‘Jazz Icons™: Duke Ellington’ features the earliest-known filmed full-length concert by one of the twentieth century’s greatest songwriters and bandleaders.
Filmed at Amsterdam’s famed Concertgebouw, this 80-minute concert features the 16-piece Duke Ellington Orchestra two years after their stunning performance at the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival, which Duke considered his second birth.
This epic performance includes legendary players Clark Terry, Johnny Hodges, Harry Carney, and many others performing some of the most beloved American music ever written.
‘Jazz Icons™: Dexter Gordon’ features three concerts filmed in 1963 and 1964 in Holland, Switzerland and Belgium that highlight the bebop legend’s classic style and silky tone.
Filmed when Dexter was living in Europe, these shows feature legendary side musicians such as Art Taylor (drums) and Kenny Drew (piano) and jazz classics Blues Walks, A Night in Tunisia, Body and Soul and others.
One of the most influential saxophonists in jazz history (both John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins claim him as an influence), Dexter Gordon is captured in sharp focus on this 70-minute tour de force.
‘Jazz Icons™: Wes Montgomery’ shines a light on one of the most unique and influential guitarists in music history. These beautifully filmed programmes from the Spring of 1965 feature Wes, in intimate studio settings, leading three different line-ups through some of his best-known tunes, including Four on Six and West Coast Blues.
Rare footage, complete with rehearsals, between-song-banter and close-up camera angles, illuminates Wes’s extraordinary musical vocabulary and unconventional picking technique.
An in-depth, song-by-song analysis by legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny makes this DVD a guitar lover’s dream.
“The best footage of the classic Quartet that I’ve ever seen.” – Dave Brubeck
‘Jazz Icons™: Dave Brubeck’ boasts two beautifully filmed concerts from one of the most beloved quartets in jazz history.
Captured at the pinnacle of their power and popularity, Paul Desmond (tenor sax), Joe Morello (drums), Eugene Wright (bass) and Dave Brubeck (piano) explore the trails they blazed into the realm of odd time signatures with Forty Days and two versions of their groundbreaking hit Take Five, as well as forays into world music with two unique interpretations of Koto Song.
Their intimate onstage chemistry and impeccable musicianship made the DBQ an award-winning supergroup.
‘Jazz Icons™: Charles Mingus’ showcases three exceptional concerts performed in April 1964 featuring his most celebrated line-up – Jaki Byard (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums), Johnny Coles (trumpet), Clifford Jordan (tenor sax) and the legendary Eric Dolphy (alto sax, flute and bass clarinet).
Recorded within an eight-day span, less than three months before Dolphy’s death, the three concerts showcase Mingus’ visionary leadership and the band’s incredible depth and diversity with unique performances and arrangements of classics including So Long Eric and the groundbreaking Meditations On Integration.
‘Jazz Icons™: John Coltrane’ provides an epic 95-minute overview of a true giant of twentieth-century music. Three separate shows reveal Coltrane’s ascending creative arc from hard bop innovator as a member of the Miles Davis Quartet in 1960 to consummate bandleader in 1961 to unrivalled jazz visionary in 1965.
This DVD not only features Trane’s classic quartet with Elvin Jones (drums), Jimmy Garrison )bass) and McCoy Tyner (piano), but also spotlights him onstage with other jazz legends including Stan Getz, Eric Dolphy and Oscar Peterson.
Includes mind-blowing versions of his signature tunes My Favourite Things and Impressions.