The Cry Of Jazz--featuring Sun Ra & His Arkestra
MVD/Atavistic 2004
There is a ton of music video on the market that should be considered essential. However, very few of those titles can claim to transcend their musical richness and become socially important. Of all the music DVDs you could possibly see, none other will give you the best of those two worlds the way The Cry Of Jazz does.
Many people will flock to this DVD because it features footage of Sun Ra & His Arkestra. While that footage is great, if you're expecting this to be a "Sun Ra DVD," you'd be mistaken. What you get is something even more valuable than that. The Cry Of Jazz is a film shot in 1959 that gives one of the most eloquent and beautiful explanations of a style of music ever. Basically, this film lays out how the environmental and social realites of African-American jazz composers and performers of the time was mirrored in the structure of their songs. Even the most schooled of writers, performers, and fans will be in awe as they soak everything on this video in. Perhaps the most incredible thing about The Cry Of Jazz is that it forsees the evolution of jazz over subsequent decades, right up to predicting what would be the development and rise of hip hop music (though they don't reference it by name) and its impact on today's society and culture.
Intercut with the actual movie is footage of Sun Ra & His Arkestra. Even though they are brief glimpses, this footage is as priceless as the film itself. The soundtrack this music supplies to the film is perfect and really helps support the message the film maker was trying to get across. It is fitting such a visionary musician was tied to a film which was inconceivably ahead of its time.
It goes without saying that Sun Ra fans will want this DVD for the rare footage it contains of him. So too will people who love the jazz form, as this film does it justice in a way not topped before or since. However, the people who most need to see The Cry Of Jazz are those who've never taken the time to really explore jazz music. If you don't "get it" after watching this, you probably never will. Somebody needs to give everyone involved with the making and reissuing of this film an award. The Cry Of Jazz may be America's ultimate national treasure, in terms of music video.
Score this DVD directly from MVD
|
