Jazz : A Film By Ken Burns
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Movie Reviews of Jazz : A Film By Ken Burns
Movie Review: Where are the Guitars?
Summary: 2 Stars
I enjoyed the history of the horn based jazz moment thru the '30s. But Burns hires talking heads who do not think that "real" jazz ever used electric instruments or goes beyond horns and piano.
When the guitar of Charlie Christian arrived as a lead instrument in jazz in the late '30s, it needed and had a small electric pickup. Thus it is completely ignored as being relevant in jazz, to Burns and his stooges. All the wonderful guitarists since Christian are also ignored, acoustic and electric.
No wonder Burns thinks jazz is dead.
Movie Review: Not about the history of jazz
Summary: 1 Stars
Many reviews here already note that this documentary is really the Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch show. Ken Burns essentially gave them the reins to write the content for this documentary since Burns knew (and knows) nothing about jazz.
Rather than repeat those points I concur with, I will simply add that this is a bad documentary that doesn't tell the history of jazz. It tells the history of what was going on in the country while jazz was being created. It more or less sticks to the pre-swing and swing eras, and really doesn't delve into the music. It delves into personalities and trivial anecdotes. Do we really learn what made Ellington a great pianist and a great composer? No. We just hear that "Duke became one of the greatest composers of the 20th century." Why? What exactly made him so great? What are some of his specific compositions that are so great and why? What was new about them? Burns doesn't know. He doesn't say. We hear instead about how the title "Take the A-Train" came about. Not about the music though.
Also annoying is the endless repetition. We keep hearing the same anecdotes about the same musicians over and over and over ("so and so would come into the club and the whole joint would just start jumpin'!!"). We must see the same photographs of Louis Armstrong a dozen times. Burns is not just ignorant about jazz, he's a lazy documentary filmmaker.
In the end, this documentary is entertainment for the masses, not for serious listeners, students, or historians of music. It's for history buffs who want to know about F. Scott Fitzgerald's America and the era of The Great Gatsby. If you want to learn about jazz, you'll be wasting your time. A lot of it.
By "The History of Jazz" by Ted Gioia if you want to learn jazz history.
Movie Review: Missed 25 years of history
Summary: 1 Stars
The whole purpose of a documentary is to cover the history of something and not act like it didn't exist. Burns missed a whole bunch of music, because he was playing the puppet to Marsalis. If only he had Miles to tell him what it was all about. You see, when Miles was playing in the 40's they didn't call it Jazz, they called it music. But the critics coined it that term. So what we got was Wynton's documentary. They left off people who were about an important change in "music" during the late 60's and early 70's. No mentioned of Weather Report (Zawinul, Shorter DB Hall of Famers) Return to Forever (Corea, White, Dimeola, Clarke), Mahavishnu Orchestra (Cobham, Mclaughlin, Hammer), Lifetime (Tony Williams, Larry Young) and Herbie Hancock Headhunters. The documentary failed to mention how these guys and more form the fusion area changed the course of music not just jazz history. Failed to mention how Miles brought all these guys together to record the process of making music and how all these world class musicians from all over the world (no racism) would learn who to play best with for their future groups.
But the purist say if they are playing electric instruments then it aint jazz, Well that's too sad. Well don't use a cell phone, electricity, ect.
I don't understand why they left them off. In baseball, he didn't leave out the negro leagues! They want to act like this music never happened, when these guys were poll winners almost every year and sold out stadiums in their hey day! Burns you missed covering the last great era of jazz. You could have helped sparked some interest.
Movie Review: Lazy Film Making
Summary: 1 Stars
Burns relies upon two voices for this film, Wynton and Crouch. If the documentary was called, Jazz According to Wynton Marsalis and Stanley Crouch, I'd give it 4 stars. But it's not, it's called Jazz--as if it is going to be an all rounder. Instead of interviewing varied academics, some living legends, and current Jazz musicians, Burns relies only on two men. Two men who make no pretences about seeing different sides to a story, nor do they pretend to be neutral observers. Their voices are heavily biased and very narrow. Maybe if Burns chose two conflicting voices, more of the story would have been told. He didn't. And Burns is arrogant about his choices, not admitting the short comings of the film. This could have been brilliant if Burns would have got off his arse and sought out some of the many untapped sources of information.
I guess the reason the people who don't like the film are upset by it, is because so many people will have had their opinions formed by this documentary. This might preclude people from getting involved in modern day jazz, thereby reducing the opportunities for current day musicians to make a living.
Movie Review: One of the worst documentaries about jazz I've ever seen.
Summary: 1 Stars
This film is horrible. As many reviewers have pointed out already, the subject matter, which is about jazz music, is not complete. There were very key movements in jazz that were not even discussed. The documentary ends in the early 1960s when the jazz style of bebop was still being played. This is incomplete and a waste of film, because everyone who loves jazz like I do, knows that jazz didn't end in the 60s.
This film was a total waste of time and effort. Also, why do I want to listen to Wynton Marsalis ramble on about his views of what jazz music is or should be? He's a bad representation of the music. There are thousands of great jazz musicians that should've been interviewed or at least discussed for that matter.
I also want to complain about the price. You're going to have to take out a loan to buy this piece of crap. Absolutely ridiculous price for a ridiculous documentary.