BBC4 - Friday 27th March

[sidewinder]

Some good stuff coming up on UK BBC4 next Friday. Time to set the ol' DVD recorder...

1. '1959 - The Year That Changed Jazz'. New documentary focusing on the ground-breaking modern jazz of that year (Miles, Brubeck, Mingus, Ornette).

2. Two newly restored 'Jazz 625s' - Dave Brubeck (introduced by Slim Gaillard) and Dizzy Gilespie Quintet.

Now - I wonder if this could perhaps be advance notice that they have restored a whole heap of Jazz 625s and are about to broadcast them.

1959 Jazz Night Listing - BBC4

Edited March 22, 2009 by sidewinder

[BillF]

Thanks for the tip, Sidewinder!

[A Lark Ascending]

Thanks, sidewinder. I never noticed that!

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

re #1, thats a stretch, but i'd enterain it above watching "30 rock" or some other stupid usa show ive never seen....

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

in that comment i am saying i have never seen 30 rock

[sidewinder]

The documentary last night was pretty good. No real revelations but some nice interviews (Lorraine Gordon, Jimmy Cobb, Sue Mingus, Dave B. etc). Predictably I guess, they mentioned that 'Shape Of Jazz To Come' was the most significant of the albums in terms of future impact.

One or two gems - e.g. the female audience members in the Vanguard collectively and subconsciously opening their legs in unison when Miles started playing. :blush2:

The 'Jazz 625's' looked to be straight repeats of the last time they were broadcast. No Slim Gaillard intros etc. as advertised so I wonder if these intros were from the last time they were broadcast (early 90s?) and theBeeb just forgot to edit the summary. Of course Slim is now long since passed away but back in the early 90s he was UK resident for his final few years and sometimes popped up on TV as a jazz pundit.

And damn it - my DVD recording ended about a minute before the end of the Dizzy show - but fortunately I've got another recording of this show. Broadcast quality looked to be pretty good last night.

And next Friday there is an 'Arena' documentary on 'Cool' that is also jazz-based as part of this season, plus two more 'Jazz 625s' (Peterson and MJQ).

Edited March 28, 2009 by sidewinder

[BillF]

And next Friday there is an 'Arena' documentary on 'Cool' that is also jazz-based as part of this season, plus two more 'Jazz 625s' (Peterson and MJQ).

Thanks again for the tip, Sidewinder!

[J.A.W.]

The documentary last night was pretty good. No real revelations but some nice interviews (Lorraine Gordon, Jimmy Cobb, Sue Mingus, Dave B. etc).

Don't forget the inevitable Mr Crouch...

It was a nice documentary, but I thought it rambled a bit from one album to another and back, and it stayed very much on the surface; why these four albums (Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Dave Brubeck - Time Out, Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um, Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz to Come) were groundbreaking was only touched upon.

Edited March 28, 2009 by J.A.W.

[sidewinder]

I thought Stanley was fairly toned down. Was expecting worse.

Yes, they could have explained a bit more about what made these albums ground-breaking. They also tended to concentrate on just one or two of the tracks in each case (especially on the Ornette). I guess though that the target audience was the 'interested but not jazz freak' fraternity, hence the pitch.

Looks as though it was filmed in hi-def - nice sharp picture, which was good to see.

[JohnS]

Enjoyed the documentary. It was pitched about right for the tv audience but didn't talk down to the jazz fan.

The Diz Jazz 625 was well worth seeing. I'd forgotten about a lot of the on stage showmanship. Musically it ws fine, especially Moody's flute feature. Interesting to see the Brubeck Quartet but that's about all, nothing memorable happened.

[sidewinder]

Looks like there's a documentary on the 'Jazz Baroness' Pannonica de Koenigswarter coming up in about a week's time, plus a broadcast of the Monk 'Jazz 625'.

They are on a roll !

Edit - it's on next Friday, repeated Saturday. Also with the Art Blakey/Lee Morgan/John Gilmore 'Jazz 625'

BBC4 Jazz Listings

Edited April 11, 2009 by sidewinder

[BillF]

Looks like there's a documentary on the 'Jazz Baroness' Pannonica de Koenigswarter coming up in about a week's time, plus a broadcast of the Monk 'Jazz 625'.

They are on a roll !

Edit - it's on next Friday, repeated Saturday. Also with the Art Blakey/Lee Morgan/John Gilmore 'Jazz 625'

BBC4 Jazz Listings

I'll be watching!

[sidewinder]

Hopefully the Getz won't be the only 'Jazz Goes To College' that they broadcast and that there will be more of that particular series to come. I have the feeling there might have been shows by Joe Harriott and Tubby Hayes but suspect that these might have been lost during the tape wiping purge to make way for the likes of 'Blankety Blank' and the Lena Zavaroni Show.

One can but hope though !

Talking of Joe Harriott there was a 3 or 4 part on Indo-Jazz Fusions (with John Mayer) that was done for Harlech/HTV in Bristol back around 1968/69 and which has never been found. Now that one would be a discovery, although I believe that a search by ITV mentioned in the Harriott bio gave negative results..

Edited April 11, 2009 by sidewinder

[BillF]

I have the feeling there might have been shows by Joe Harriott and Tubby Hayes but suspect that these might have been lost during the tape wiping purge to make way for the likes of 'Blankety Blank' and the Lena Zavaroni Show.

Probably the work of the guy who cancelled today's JRR to make way for opera.

[AllenLowe]

in '59, I believe, Andre Hodeir recorded Jazz Et Jazz - first use of electronics in jazz, I believe - they shoulda played it -

[BillF]

I have the feeling there might have been shows by Joe Harriott and Tubby Hayes but suspect that these might have been lost during the tape wiping purge to make way for the likes of 'Blankety Blank' and the Lena Zavaroni Show.

Probably the work of the guy who cancelled today's JRR to make way for opera.

P.S. Delighted - and surprised - to see in today's Guardian a leader on the theme of "stop messing about with Jazz Record Requests. Recognition at last!

[Jazzjet]

Hopefully the Getz won't be the only 'Jazz Goes To College' that they broadcast and that there will be more of that particular series to come. I have the feeling there might have been shows by Joe Harriott and Tubby Hayes but suspect that these might have been lost during the tape wiping purge to make way for the likes of 'Blankety Blank' and the Lena Zavaroni Show.

One can but hope though !

Talking of Joe Harriott there was a 3 or 4 part on Indo-Jazz Fusions (with John Mayer) that was done for Harlech/HTV in Bristol back around 1968/69 and which has never been found. Now that one would be a discovery, although I believe that a search by ITV mentioned in the Harriott bio gave negative results..

The Jazz Goes To College series included shows by Sonny Rollins/Max Roach, the Max Roach quintet ( with Freddie Hubbard and James Spaulding ), Horace Silver, the Ronnie Ross Big Band, Tubby Hayes Big Band, Stan Tracey, Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, Woody Herman and the infamous Albert Ayler show. Joe Harriott appeared in an Indo Jazz Fusions programme in the Jazz 625 series ( 1966 ). It would be great if that one came to light!

[sidewinder]

Anyone see that 'West End Jungle' Soddom and Gomoragh style documentary about prostitution in 1959 Soho last night, after the Getz? Wonder whose big band it was on the sountrack - a very Ronnie Ross-ish baritone by the sound of it.

Edited April 12, 2009 by sidewinder

[BillF]

They are on a roll !

Indeed they are! BBC4 listings for Saturday 18 April:

8.00 Legends: The Charlie Parker Story

9.00 Film: Let's Get Lost

11.00 The Jazz Baroness (repeat of previous evening's documentary)

12.25am - 1.10 Imagine: Saint John Coltrane

[sidewinder]

9.00 Film: Let's Get Lost

Yeah ! Missed that one. Great timing, I need a DVD copy.