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IMDbPro

Jazz on a Summer's Day

  • 19591959
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 1h 28m
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, and Dinah Washington in Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
Official Re-Release
Play trailer1:17
3 Videos
11 Photos
DocumentaryMusic
The highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.The highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.The highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
IMDb RATING
8.0/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
    • Bert Stern
    • Aram Avakian(co-director)
    • Albert D'Annibale
    • Arnold Perl
  • Stars
    • Louis Armstrong
    • Mahalia Jackson
    • Chuck Berry
    • Bert Stern
    • Aram Avakian(co-director)
    • Albert D'Annibale
    • Arnold Perl
  • Stars
    • Louis Armstrong
    • Mahalia Jackson
    • Chuck Berry
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 24User reviews
    • 42Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos3

    Jazz on a Summer's Day
    Trailer 1:17
    Watch Jazz on a Summer's Day
    Jazz on a Summer's Day
    Trailer 2:29
    Watch Jazz on a Summer's Day
    Jazz on a Summer's Day - official US re-release trailer
    Trailer 1:17
    Watch Jazz on a Summer's Day - official US re-release trailer

    Photos11

    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
    Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Louis Armstrong
    Louis Armstrong
    • Self
    Mahalia Jackson
    Mahalia Jackson
    • Self
    Chuck Berry
    Chuck Berry
    • Self
    Chico Hamilton
    Chico Hamilton
    • Self
    Gerry Mulligan
    • Self
    Dinah Washington
    Dinah Washington
    • Self
    Anita O'Day
    Anita O'Day
    • Self
    George Shearing
    George Shearing
    • Self
    Jimmy Giuffre
    Jimmy Giuffre
    • Self
    Jack Teagarden
    Jack Teagarden
    • Self
    Thelonious Monk
    Thelonious Monk
    • Self
    Big Maybelle
    • Self
    Sonny Stitt
    • Self
    Eli's Chosen Six
    • Themselves
    David Baily
    • Self
    Danny Barcelona
    Danny Barcelona
    • Self
    Bob Brookmeyer
    • Self
    Buck Clayton
    Buck Clayton
    • Self
      • Bert Stern
      • Aram Avakian(co-director)
      • Albert D'Annibale
      • Arnold Perl
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Bert Stern, when trying to retrieve his archives from Spain, offered the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library, all the footage of the film, along with the outtakes, in return for their paying the outstanding $50,000 storage bill and shipping them back to New York.
    • Quotes

      Louis Armstrong: I was at a little Italian trumpet player's house, and his mother was a Countess, well they was makin' that spaghetti and we was wailin', you know. In this big ol' dinin' room they had this table and up in the ceilin' they had Mark Anthony and Cleo and all the cats that they painted. Lookin' down on you as if to say, "Man, you shore can eat!"

      [laughs]

      Louis Armstrong: Well, we have a lot of fun travelin', man.

    • Connections
      Featured in American Masters: John Hammond: From Bessie Smith to Bruce Springsteen (1990)
    • Soundtracks
      Train and the River
      Music by Jimmy Giuffre

      Performed by Jimmy Giuffre

    User reviews24

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    As cool as cool can be
    Not quite a concert film, not quite a travelogue, this "day and night in the life" of the Newport Jazz Festival is a delight. Some standout performances, including an unforgettable rendition of Sweet Georgia Brown by Anita O'Day and a gorgeous set by a beatific Mahalia Jackson would make this film worth watching all on their own. But, there's more. A very young Chuck Berry makes an appearance, and the earliest Rock and Roll seems boring by comparison to the many styles of jazz displayed in this film. Despite the repetitive groove, the folks in the audience can't help moving their feet to it and the future is foretold. Bert Stern deliberately moves the focus away from Berry's stage pyrotechnics and keeps it on the audience and the amused if bored jazz musicians. Did he know this was what the future held? Maybe. Bits and pieces of the lives of affluent Newport residents, a yacht race (America's Cup qualifying), jazz musicians practicing, a break into Bach by a cellist, dancing on the rooftops, all the small parts that make this film greater than their sum, this is one worth watching, and perhaps, like me, you'll find it one worth adding to your permanent library of musical film.
    helpful•7
    2
    • jlongstreth-1
    • Feb 3, 2011

    Details

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    • Release date
      • February 11, 1960 (United States)
      • United States
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • New York City, New York, USA
    • Production companies
      • Galaxy Productions (I)
      • Raven Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 28 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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    Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, and Dinah Washington in Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
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