Adam, a brilliant trumpet player, is burdened with guilt following a car accident in which his wife and child were killed. He finds happiness briefly with another woman but turns to drink and is wrongly convicted as a drug-addict when arrested after a drunken brawl. Desperate for money, his agent books him a series of one-night stands and one night, while playing a farewell number with the band, Adam collapses. The audience believe him to be drunk...

In a triumphant career that lasted forty years Erroll Garner pushed the playability of the piano to its limits, developed an international reputation, and made an indelible mark on the jazz world. And yet, his story has never been told. Until now. Atticus Brady's new film uses an astonishing array of archival materials interwoven with interviews with friends, family, and fellow musicians, and features commentary from Woody Allen; Ahmad Jamal; Tonight...

Danny Kaye cuts loose with his trademark musical clowning. Louis Armstrong plays his horn and croons in that famed gargling-granite voice. Big Band icons Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony and Shelly Manne join the fun. And Barbara Bel Geddes (decades before *Dallas*) add to the excellent performances in THE FIVE PENNIES, the success-tempered-with-tears biopic of jazz great Red Nichols (portrayed by Kaye). Nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design,...

She was ahead of her time, a genius. During an era when Jazz was the nation's popular music, Mary Lou Williams was one of its greatest innovators. As both a pianist and composer, she was a font of daring and creativity who helped shape the sound of 20th century America. And like the dynamic, turbulent nation in which she lived, Williams seemed to redefine herself with every passing decade. From child prodigy to "Boogie-Woogie Queen" to groundbreaking...

A brief recounting of the career of this jazz musician and composer who, along with his orchestra, created music that was beyond category.

"A landmark biography that reclaims Ella Fitzgerald as a major American artist and modernist innovator. Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) possessed one of the twentieth century's most astonishing voices. In this first major biography since Fitzgerald's death, historian Judith Tick offers a sublime portrait of this ambitious risk-taker whose exceptional musical spontaneity made her a transformational artist. Becoming Ella Fitzgerald clears up long-enduring...

Joe Gardner is a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. A misstep takes him from New York City to The Great Before, a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities before going to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22, who has never understood the appeal of the human life. As Joe tries to show 22 what's great about life, he may discover...

After three decades as the colorful bandleader to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, master trumpeter Doc Severinsen defies nature with a relentless schedule of touring and performing into his nineties. A musical icon traces his groundbreaking career and personal trials underscoring a life of inspiration and obsession. In 2018, at the age of 90, Doc Severinsen is still going strong as he leaves home and sets off on a performance tour. At the...

"Set over the course of three summers, Small Worlds follows Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanaian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain track-a university degree, a move out of home-but when he decides instead to follow his first love, music, his world and family fracture in ways he didn't foresee. Now Stephen must find a path and...

A panoramic history of the genre brings to life the diverse places in which jazz evolved, traces the origins of its various styles, and offers commentary on the music itself.