to see spliced into the film of the rich people on their yachts competing in The America Cup Trials. When we see Anita O’Day on the stage, Natalie Weiner really praises her for her brilliant performance and comments about her past demons that is mentioned in her autobiography, and especially being restricted to legal problems where she could perform, and how her career was resurrected by Burt Bacharach in making a couple of new albums and her performance at the Jazz Festival brought her a new audience appreciation. Natalie Weiner also comments about another aspect of Anita O’Day’s autobiography is that she was high as a kite with her performance and did not seem to impact her singing performance of the songs she sang in front of the live audience. When we see the beatnik party going on in the house, that Natalie Weiner felt was slightly staged for the camera, but she also informs us that apparently they filmed about a hundred and thirty thousand feet of raw footage of this party. When we go back to the concert, we see Dinah Washington on the stage, and Natalie Weiner comments that this is one of her most favourite performances and probably one of her all-time best performance by Dinah Washington, but also comments that unfortunately this performance was towards the end of her career, which really cut short her amazing career and feel she was way too young, because she was such an incredible artist and you can see this amazing artist was having a lot of amazing fun, especially on the xylophone at the Newport Jazz Festival at that moment in time and what a shame it was her only performance, as I could have watched a whole concert of the superb and amazing accomplished singer Dinah Washington. With this jazz Festival in 1958, you get a big surprise seeing Chuck Berry up there on the stage singing and especially looking so young, as in his later years nature had not been very kind to him and I just could not understand why a Rock ‘n Roll singer at this jazz festival, which I thought was very strange, still despite this it was a very good performance and the audience seem to really enjoy the moment. We get to see a really rare moment when Louis Armstrong is being interviewed on the stage and comes out with some really funny anecdotes about other jazz artists, and it was nice to see Louis Armstrong doing a comedy duet with Jack Teagarden. Another artist that seems to be an odd artist to appear at the Jazz Festival and that is the amazing gospel singer Mahalia Jackson who really revelled in singing her favourite gospel songs, which of course was the last artist to appear up on the stage at the Jazz Festival. As the end credits appear, Natalie Weiner says, “Well that’s it, and kinda sombre send off, but we have the Dixie Land Band as the final send off, so it was really monumental event and it remains so, and the standard by which every other concert film has been judged basically, and here we have some beautiful shots of Rhode Island to conclude it and I hope you enjoyed ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ and at the point the Natalie Weiner audio commentary ends. So all in all, it was quite an interesting in hearing Natalie Weiner’s comments about this totally unique 1958 Jazz Festival, but on the other hand, some of Natalie Weiner’s comments were slightly inane and pointless, but despite this there were some insightful comments about some of the artists that appeared on the stage. So all in all, I can only give three and half star rating for this audio commentary.
Finally, ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ is a film on its own is a wonder to behold and it works well 60 years on for this 82 minute long entertainment. Watching this Jazz festival will be really ideal for anybody who is just getting into Jazz. And for those who are already into the music, you will want to see this new 5K transfer to absorb the stunning colour footage of legends who just jump off the screen including Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, Chico Hamilton, Eric Dolphy, Dinah Washington and the great Mahalia Jackson. There are other special performances as well, but these guys were sensational, and trust me, I am not exaggerating. I wish Bert Stern would have kept his camera focused on the stage so that ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ could have had a lot more footage with the stars of the Newport Jazz Festival. In its current form the film looks a bit too fluid at times and leaves the impression that it loses focus of what matters the most, which is the great music and the people that are responsible for it. Still, ‘JAZZ ON A SUMMER’S DAY’ is a fine American time capsule that should appeal to anyone that loves good music and especially jazz music of the finest quality. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
