Many of my favorite jazz recordings come from the 1950s to about 1970, classical modern jazz, but I have noticed how many great recordings cluster from the late 50s to the early 60s. Recently, browsing through the internet, looking for Alice Munro short stories, I stumbled across a website <openculture.com> which features a plethora of literature, art, music, film, etc., among which was a documentary film entitled, 1959: The Year that Changed Jazz. The film features four records that came out in that seminal year: Kind of Blue, by Miles Davis; Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet; Mingus Ah Um by Charles Mingus; and The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman, all of which changed jazz in important ways. The film uses great footage of the musicians and interviews with the participants in the sessions, including Davis, Brubeck, Joe Morello and Jimmy Cobb. We get an inside music perspective including such nuggets as the genesis or So What which was totally improvised in one take; Joe Morello's rivalry with Paul Desmond; Mingus's temper; and Coleman's plastic saxophone. Anyone who loves jazz will appreciate this film which I think was produced for BBC FOUR. In 1959 jazz was just taking off, appearing on the charts, but then came the Beatles, and the game changed forever. But Kind of Blue is still selling, one of the best-selling records of all time, and so is Take Five. If you haven't seen this documentary on the history of jazz, you have a treat in store.
1959: The Year that Changed Jazz
- Thread starter Cascais
- Start date
And here I thought it was because it was the year I was born.
Nice post!
That should be the subject of another documentary.
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Co-Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |