Jazz on a Summer's Day

Jazz on a Summer's Day is a 1959 concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Newport, Rhode Island (which took place from July 3 to July 6 of 1958). The film was directed by Aram Avakian who also edited the film. and was principal Cinematographer.

Co-director Bert Stern, (commercial and fashion photographer) Directed the party scenes featuring his friends, and the water scenes.

The Columbia Records legendary Jazz producer, George Avakian, was the film's Music Supervisor

The film mixes images of water with the performers and audience at the festival. It also features scenes of the 1958 America's Cup yacht races. The film is largely without dialog or narration (except for periodic announcements by emcee Willis Conover).

The film features performances by Jimmy Giuffre; Thelonious Monk; Sonny Stitt; Anita O'Day; Dinah Washington; Gerry Mulligan; Chuck Berry; Chico Hamilton, with Eric Dolphy; and Louis Armstrong, with Jack Teagarden. Also appearing are Buck Clayton, Jo Jones, Armando Peraza, and Eli's Chosen Six, the Yale College student ensemble that included trombonist Roswell Rudd, shown driving around Newport in a convertible jalopy, playing Dixieland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

As was scheduled in advance and announced in the program, the last performer Saturday night was Mahalia Jackson, who sang a one-hour program beginning at midnight, thus ushering in Sunday morning. The film concluded with her performance of The Lord's Prayer.

Beat poet Gregory Corso can be seen in the audience a few times.

In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film received a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Lineup

• Jimmy Giuffre 3: Jimmy Giuffre, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim Hall
• Thelonious Monk Trio: Thelonious Monk, Henry Grimes, Roy Haynes
• Sonny Stitt and Sal Salvador
• Anita O'Day
• George Shearing
• Dinah Washington
• Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Art Farmer
• Big Maybelle
• Chuck Berry
• Chico Hamilton Quintet with Eric Dolphy
• Louis Armstrong and his All-Stars: Trummy Young, Danny Barcelona, and Jack Teagarden
• Mahalia Jackson

Premiere

The film premiered at the 1959 Venice Film Festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Home media

The film was also re-released in 2009 by Charly Records and sold with an audio CD of the music and some of the commentary on a 60th anniversary edition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2021, Kino Lorber released a version restored in 4K from the best surviving elements on Blu-ray and DVD.

See also

• List of American films of 1959
• 1959 in jazz
• Bert Stern

External links

• "Jazz on a Summer's Day" by Alan Kurtz (Jazz.com)
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• Yanow, Scott. 2004. Jazz on Film: The Complete Story of the Musicians and Music Onscreen. (Backbeat Books) Template:ISBN
• Jazz on a Summer's Day essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry, A&C Black, 2010 Template:ISBN, pages 562-563 [1]