Jazz A Film By Ken Burns (2000)

With Jazz, Ken Burns reaches the high note of his epic trilogy on American life that began with The Civil War and continued with Baseball.

Episodes: A Masterpiece by Midnight, The Adventure, The Risk, Dedicated to Chaos, Swing: The Velocity of Celebration, Swing: Pure Pleasure, The True Welcome, Our Language, The Gift, and Gumbo.
 
"...necessary viewing for anyone who loves the music...stunning photographs and a number of rare filmed performances."  Gary Mairs, CultureVulture.net
"...unravels like a fine wine, its musky tendrils unfurling at a leisurely pace as Burns works his magic..."  Jason Van Bergen, TheCritics.org
 


Editor's Note

For the third part of his American Trilogy--following THE CIVIL WAR and BASEBALL--Ken Burns takes on "that most American of art forms": jazz. The 10-part, 19-hour film begins with the music's roots in post-Civil War New Orleans and concludes roughly a century later. The story focuses not only on the personalities and events that helped define the music but also on the social and cultural climate in which they emerged, making KEN BURNS' JAZZ a film about more than just music.


Plot Summary

Ken Burns takes the viewer on a 19-hour visual and aural tour. Find out why jazz was, and may still be, one of the most revolutionary musical--and artistic--expressions around.