Advanced search

Can an over-the-hill journalist uncover the evidence that can prove a death row inmate's innocence just hours before his execution?

In an effort to bring unity and equality to African-Americans, an interstellar traveler and musician lands on earth and duels with an evil overlord for the souls of people.

A close-up of bass player and composer Charlie Mingus as he and his five-year-old daughter await eviction by the City of New York.

Loosely based on Charlie Parker's last years, and a portrait of the jazz scene in 1960's New York.

The story of rodeo bronco rider Bruce Ford, a five-time world champion and a legend in the sport.

Biopic of troubled jazz musician/composer Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931), who played with the Paul Whiteman band, among others.

A documentary look at calypso, mostly through the conversation and performances of two singers from Trinidad and Tobago, Lord Kitchener, nearing 70 when the film is made, and Calypso Rose. We see them practicing and in concert; both talk about their early careers. On hand with Lord Kitchener are Lord Pretender and Growling Tiger. Lord Kitchener looks back on London in the late 40s, when he and calypso rose to international popularity. Fifteen years later he returned to Trinidad, taking a year to re-establish his popularity. Intercut with scenes from Trinidad's Carnival, younger singers compete in an annual singing contest as Lord Kitchener serves as MC.

Documentary on saxophonist Illinois Jacquet.

Movie star and jazz afficionado Clint Eastwood presents some of his favorite music in an evening that celebrates a uniquely American art form as the soundtracks of many of his films are performed by some of America's hottest jazz musicians at New York's Carnegie Hall.

In 1959, four important jazz albums were released, each a watershed moment for the genre that reflects its time.

A profile of the filmmaker ("The Tall T," "Seven Men from Now") who, notes narrator Ed Harris, "made his mark in one of America's greatest art forms.the Western movie." Included: comments by admiring colleagues

Stations of the Elevated (1981) is a 45-minute city symphony directed, produced and edited by Manfred Kirchheimer. Shot on lush 16mm color reversal stock, the film weaves together vivid images of graffiti- covered elevated subway trains crisscrossing the gritty urban landscape of 1970s New York, to a commentary-free soundtrack that combines ambient city noise with jazz and gospel by Charles Mingus and Aretha Franklin. Gliding through the South Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan - making a rural detour past a correctional facility upstate - Stations of the Elevated is an impressionistic portrait of and tribute to a New York that has long since disappeared.

This video documents performances and rehearsals in Paris, France, 1984. It includes the compositions "Love in Outer Space," "Nuclear War," and "1984" by Sun Ra and the standards "Tea for Two" and "Blue Lou," as well as interviews with Sun Ra and Archie Shepp.

The musical career and legacy of Art Blakey, legendary drummer and bandleader of the Jazz Messengers is presented in this documentary with interviews, along with footage of rehearsals and performances from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Documentary short showcasing the genius of jazz greats Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole, and Milt Hinton, among others.

Roger Tilton wrote (what little there is in this mostly unrehearsed short), directed and produced this short subject shot in the Central Plaza Dance Hall in New York City. It is a frenzied, naturalistic study of people finding an outlet through jazz sessions. Some "Beat Generations" elements for those looking for such.

Documentary on the underrated, influential director.

Documentary that follows four graffiti artists who trace the history of graffiti.