Steve Provizer
The music works. The session is among old friends. The rhythm section cooks and every solo holds one’s attention.
Shouting and honking saxes made visceral appeals to the emotions and the body. For jazz critics, this kind of theatricality degraded what should have been ‘Art.’
I may not agree with some of the documentary’s spin, but the film gives the viewer a clear and entertaining picture of Eddie Durham’s long and important musical career.
Author Mark Cantor has been the go-to guy for jazz film for decades: this authoritative book solidifies his position.
Singer/actor Yves Montand’s life and career is particularly fascinating because they illuminate a telling difference between the mid-20th century political-cultural milieus of France and America.
One might conjecture that Lena Horne’s career was something like a mink-lined minefield: the promise of wealth and fame went hand-in-hand with the possibility of annihilation.
Tony Bennett was not only a singular artist. He was, by all accounts, a mensch: an early supporter of the civil rights struggle and participant in innumerable benefits, he was a generous mentor.
Sloane: A Jazz Singer is very sweet film that never cloys because of the singer’s naturalness, honesty, occasional self-deprecation, and sense of humor.
A rare Black female instrumentalist band leader, whose improvisations on the harp were the equal of any horn, Dorothy Ashby deserves a respected place in jazz historiography.
Arts Commentary: SAG-AFTRA On Strike — Not Just About Jobs, But the Soul of American Culture
The battleground is where technology meets art meets finances.
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