Jazz

To the query "What is jazz?," Louis Armstrong is famously reported to have responded that if you have to ask, you'll never understand. But Ken Burns hits all the right (if not always familiar) notes in this epic documentary that traces the history of "America's music." Like his The Civil War and Baseball, Burns' Jazz is a mammoth undertaking, comprised of more than 75 interviews (with Wynton Marsalis being the dominant voice), 500 pieces of music, 2,400 vintage stills and 2,000 archival film clips. Although it spans jazz legends from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis, with a number of unsung or undersung heroes in between, jazz critics and purists have weighed in on Jazz's inevitable omissions or perceived slights. For Joe PBS, however, this is a rich and often thrilling history of a music that, in the words of Art Blakey, "washes away the dust of everyday life." The DVD's Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack adds oomph to the already impressive music, with additional extras including a 20-minute "making of" featurette, comprehensive background information on the spotlighted songs, and three extra performances. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (K. Lee Benson)