Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
January 24, 2025 3:13 AM - Subscribe

Imagine it's 1958, the golden days of summer are upon you, you bum your way up the East Coast to Newport, Rhode Island, looking to vibe to some magic Jazz music. You sit on the grass and wait for the line-up:

Louis Armstrong ,Mahalia Jackson, Gerry Mulligan, Dinah Washington, Chico Hamilton, Anita O'Day, George Shearing, Chuck Berry, Jack Teagarden, Thelonious Monk, Big Meybelle, Sonny Stitt, Eli's Chosen Six, Buck Clayton, Eric Dolphy, Jim Hall, Sal Salvador, Willis Conover, Patricia Bosworth - and dozens more.

Life will never ever feel better.

Only a small portion of the performances made it to the film, but the finished documentary is available for free on YouTube.

It's been featured only once on the blue, but never here, and mentioned only once here in connection with 'The Young Girls of Rochefort'

7.9 on IMDb.

97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

4.1 on Letterboxd.

Review by one Kevin Hagopian.

One of the greatest concert films and the greatest jazz films. 10/10.
posted by growabrain (2 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
For me, that bill reads:

ERIC DOLPHY
and guests
posted by Lemkin at 6:30 AM on January 24


The indelible image of Anita O’Day (on heroin, looking like some exotic bird in that hat). The perfect encapsulation of the languid audience. A vital piece of film history.
posted by bcwinters at 7:10 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]


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