Jazz - Season 1 - Eps 6: Swing: The Velocity of Celebration - 1937-1939

2001-01-22100 min⭐ 7.5/10

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.

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About Jazz

Jazz

Title: Jazz

First Air Date: 2001-01-09

Last Air Date: 2001-01-31

Status: Ended

Rating: 7.5/10 (from 30 votes)

Language: EN

Seasons: 2

Total Episodes: 10

Network: PBS

Genres: Documentary

Production Companies: PBS, Florentine Films, WETA, BBC

Synopsis

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.

Cast

Keith David

Keith David

Narrator (voice)

Sidney Bechet

Sidney Bechet

Self (archive footage)

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Self (archive footage)

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Self (archive footage)

Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman

Self (archive footage)

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw

Self (archive footage)

Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday

Self (archive footage)

Glenn Miller

Glenn Miller

Self (archive footage)

Dave Brubeck

Dave Brubeck

Self (archive footage)

Art Tatum

Art Tatum

Self (archive footage)

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