Bert Stern’s 1959 independent film shot at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival is a concert movie that also presents a mesmerizing viewing experience. From its opening scene, in which light casts a gorgeous palette of colors in the reflecting water, accompanied by the plaintive notes of a trumpet, Jazz on a Summer’s Day was years ahead of its time in its effortless fusion of music and nature.
Jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Thelonious Monk, Dinah Washington, and others, render gutsy, soulful tunes, as the camera plays over the audience and surrounding town life. Yachts race in the bay, a young girl stumbles around in high heels pulling a wagon, apartment couples drink beer and dance on the outside deck in the hot summer sun. Jazz aficionados will love this movie–but so will anyone else who wants to see a wonderful portrait painted of the way we were at the end of the 1950s.
Bowing on Blu-ray in a beautiful 4K restoration, extras include an audio commentary by music journalist Natalie Weiner, archival interviews with director Bert Stern, Stern’s photo galleries, Shannah Laumeister Stern’s 2011 documentary “Bert Stern: Original Madman,” and a booklet with an essay by Nate Chinen, author of Playing Changes: Jazz for the New Century. Visually stunning and loaded with hot jazz, this is highly recommended. Editor’s Choice.