Search - Jazz on a Summer's Day/A Summer's Day With Bert Stern on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 6/28/2023...

Mahalia Jackson - Not our cup of tea but perhaps yours? RIP Mahalia Jackson...

Phenomenal Work of Art

Sean D. Young | Salt Lake City, UT USA | 03/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Contrary to some comments on this list, this film is not a documentary or concert film. It is a visionary work of art. It's like Robert Franks' book THE AMERICANS coming to life. If you don't know what that is about, see for yourself. This is the America that Kerouac loved. And if you don't know what that means, find out before it's too late.This film is really about a summers day in America in 1958. As a musician, a Jazz lover, a poet and a film buff, this film is the best of all worlds. It is pure poetry. It is like seeing the world through Kerouac's heart-filled eyes. Eyes we all have, but forget in our daily malaise. Notice the minute particulars, the spontaneous nature of life. Speaking of Beats, if you look real close you can see Gregory Corso in a couple of audience shots.Jazz on a Summers day is about time and place. It freezes a moment in time and makes it eternal. A time when jazz was common music of american culture. A summers day when people living in the cold war and the Eisenhower era kick off their shoes and truly live. It is filled with moments of deep sighs, AH. Like, the shot of the young girl singing along with Satchmo, if that's not art I don't know what is. The performers too, Mahalia Jackson is a great bodhisattva/angel. The cinematography is vibrant. You've never seen the fifties this real.I actually love the parts that digress from the festival. Even though I regret not seeing all of Monk. But it's still magnanimous, and contrary to another comment, the stage announcer that says Monk is "unconcerned" should be understood as Monk is on a different level. He makes music for different reasons. If you don't what that means, just listen. Monk will whisper to you in a dream.This was a time when the music was more than just refined listening for museums and chamber halls, it oozed into everything. Seeing the boating footage with the Jazz, it's just poetic. Jazz is part of life. It is the expression of life. The people are having a good time on a summers day. A day that seems so far away. This will never happen again. Not like this. This is what great films and art are made of.There is beauty in every waking moment my friends. Just look. Breathe. Feel. Thank you Bert Stern."

Jazz on a summers day

jon barker | GLOUCESTER, GLOS United Kingdom | 06/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I live in Gloucestershire, England and could not find this DVD in UK. Thanks to Amazon and the Web, my copy arrived in (...)days! I first saw this wonderful film many years ago and I remember how it affected me. A passion for jazz AND photography makes this film the perfect vehicle to soak up the atmosphere of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. I would have been 8 years old when it was filmed and even at that early age, I was into Monk, Mulligan and Shearing. George lives just up the road from me and I know him quite well. He would have been 39 in 1958.The film is beautifully shot, focusing on the performances, the music and atmosphere, but without a documentary. It doesn't need one! The way Bert Stern moves from artiste to audience is superb. Cool performers and guys in the audience, young and old all on the "afterbeat". Wonderful to see Monk playing "Blue Monk", Anita O'Day singing "Georgia Brown". Dig that hat!! And Mr Shearing with quintet, performing a late slot - fantastic!The icing on the cake is an interactive journey, narrated by Mr Stern, behind the scenes of the film. He tells you his thinking, his emerging appreciation of jazz and his roots in photography. This is interlinked with specific sequences from his unique film. As the liner notes say "I was just . . . basically a photographer who wanted to make a movie before I was 30 . . . it was a form of a documentary and had a lot to do with photograhy . . . it wasn't something that I had ever seen before and it just intrigued me . . . it's more of of a happening. . . interpretive, happening . . ."The quality of the video and audio is brilliant. If you appreciate photography or jazz, or like me . . . both, this film is a real must. Highly recommended! Regards to all, JON' B."

Great music -- decent movie

Tom Tuerff | 04/24/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I purchased this DVD with a bit of trepidation, unsure of whether my image of what could be with the DVD format and what this disk might use would match. From a musical standpoint, this is an outstanding addition to the collection. Theloneus Monk, in particular, stands out.From a movie standpoint, it's o.k. I was fascinated the first time I watched it for about a half an hour. After that, the crowd scenes and the boat races do not add as much to the musical landscape. And while it is interesting movie-making that there is no real narration, letting the sounds come from the artists, the crowd, and an occassional clip, some explanation of who we are seeing or what is going on might be helpful, if only for future reference. Perhaps the only downside to the DVD is that it provides a complete playlist for the festival which reads as a roster of jazz greats, with performances by Ray Charles and Chuck Berry thrown in. Yet the movie only plays a portion of those and I am left to wonder why so many great artists were left out of the final version--the production notes indicate the musicians signed on out of curiosity and does not mention any hold-outs, yet many are forgotten. While this is good, that additional knowledge makes me long for something more, where Miles Davis and others were included in the feature. Still, this is a remarkable musical piece with decent eye candy, making it much more worth the purchase price that the numerous movies that will only be watched once and then forgotten."