Great easygoing film of the Newport Jazz festival in 1958. Remarkable performances by Monk, Baker, Jackson and Armstrong.
Also notable as a benchmark of race relations in this country on the eve of the Civil Rights Movement. Although, we learned from the IMDb that most of the audience shots were staged by the filmmaker in NYC after the concert, the shots of Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarten performing together presaged the better world Rev. King spoke about a few years later.
It's also good to know that pianist George Wein, who produced the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, is back at the helm of the 2010 festival. Talk about perennial hipsters -- check out this year's lineup: http://newportjazzfest.net/index.php
Also notable as a benchmark of race relations in this country on the eve of the Civil Rights Movement. Although, we learned from the IMDb that most of the audience shots were staged by the filmmaker in NYC after the concert, the shots of Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarten performing together presaged the better world Rev. King spoke about a few years later.
It's also good to know that pianist George Wein, who produced the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954, is back at the helm of the 2010 festival. Talk about perennial hipsters -- check out this year's lineup: http://newportjazzfest.net/index.php