1962 Newport Jazz
Festival
Picture:
C- Sound: C Extras: C Film: B
For all
the information it offers, it constantly amazes me how, with 14 years and counting,
the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) falls very, very short in content. If you look up producer/director Buddy
Bregman, you will see a variety of music programs so interesting, you wonder
when we can see them on DVD. Here is a
man who did TV specials for Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Shirley Bassey, Mel
Tormé, Nancy Wilson, Juliet Prowse, and was musical director on the Coca-Cola
sponsored Eddie Fisher Show. He composed
music scores for roughly a dozen feature films, over a dozen TV shows and even
acted in the music-filled The Big Beat
(1958). The transition from music maker
to all-around film and TV maker resulted from his 50-minutes-long film of The 1962 Newport Jazz Festival.
Don’t go
looking for it on IMDb, because it is a vital title that is missing from his
list. Now, it is out on DVD and it is
one of the best Jazz films ever made. Co-shot by cinematographers Gerald Yarus and Nathan
Cowen, then edited by Darrell Random, it is every bit as good as Bert Stein’s
amazing Jazz on a Hot Summer’s Day
(1959, reviewed elsewhere on this site), which was the groundbreaker for this
kind of work. Bregman shoots all in
black and white (unless The DVD comes form some syndicated TV print, but no
tech credits are offered).
As it
stands, the performances are exceptional, featuring the following in order of
their first appearance:
Oscar
Peterson Trio (resurfacing later)
Roland
Kirk (a big surprise)
Clara
Ward Gospel Singers
Duke
Ellington Orchestra
Count
Basie Orchestra
Joe
Williams
This
line-up is non-stop and can go a few rounds with the incredible performances in
Stein’s film. The energy is amazing and
the talent is incredible, all exceptionally in their element. I never liked When The Saints Go Marching In, but the Clara Ward Gospel Singers
have a performance that is so incredible, that it is the way the song should
have always been heard. The joy in
everyone from the stage to the audience shows a serious pick-up since
1958. No wonder this concert series is
among the most significant and legendary of the 20th Century.
The full
frame 1.33 X 1 image is sadly poor, a muddy analog transfer from a decent film
print, and I still could not stop
watching. The camerawork is great even
under this circumstance. Video Black and
Gray Scale are off too. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is old and compressed, making me wonder why this does not
sound as good as Stein’s film. I hope
this is not a lost film and the original camera materials survive
somewhere. With this lost treasure
finally surfacing on DVD in this rather basic edition, could someone please
unearth never-seen-before footage? This
is just not long enough.
The few
extras are brief bio text pieces on the performers, remarkably extensive
discographies on all those same performers, a brief history of the Newport jazz
festival, website info, and a look at other DVDs from DVD company Quantum Leap
(doing this DVD with Music Video Distribution).
This went
over so well, that Bregman eventually did another Newport Jazz Festival
special, this time for TV in 1964. There
is a rich musical history in this man’s work that extended to some of the
greatest music talents of all time, especially those who trusted him with their
image. The 1962 Newport Jazz Festival is a Jazz classic in its own right
and you’ll be glad you caught it.
- Nicholas Sheffo
