Jazz Documentaries

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.

The highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.

An exploration of the relationship between jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who was implicated in his murder in 1972.

A documentary about Tom Dowd, who was an innovative recording engineer and producer of noted albums with John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Otis Redding, Eric Clapton, the Allman Brothers and many others.

Three friends, Steffen, Thomas and Mogens spend a lot of time together in Julies apartment while they talk about soccer and how to get enough money for tickets to the big game next week. At the same time Julie is trying to get in contact with her boyfriend René who she thinks is having an affair. They all talk a lot about whats on their mind during this week.

Nine years in the making, CHARLES MINGUS - Triumph of the Underdog is the first comprehensive documentary about jazz bassist, bandleader and composer Charles Mingus. A lucid involving portrait showing the many faces and tortured heart of a music genius, the film also features an abundance of clips of Mingus in performance.

The documentary compiles interviews of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine.

An exploration of the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane where the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds are revealed.

A documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."

A tribute to jazz diva Anita O'Day, completed just weeks before her death in November 2006.

Art, obsession and anxiety permeate a dilapidated Manhattan loft building in Mid-century: The first movie to use photographer W. Eugene Smith's massive, fly-on-the-wall archive of photos and audio tapes documenting the likes of jazz greats Thelonious Monk, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre, Hall Overton and others at work and play in the Sixth Avenue wreck that was Smith's home and studio from 1957 through the '60s.

Bill Evans Time Remembered is a 90-minute documentary film, produced by Bruce Spiegel which tells the story of Bill Evans' turbulent life and his contribution to jazz music.

Follow the life and legacy of the master and so-called founding father of jazz, America's first pop star, and cultural ambassador.

A revelatory, thrilling and emotional journey behind the scenes of Blue Note Records, the pioneering label that gave voice to some of the finest jazz artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

During Prohibition, Kansas City was wide open, and jazz was its music. Late in the 1970s, musicians of the Pendergast era gather at the union hall to play, sing, and talk. Some were part of Walter Page's Blue Devils, joined Bennie Moten's band, and stayed with Count Basie's Orchestra. Basie is on hand, as are Big Joe Turner, Jay McShann, and some of his big band. Highlights include Turner's vocals, McShann's sly piano playing, a drum clinic from Jo Jones and Baby Lovett, Jimmy Forrest solos, and remembrances of Lester Young and of how Charlie Parker got his nickname. Throughout is the Kansas City sound: cool and relaxed, blues meeting swing, an afterbeat that calls for dancing.

The life story of the legendary musician Miles Davis.

The true story of a British heiress's love for jazz genius Thelonious Monk.

An intensely personal and sometimes painful look into the fascinating world of Art Pepper. One of Jazz' greatest alto saxophonists and most expressive soloists, Pepper was also a thief, drug addict, alcoholic, womanizer, and world renown wildman. In candid interviews he recounts his triumphs, troubles, and luck in meeting Laurie, his last wife. For half the film Pepper leads a trio in a Malibu nightclub, the set includes: "Red Car", "Patricia", and "Miss Who?".

The untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their journeys from the late 1930's to the present day.

A documentary that follows jazz legend Clark Terry over four years to document the mentorship between Terry and 23-year-old blind piano prodigy Justin Kauflin as the young man prepares to compete in an elite, international competition.

A survey of the musical form's history and major talents.

In 1948 Sonny Rollins left high school and went on to make his first album as a saxophonist. In 1959, he had the jazz world at his feet and he quit the scene. In 2010, the greatest living saxophone player put on an exhilarating production to mark his 80th birthday at the Beacon Theater with some of the world's most extraordinary musicians, including Ornette Coleman, Roy Haynes and Jim Hall. Sonny Rollins Beyond the Notes uses his 80th birthday concert to look into the man and his music.

In 1959, four important jazz albums were released, each a watershed moment for the genre that reflects its time.