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Home Theatre: "Jazz On A Summer's Day"
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Welcome to “Home Theatre” your best place for home viewing tips on the net.
Today we’ll look at a lost treasure: “Jazz On A Summer’s Day”
“Jazz On A Summer’s Day” (1958) New Yorker films.
One of the remarkable aspects of “the DVD revolution” in home viewing is the restoration of little seen films. Along with the shiny new releases that are promoted and shoved down your throat there are these rare gems. Not just old studio releases, but overlooked and forgotten independent films as well.
“Jazz On A Summer’s Day” is one of these wonderful surprises that I’m happy to recommend without reservation.
This film was a long shot when it was made. Still photographer Bert Stern, who made those gloriously glamorous photo’s of Marilyn Monroe for Look Magazine in the 50’s and many defining color photo’s throughout the 50’s and 60’s (including all the print art for his friend Stanley Kubrick’s film “Lolita”) was looking for a subject to shoot.
A good friend suggested doing some shots at the Newport Jazz Festival that was about to be held for the first time in Newport Rhode Island. He went and saw the festival site and the yacht races and rich playing in their playground and thought the juxtaposition of the wealthy and the music from the poor would make an interesting study.
The project grew as he developed idea’s for shooting and Stern moved to a short film format. He had never made a film before but thought this would be an interesting way to capture this event, the short grew to a feature documentary.
Not only is this a living document of the most influential Jazz artists of their time performing in their prime but also a vivid look at society and culture. At America in 1958.
It is spine tingling to watch Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Thelonius Monk, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and Mahalia Jackson with many others performing with wit and expertise (with a remastered 5.1 stereo soundtrack that retains the original sound and purifies it,) contrasted with the interracial crowd (controversial for 1958,) and the goings on in the town including the America’s Cup Yacht trials, parties (I loved the parties), and concert goers enjoying the sun and sand.
All of this is captured through the true composition of a master of still photography who found a roving, moving, eye with movies.
All of it is preserved on the original Kodak 35 millimeter color negatives that allows for dazzling color and clarity.
Stern only made one film and it took a year in release to break even and pay Louis Armstrong the $25,000 dollars his agent demanded, then it went away. But now this film is available for all to see again.
I can’t praise it enough and beg you to take a look at this one of a kind masterwork.
The film is accompanied by a half hour short on Bert Stern and the problems and solutions that went into “Jazz On A Summer’s Day”.
I got the film from the Multnomah Library system on DVD. I implore you to the same.
Thank me later.
Today we’ll look at a lost treasure: “Jazz On A Summer’s Day”
“Jazz On A Summer’s Day” (1958) New Yorker films.
One of the remarkable aspects of “the DVD revolution” in home viewing is the restoration of little seen films. Along with the shiny new releases that are promoted and shoved down your throat there are these rare gems. Not just old studio releases, but overlooked and forgotten independent films as well.
“Jazz On A Summer’s Day” is one of these wonderful surprises that I’m happy to recommend without reservation.
This film was a long shot when it was made. Still photographer Bert Stern, who made those gloriously glamorous photo’s of Marilyn Monroe for Look Magazine in the 50’s and many defining color photo’s throughout the 50’s and 60’s (including all the print art for his friend Stanley Kubrick’s film “Lolita”) was looking for a subject to shoot.
A good friend suggested doing some shots at the Newport Jazz Festival that was about to be held for the first time in Newport Rhode Island. He went and saw the festival site and the yacht races and rich playing in their playground and thought the juxtaposition of the wealthy and the music from the poor would make an interesting study.
The project grew as he developed idea’s for shooting and Stern moved to a short film format. He had never made a film before but thought this would be an interesting way to capture this event, the short grew to a feature documentary.
Not only is this a living document of the most influential Jazz artists of their time performing in their prime but also a vivid look at society and culture. At America in 1958.
It is spine tingling to watch Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day, Thelonius Monk, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and Mahalia Jackson with many others performing with wit and expertise (with a remastered 5.1 stereo soundtrack that retains the original sound and purifies it,) contrasted with the interracial crowd (controversial for 1958,) and the goings on in the town including the America’s Cup Yacht trials, parties (I loved the parties), and concert goers enjoying the sun and sand.
All of this is captured through the true composition of a master of still photography who found a roving, moving, eye with movies.
All of it is preserved on the original Kodak 35 millimeter color negatives that allows for dazzling color and clarity.
Stern only made one film and it took a year in release to break even and pay Louis Armstrong the $25,000 dollars his agent demanded, then it went away. But now this film is available for all to see again.
I can’t praise it enough and beg you to take a look at this one of a kind masterwork.
The film is accompanied by a half hour short on Bert Stern and the problems and solutions that went into “Jazz On A Summer’s Day”.
I got the film from the Multnomah Library system on DVD. I implore you to the same.
Thank me later.
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