MDC 102: Making of the Modern Mind II: Videos and Recordings

Gumbo: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 1 (110:00)
The story of jazz begins in New Orleans, 19th-century America's most cosmopolitan city. Here, in the 1890s, African-American artists created a new music out of ragtime syncopations, Caribbean rhythms, marching band instrumentation, and the soulful feeling of the blues. This program introduces the pioneers of this revolutionary art form: half-mad cornet player Buddy Bolden, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, clarinet prodigy Sidney Bechet, trumpet virtuoso Freddie Keppard, and others. Viewers learn that while the early jazz players roamed the country in the years before World War I, few people outside New Orleans had a chance to hear the new music-until 1917, when a group of white musicians from New Orleans, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, arrived in New York to make the first jazz recording. The Jazz Age was about to begin. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)
Item Number: 43713

The Gift: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 2 (110:00)
The flowering of the Jazz Age is a tale of two great cities, Chicago and New York, and two extraordinary artists whose achievements spanned nearly three-quarters of a century. Louis Armstrong was a fatherless waif who grew up on the rough streets of New Orleans, developing his extraordinary gifts before moving to Chicago, where his transcendent sound inspired a new generation of musicians. Duke Ellington, raised in middle-class comfort, outgrew the society music of Washington, D.C. and headed for Harlem, where he formed a band and created a music all his own. This program also tells the stories of Paul Whiteman, a white bandleader who sold millions of records playing a sweet, symphonic jazz, and Fletcher Henderson, a black bandleader who packed the whites-only Roseland Ballroom with his bold arrangements. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

Our Language: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 3 (110:00)
The stock market surged through the 1920s and jazz was everywhere in America. Now, for the first time, soloists and singers took center stage, transforming the music with distinctive voices and unique stories. This program introduces Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, whose songs eased the pain of life for millions of black Americans; Bix Beiderbecke, the first great white jazz star, inspired by Louis Armstrong to dedicate his life to the music; and two brilliant sons of Jewish immigrants, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, for whom jazz offered an escape from the ghetto. Viewers also follow Duke Ellington's exploits at the Cotton Club and his entry into radio, which brought him national fame, as well as Louis Armstrong's return to Chicago, where he was now billed as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player" and charted the future of jazz. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

The True Welcome: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 4 (110:00)
With farms and factories falling victim to the Great Depression, jazz was one of the few American industries poised for explosive growth. This program explores the art form during the first half of the decade, a period in which New York City usurped Chicago as America's jazz capital, Louis Armstrong revolutionized Broadway song craft, and Chick Webb forged his big-band sound at the Savoy Ballroom. Viewers also learn of pianists Fats Waller and Art Tatum, who dazzled audiences with stunning virtuosity; of Duke Ellington's ongoing compositional artistry, praised in many quarters as rivaling Stravinsky's work in sophistication; of Benny Goodman's adventures in nationwide broadcasting, which showcased not only his own talents but the stunning arrangements of Fletcher Henderson; and of Goodman's swinging triumph at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

Swing: Pure Pleasure—Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 5 (85:00)
As the Depression dragged on, jazz came as close as it ever would to being America's popular music. Now it was often called swing, and, as this program illustrates, it became the defining music of a generation. Suddenly, jazz bandleaders were the new matinee idols, with Benny Goodman hailed as the "King of Swing," while teenagers jitterbugged just as hard to the music of his rivals: Tommy Dorsey, Jimmie Lunceford, Glenn Miller, and the mercurial Artie Shaw. But viewers will discover that the spirit of swing wasn't limited to the dance floor. In New York, Billie Holiday emerged from a tragic childhood to begin her career as the greatest of all female jazz singers. And in Chicago, Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson proved that, despite segregation, there was room in jazz for great black and white musicians to swing side-by-side on stage. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

wing: The Velocity of Celebration—Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 6 (110:00)
As the 1930s drew to a close, swing-mania was still going strong, but some fans were saying success had made the music too predictable. Their ears were tuned to a new sound, suffused with the blues-the Kansas City sound of Count Basie's band, which ignited new musical adventures. By 1938, Basie and his men were helping Benny Goodman bring jazz to Carnegie Hall. Soon Basie's lead saxophonist, Lester Young, was challenging Coleman Hawkins for supremacy, then teaming up with Billie Holiday for a series of recordings that revealed them as musical soul mates-although Holiday eventually wound up back in New York, pouring outrage into the anti-lynching ballad, "Strange Fruit." With war looming in Europe, Duke Ellington was hailed as a hero and Coleman Hawkins startled the world with a glimpse of what jazz would become. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

Dedicated to Chaos: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 7 (110:00)
When America entered World War II, jazz became part of the arsenal, with bandleaders like Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw taking their swing to troops overseas. For many African Americans, however, that sound had a hollow ring. Segregated at home and in uniform, they found themselves fighting for liberties their own country denied them-as when authorities padlocked the integrated Savoy Ballroom. Still, jazz answered the call. Duke Ellington sold war bonds and premiered the tone portrait Black, Brown, and Beige as a benefit for war relief. But underground, jazz was still evolving. In a Harlem club called Minton's Playhouse, trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie and saxophonist Charlie Parker had discovered a new way of playing-fast, intricate, and sometimes chaotic. Once "bebop" broke loose, jazz would never be the same. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

Risk: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 8 (110:00)
The social tensions underlying America's postwar prosperity were reflected in the broken rhythms and dissonant melodies of bebop-and in the troubled life of Charlie Parker. Nicknamed "Bird," Parker demonstrated ideas and techniques as overwhelming for musicians of his generation as Louis Armstrong's had been a quarter-century before. But Parker wasn't the only bebop innovator. Dizzy Gillespie tried to popularize the new sound by adding showmanship and Latin rhythms, while pianist Thelonius Monk infused it with his eccentric personality. Alas, pop singers were the rage. Searching for a new audience, California musicians opted for cool and mellow and Dave Brubeck stirred in classical influences. But one man remained determined to give jazz popular appeal on his own terms-the trumpet player and one-time Parker sideman Miles Davis. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)

The Adventure: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 9 (110:00)
Amid the rise of suburbia, television, rock 'n' roll, and the baby boom generation, jazz lost a beloved and burned-out star: Billie Holiday. But the music still had its two guiding lights. In 1956, the first year Elvis topped the charts, Duke Ellington recaptured the nation's ear with a performance at the Newport Jazz Festival. The next year, Louis Armstrong made headlines when he condemned racism in Little Rock, Arkansas-risking his career while musicians who dismissed him as an Uncle Tom stayed silent. But the leading light of the era was Miles Davis-a catalyst constantly forming new groups to showcase different facets of his stark, introspective sound. Then, as the turbulent Sixties arrived, two saxophonists took jazz further into uncharted terrain-John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110

A Masterpiece by Midnight: Ken Burns’ Jazz, Part 10 (110:00)
Dixieland, swing, bebop, modal, free, avant-garde—these were some of the terms critics used during the 1960s to categorize the diverse manifestations of jazz music. As for the artists themselves, many were desperate for work and headed for Europe, including bebop saxophone master Dexter Gordon. At home, jazz sought relevance. During the Civil Rights struggle it became a voice of protest, while avant-garde explorer John Coltrane reached for a higher consciousness with A Love Supreme and Miles Davis combined jazz with rock ‘n’ roll to launch a wildly popular sound called Fusion. The loss of pioneers Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in the 1970s seemed to mark the end of the music itself. But Wynton Marsalis and a host of other artists, schooled in the music’s traditions, have ensured that jazz is reborn every night—vibrant, evolving, and still swinging. Distributed by PBS Distribution. Part of the series Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns. (110 minutes)