Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)

The highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.

Director:

Bert Stern

Writers:

Albert D'Annibale, Arnold Perl

Stars:

Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Chuck Berry

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Louis Armstrong	...	Self
Aram Avakian	...	(credit only)
Mahalia Jackson	...	Self
Gerry Mulligan	...	Self
Dinah Washington	...	Self
Chico Hamilton	...	Self
Anita O'Day	...	Self
George Shearing	...	Self
Jimmy Giuffre	...	Self
Chuck Berry	...	Self
Jack Teagarden	...	Self
Thelonious Monk	...	Self
Big Maybelle	...	Self
Sonny Stitt	...	Self
Eli's Chosen Six	...	Themselves

Storyline

Set at the Newport jazz festival in 1958, this documentary mixes images of water and the town with performers and audience. The film progresses from day to night and from improvisational music to Gospel. It's a concert film that suggests peace and leisure, jazz at a particular time and place.

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Plot Keywords:

national film registry | jazz | concert film | jazz score | 

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Taglines:

Jazz on a Summer's Day ...love on a Summer's Night!

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Hilton Als' 2008 New Yorker review of the documentary Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (2007), Als reports that Anita O'Day was high on heroin during her performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, and she was unaware that her performance was filmed until later. O'Day spoke frankly about her struggles with heroin addiction in her 1981 autobiography.

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Quotes

Louis Armstrong: [singing] Throw away your troubles, Dream a dream of me, Dream a dream of me...

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Connections

Referenced in A Summer's Day (2000)

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Soundtracks

Up a Lazy River
Music by Sidney Arodin
Lyrics by Hoagy Carmichael
Performed by Louis Armstrong

User Reviews

Time capsule

This is a wonderful document of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and archetype for the concert film, with captivating interludes of visual poetry. As close as one can get to traveling back through time, watching the audience is as much fun here as watching the performers. You can recognize this film as a source of inspiration, perhaps, for the pretensions behind projects like "The Last Waltz," and one certainly gets a sense, given the caliber of the performers gathered onto a single stage, of the magnitude of this event without it ever being forced. The intimacy remains intact. And in contrast with the somber beat of "The Last Waltz," the sun shines on everything here. A joy.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 February 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bert Stern's Jazz on a Summer's Day

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Galaxy Productions (I), Raven Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1