The Sound of Jazz

Despite its flaws, this is a famous and important document that will be of more than passing interest to any jazz fan. Broadcast in December 1957 by CBS (wow, imagine that--a major network devoting a full hour to mainstream jazz!), The Sound of Jazz brings together singers Billie Holiday and Jimmy Rushing, pianist/bandleader Count Basie, saxophonists Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, and Lester Young, and others for a set of seven studio performances (the DVD also includes three audio-only bonus tunes). The film is in black and white, and neither sound nor images are topnotch by today's standards; what's more, this is fairly old school stuff, with nary a bebopper in sight (no sign of Miles Davis either, despite the fact that by this time he had already put together the group that would form the basis for the immortal Kind of Blue, the bestselling album in jazz history). Holiday's performance of “Fine and Mellow” is less than stellar; she and longtime accompanist Lester Young are visibly and audibly weak (both would die in 1959, lending the tune a certain poignancy). Still, what a treat it is to hear and see some of the other musicians at their best, especially Coleman, with his bold, distinctive tone and endless flow of ideas, and the flawlessly swinging Basie band. Highly recommended for jazz lovers. Aud: C, P. (S. Graham)