Episode 1. Jazz is born in New Orleans at the turn of the century emerging from several forms of music including ragtime, marching bands, work songs, spirituals, creole music, funeral parade music and above all, the blues. Musicians profiled here who advanced early jazz are Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Freddie Keppard, and musicians of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Episode 2. From 1917 through 1924, the "Jazz Age" begins with...

Documentary exploring the history of jazz from its beginnings through the 1990's, including the stories of many of its creators and performers. Includes archival video, still photographs, historical performances, and newly recorded interviews and musical performances.

Jazz legend Chet Baker's tumultuous life is thrillingly re-imagined with wit, verve, and style to burn. In the 1950s, Baker was one of the most famous trumpeters in the world, renowned as both a pioneer of the West Coast jazz scene and an icon of cool.

Choreographer Danny Buraczeski and notable dancers from the company's 25 year history explore the world of "Jazzdance by Danny Buraczeski" through interviews and dance excerpts.

In a triumphant career that lasted forty years Erroll Garner pushed the playability of the piano to its limits, developed an international reputation, and made an indelible mark on the jazz world. And yet, his story has never been told. Until now. Atticus Brady's new film uses an astonishing array of archival materials interwoven with interviews with friends, family, and fellow musicians, and features commentary from Woody Allen; Ahmad Jamal; Tonight...

Cornetist/pianist/composer Leon 'Bix' Beiderbecke (1903-1931) was jazz₂s man who got away - the James Dean, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain of his day. Born in Davenport, Iowa into an upper-middle-class family, Beiderbecke became a legend even in his short lifetime, bringing amazing new energy and unprecedented maturity to the music and influencing generations of musicians. After a bout battling alcoholism, Bix died in Sunnyside, Queens on August...

Vipal Monga's first feature-length documentary chronicles an unprecedented series of concerts performed in February 2005 by the legendary jazz composer Lawrence D. Butch Morris. The concerts were in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Conduction, Butch's revolutionary technique for live music-making. Butch put on 44 performances in 28 days with 85 musicians pulled from all across New York's musical community. Along with footage from these remarkable...

This riveting biopic retells the story of Django Reinhardt, famous guitarist and composer, and his flight from German-occupied Paris in 1943.

Following up on the success of African Jim, but with higher production values, Zonk! shows the extraordinary cultural range available to township Africans, from the many ethnic strains of music from South Africa itself to contemporary American jazz and popular music, eagerly copied and Africanized. Zonk! confirms that despite the poverty and degradation of township life, the human spirit could triumph through music, producing groups and individual...

Nat Hentoff is one of the enduring voices of the last 65 years, a writer who championed jazz as an art form and was present at the creation of ‘alternative’ journalism in America. This unique documentary wraps the themes of liberty, identity and free expression around a historical narrative that stretches from the Great Depression to the Patriot Act. At the core of the film are three extraordinary, intimate conversations with Hentoff, plus additional...