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Blue Note: A History of Modern Jazz (1997)

Director: Julian Benedikt

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From Time Out Film Guide

You couldn't make any great claims for this as an outstanding example of documentary film-making - it traces the history faithfully and talks to a lot of the right people, but its choppy, syncopated style is really just a gloss on the facts. Even so, it's most enjoyable. Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff emigrated from Germany in the '30s and created the most significant label in the history of jazz. Blue Note brought the best out of the best, including Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Dexter Gordon, Art Blakey and Sonny Rollins. Propelled by 'Cherokee' and a dizzy set of modern classics, augmented by revealing anecdotes from Max Roach, Lou Donaldson, Bertrand Tavernier and André Previn, as well as Wolff's stunning studio photographs, this swings like a hepcat.

Author: TCh

Time Out Film Guide


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