Cheap Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie) (DVD) (Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, J Coltrane, C Basie) Price
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A telling moment in this terrific Jazz Casual program occurs very early on, when host Ralph J. Gleason asks Count Basie the name of the first piece that the pianist-bandleader and his small group played. "I don't know," says Basie with a laugh. He's not being flip. "I Don't Know," as it eventually became known, is, like most of the other music Basie and company play here, nothing more or less than a blues jam, improvised on the spot. The "casual" label has never been more appropriate, as this 1968 performance finds Basie at his most relaxed. He smokes a lot. He talks a lot: about the influence of Duke Ellington and such legendary pianists as Fats Waller, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis; about the genesis of "One O'Clock Jump," the Basie band's signature tune; and about his own playing style, which he self-effacingly calls "dated." And, best of all, he plays a lot, accompanied by the superb rhythm section of Sonny Payne on drums, Norman Keenan on bass, and the redoubtable Freddie Green on guitar. "I never get tired of playing the blues," Basie tells Gleason, and in the hands of these pros, you'll never get tired of listening to it. Basie's blues are inimitable: effortlessly swinging, completely cool, at once laconic and driving, danceable, humorous, just unmistakably right, with the rhythm players always on the beat and Basie himself the master of what not to play. This is great stuff, and highly recommended. --Sam Graham
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie--trumpeter, bandleader, entertainer--was 43 and still at the peak of his powers when he appeared with his quintet on Ralph J. Gleason's performance-interview TV program, Jazz Casual, in early 1961. And while his style had become somewhat cooler since the days when he and Charlie Parker led jazz's bebop revolution, this four-song set is as identifiably Dizzy as his trademark up-tilted horn and ballooning cheeks. The tunes, from Benny Golson's mid-tempo "Blues After Dark" to Dizzy's own "Lorraine" (with an exotic, sinuous melody reminiscent of his more famous "Night in Tunisia"), are invariably swinging, with fine solo turns by Gillespie, saxophonist-flutist Leo Wright, and a pianist named Lalo Schifrin. That's the same Lalo Schifrin who within a few short years would achieve pop music immortality by composing the Mission: Impossible theme. --Sam Graham
John Coltrane
It might not seem like much: 30 minutes, three tunes, four musicians on a bare- bones soundstage. But this is John Coltrane, and any opportunity to see the legendary saxophonist at work is something to be savored. That's especially true with this January 1964 television performance. Some five years after his membership in Miles Davis's immortal Kind of Blue group, he was well past playing the usual standards and ballads; at the same time, he had yet to explore the outer reaches of the avant-garde. Joined here by pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones--the classic Coltrane quartet, and undoubtedly one of the most important and influential groups in jazz history--he works his way through three numbers that were familiar components of the Coltrane repertoire: Mongo Santamaria's "Afro Blue," which finds Trane on soprano sax and features a typically dynamic Tyner solo; "Alabama," a Coltrane original with a brooding, droning intro and conclusion sandwiched around the middle section's slow, swinging groove; and "Impressions," the modal touchstone, which at nearly 14 minutes long gives all four musicians plenty of room to stretch out.
Playing the tenor horn here, Coltrane is typically restless and searching, volcanic and commanding. It's not necessarily pretty, especially when he is backed only by Jones's angry, explosive polyrhythms, but the power is undeniable. The fact that Coltrane says nothing (all other Jazz Casual guests were interviewed by host Ralph J. Gleason) is immaterial; what could he say with his voice that he hadn't already said with his horn? --Sam Graham
| ACTORS: | Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, J Coltrane, C Basie |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 1960 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Wea/Rhino |
| MPAA RATING: | NR (Not Rated) |
| FEATURES: | Black & White, Dolby |
| TYPE: | Music Video - Jazz |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 603497666423 |
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Customer Reviews of Jazz Casual DVD (Count Basie, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie)
Worth it if you're listening. I'm a working jazz pianist in the Seattle area and always looking to get closer to Basie's perspective. If you've got ears and want to see these guys in action, get this disk. Granted, there are some short interviews, but it's a small price to pay to see a slice of the minimal good footage available from these long gone times in jazz history. A player's textbook in black and white!
Take the intrerview out!!!
...The music is really great. Coltrane is so awesome that his music magnetizes, you can't even put it at the background: it takes all your attention.
Now the problem is that the interview is very poor... I think that even with talented interviewer the musical DVD should have the option to skip the dialogs and to choose to play the music only. It is also strange that the sound recording not as good as it supposed to be and the video picture is sometimes very dirty. Don't buy this DVD.
Somebody needs to remake this DVD and make some cleaning of it.
Worth it for the historical value alone
I found this worth the cost to me but mostly for the historical view. The music can be heard on a CD much better and quite honestly I didn't hear a lot being said by Basie or Gillespie (Coltrane declined to be interviewed).
But what a treat to see the footage of a Public TV Broadcast of the 60's. Gleason's questions and attempt at dialog sounds very dated. Of course it was not atypical of the era but by today's standards he sounds amaturish and unprepared. But thankfully he did do these shows and we now get to see things in the exact setting of the era when they were done. I probably won't watch this all that often but I will pull it out now and again.