S01E01 Gumbo: Beginnings to 1917
"Gumbo" traces the roots of jazz from the 1800s to 1917. The viewer will catch glimpses of Jelly Roll Morton, who erroneously claimed to have invented jazz, and the tragic, though influential, figure of trumpeter...
Jazz
S01E06: Swing: The Velocity of Celebration - 1937-1939
Swing would be reacquainted with its blues roots by way of Kansas City, when Count Basie and the Barons of Rhythm brought their hot sound to the Big Apple. Basie would also give Billie Holiday her first break, offering her a chance to travel, perform, drink, and gamble with the rest of the band. Another young singer named Ella Fitzgerald would get her start in Chick Webb’s band at the Savoy Ballroom, and then be named top female vocalist—over Billy Holiday—by Down Beat in 1937.
Overview
Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.
Episodes
S01E02 The Gift: 1917-1924
How can one explain the genius of a Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington? Blessed with skill and talent far exceeding their peers, one can only define what they possess as a gift from the gods....
S01E03 Our Language: 1924 -1929
Colorful characters like the tragic Bix Beiderbecke, powerhouse Bessie Smith, and the braggart Jelly Roll Morton, make the study of jazz fascinating. Perhaps most touching in this episode is the extended portrait of the troubled,...
S01E04 The True Welcome: 1929-1934
"The True Welcome" continues many of the stories begun in Episode 3, following several troubling years for Louis Armstrong (who was arrested for marijuana possession), Duke Ellington’s growth as a composer, and Benny Goodman discovering...
S01E05 Swing: Pure Pleasure - 1935-1937
1935 was the year that swing became the most popular music in the country and that the king of swing, Benny Goodman, became a matinee idol. Americans, stifled by the Depression, seemed determined to dance...
S01E06 Swing: The Velocity of Celebration - 1937-1939
Swing would be reacquainted with its blues roots by way of Kansas City, when Count Basie and the Barons of Rhythm brought their hot sound to the Big Apple. Basie would also give Billie Holiday...
S01E07 Dedicated to Chaos: 1940-1945
"Dedicated to Chaos" finds jazz musicians teetering on the brink of the modern era, fighting against the straightjacket of clichéd, big band arrangements. The revolution started at Minton’s Playhouse, a rundown club where musicians like...
S01E08 Risk: 1945-1955
The bop revolution’s influence would spread to other musicians, but unlike swing, it would never become a popular music. The rapid-fire solos and complicated chord structures made bop a musician’s music, unfit for dancing. Indeed,...
S01E09 The Adventure: 1956-1960
Critics who had believed that Charlie Parker was "too much" musically, could not have welcomed the arrival of Ornette Coleman. Coleman and John Coltrane would edge jazz toward even more freedom, eventually dropping all traditional...
S01E10 A Masterpiece by Midnight: 1960 to the Present
Obviously Ken Burns knows that he can’t fit the last thirty-nine years of jazz history onto two hours of video tape, so from the outset, that shouldn’t be expected. There’s an excellent biography of John...
Cast
Keith David
Narrator (voice)
Sidney Bechet
Self (archive footage)
Louis Armstrong
Self (archive footage)
Duke Ellington
Self (archive footage)
Benny Goodman
Self (archive footage)
Artie Shaw
Self (archive footage)
Billie Holiday
Self (archive footage)
Glenn Miller
Self (archive footage)
Dave Brubeck
Self (archive footage)
Art Tatum
Self (archive footage)
John Coltrane
Self (archive footage)
Art Blakey
Self (archive footage)
