Jammin' the Blues (1944)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Director:

Gjon Mili

Release Date:

5 May 1944 (USA)

Genre:

Short | Music

Plot:

Prominent jazz musicians of the 1940's get together for a rare filming of a jam session. Marie Bryant has a vocal...

Plot Keywords:

1940s | Jitterbug | Dancer | Session | Jazz

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Lester Young	...	Himself - on tenor sax
George 'Red' Callender	...	Himself - on bass (as Red Callender)
Harry Edison	...	Himself - on trumpet
Marlowe Morris	...	Himself - on piano
Sidney Catlett	...	Himself - on drums
Barney Kessel	...	Himself - on guitar
Jo Jones	...	Himself - on drums (as Joe Jones)
John Simmons	...	Himself - on bass
Illinois Jacquet	...	Himself
Marie Bryant	...	Herself - singer
Archie Savage	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Garland Finney	...	Himself (uncredited)
Knox Manning	...	Narrator (uncredited)

Directed by
Gjon Mili

Produced by
Gordon Hollingshead	....	producer

Cinematography by
Robert Burks

Film Editing by
Everett Dodd

Art Direction by
Roland Hill

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound

Other crew
Norman Granz	....	technical director

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1944) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1954) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #10495)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Guitarist Barney Kessel is the only white performer in this film. He was seated in the shadows to shade his skin, and for close-ups, his hands were stained with berry juice.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Added Attractions: The Hollywood Shorts Story (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jammin' the Blues

HARDCORE JAM SESSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have seen this ten minute short several times on T.C.M.it is a swinging jam session featuring some of the GREATEST jazz musicians that every lived.

It has been told that when they filmed this short at the Warner Bro.studio lot that some of the great actors with Warner Bro. such as Humphrey Bogart, Bettie Davis, Edward G. Robinson Etc. stopped what they where doing to hear this jam session through out the day.

One damper on this short was the fact that Barney Kessell was filmed silhouetted so that a white musician was not identified playing with black musicians.