Jazz on a Summer's Day/A Summer's Day With Bert Stern

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Part concert documentary, part pop-cultural time capsule, Bert Stern's Jazz on a Summer's Day chronicles the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival with an approach as deceptively relaxed, even impulsive, as the music itself. Still photographer Stern sidesteps more formal documentary conventions such as narrative voiceovers to wander purposefully from festival stage to boarding-house jam sessions, taking in the parallel color and motion of the America's Cup preparations when he isn't capturing rich color footage of the performances and the celebratory mood of the concertgoers. In the process, he documents American jazz at a notably golden moment in its development--diverse, adventurous, and still broadly popular, this was jazz not yet under the shadow of rock and youth culture, played by an integrated artistic community a few short years away from social and political turmoil that would boil divisively to the surface during the '60s. To say Stern was rolling film in a jazz Camelot is overstatement, but only slightly so.

Stern's circular approach and wonderful eye achieve a breezy languor at the expense of more comprehensive coverage of the festival's bumper crop of strong jazz, blues, and gospel musicians. Perhaps inevitably, the camera lingers on Louis Armstrong, Anita O'Day, Mahalia Jackson, Dinah Washington, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, and George Shearing. Avid fans of later styles may be frustrated by the fleeting glimpses of other musicians such as Eric Dolphy and Art Farmer, or the honor roll of classic jazz stylists whose Newport sets weren't included in the film, but such omissions seem forgivable, if not necessary, to Stern's serendipitous design. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Beautifully done.......2007-08-18

I don't normally buy DVDs, especially documentaries, since usually I feel after I've seen it once or twice its time to move on. Particularly music - I'd just as soon listen to the CD - the movie is usually a distraction. But this one is exceptional and worth buying and seeing again and again. It really is like being there and the mood of the music is complemented by the scenes of the audience and street scenes.

The colors are very good, and without any plot or voiceover to get in the way (though Stern says in an additional commentary on the disc they tried to put a story in but gave up) it is just the music and the audience. The audience captures the feeling of being there - the feeling of the time and place. There are some beautiful scenes of the water and jam sessions in houses and on the beach.

A very nice Summer day.

an excellent preservation of time.......2007-05-01

This is a beautiful looking film. Stern was essentially a photographer who got ahold of film equipment and was able to document this event (the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival). The sheer quality of the images (keep in mind it was 1958) really reflect Stern's true calling as a photographer. That being said, no, he is not a filmmaker by trade; if you are looking for a masterful film, look elsewhere; if you are looking for footage of the jazz musicians, by themsleves, isolated from the experience of playing to an audience, look elsewhere. However, if you want a great looking document portraying the experience of great jazz musicians playing to a crowd in 1958, and what it really looked and felt like, this is the film you must own. In my opinion, the opening scenes of Jimmy Guiffre playing (a vastly underrated jazz legend) are enough to get someone hooked. Lastly, this is one of the times when the DVD-format really shows its advantages in terms of sound. It's fantastic, and really captures the experience of this 1958 event like nothing else.

A fabulous bit of jazz history.......2007-01-05

We got this after seeing the Anita O'Day clips on YouTube. We think she certainly was one of the stars of this event, but the entire documentary is delightful and inspiring, both for the music recorded and the recorded moments of the jazz audience in 1958. Worth owning!

must have for traditional jazz fans.......2006-12-14

this is by far the best quality and footage I have seen of the
older jazz concerts. Color and sound are excellent, and it's
the best footage I have seen of Pop's and Mahalia. By contrast
the 62 festival is terrible in quality- poor sound and film.
It is annoying to cut away from the some of the performances,
but again it is still the best quality I have seen. If someone
has anything better out there, tell us about it.

Time capsule of the 50's.......2006-11-30

I am recommending this tape to any serious music fanatic. Being an old curmudgeon probably helps with the fascination of this film as I can relate to the 50's era. What a change from Newport to Woodstock, only 10 years later. Growing up in the Hippie years and looking back to 1958, I feel we have lost a way of life along the way. If you are looking for a peek into the 50's, buy this. The filming is great for it's time (35mm). Oh, how I long for those days to return after watching this flim.

Average customer rating:

Beautifully done
an excellent preservation of time
A fabulous bit of jazz history
must have for traditional jazz fans
Time capsule of the 50's

Jazz on a Summer's Day
Starring: Jimmy Giuffre , Thelonious Monk , Henry Grimes , Sonny Stitt , and Sal Salvador
Director: Aram Avakian , and Bert Stern
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

( J ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005NX0L