At the Jazz Band Ball - Early Hot Jazz, Song and Dance
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Boswell Sisters, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, The Dorsey BrothersDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Black & White, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 60 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-04-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: YAZOO
Movie Reviews of At the Jazz Band Ball - Early Hot Jazz, Song and Dance
Movie Review: The Heart of Jazz
Summary: 5 Stars
What would you rather watch to get a taste of German cabaret in the early '30s, Cabaret (1972) or The Blue Angel (1931)? If you answer the latter you may especially enjoy this interesting compilation that is less polished than many others, especially the big studio productions of later years.I am especially charmed by two productions that might be at the bottom of others' lists--the dance hall performances by Tessie Maize and Ruby Darby. By modern standards, many of the dancers were too heavy and too unpolished to even point a camera at, but they let us see what an ordinary audience of their times could see, not only the numbers, but the unaffected intimacy of the piece, and their cheer and enengy.
This DVD is like discovering a treasure in a collector's attic. A must have.
Summary of At the Jazz Band Ball - Early Hot Jazz, Song and Dance
At the Jazz Band Ball features rare, archival film clips from 1925 to 1933 that showcase a wonderful potpourri of musicians, bandleaders, singers, dancers, and entertainers that characterized the best of the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age. The range of this collection represents early 20th-century Americana, from the hometown charm of the Boswell sisters performing the jazz-scat classic "Heebie Jeebies" to the Al Jolson-like antics of Charly Wellman's take on "Alabamy Snow." Of course, jazz is the heartbeat of this pre-World War II time and it's manifested in many ways. There's the classical sophistication of Paul Whiteman's orchestra rendition of "My Ohio Home" with the young trumpet pioneer Bix Beiderbecke, and the elegant and enduring Duke Ellington swinging like mad on "Old Man Blues" with baritone saxophonist Harry Carney, and an imaginative medley consisting of "The Duke Speaks Out," the evocative "Black Beauty," and Cotton Club Stomp" in which the lovely dancer Fredi Washington--and the innovative mirror shots--steal the show.There's also the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith, with her sorrow-song version of W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues." But Louis Armstrong, the first major jazz improviser and vocalist, is the prince of this era, as evidenced by his down-home trumpet solos, stage charisma, and gravel-like vocals on "I Cover the Waterfront," the fast and furious "Dinah" (as seen on Ken Burns's Jazz), and "Tiger Rag." Add the dapper Dorsey Bros. Band, the tap-dance wizardry of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Ben Burnie's burning big band treatment of the Harlem Globetrotters' theme "Sweet Georgia Brown" and you know the exuberance and artistry of this brilliant chapter in American history. --Eugene Holley Jr.
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