Play Your Own Thing: A Story of Jazz in Europe

Jazz Icons: Count Basie Live in '62

July 2006 •English

The concert captured on William "Count" Basie's entry in the "must-own" audio/video Jazz Icons series comes from the vaults of Swedish Television. Modern eyes and ears are whisked to April 24, 1962, with Basie conducting his Atomic-era orchestra.

George Benson: Live At Montreux 1986

December 2005 •English

Recorded Live on July 18th, 1986 at "Montreux Casino", during the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland)

George Benson & Al Jarreau: Live at Montreux

December 2007 •English

Sweet and Lowdown

December 1999 •English

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

Crescendo

December 2019 •English

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

August 2019 •English

An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).

Can You Hear God Crying?

November 2014 •English

World première recording of Hannibal Lokumbe's 'spritatorio' Can You Hear God Crying, which combines jazz, gospel and chamber music with West African prayers and songs. The piece, commissioned by Philadelphia philanthropist Carole Haas Gravagno, is about the composer's great-great-grandfather, who was born in the Sahara, kidnapped and enslaved in Liberia, and sold at auction in Charleston, S.C. He escaped to Texas, where he bought land and had a family.

Low Down

January 2014 •English

The daughter of jazz pianist Joe Albany witnesses her beloved father's struggle -- and failure -- to kick his heroin habit.

Standards I/II

July 2008 •English

Whiplash

October 2014 •English

Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.

You, the Living

September 2007 •Swedish

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

Cool

Invalid date •English

Documentary exploring the meaning and history of cool through the American music that started in the 1940s in the bars of New York and LA, and became known as cool jazz.

Chasing Trane

April 2017 •English

An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.

I Called Him Morgan

September 2016 •English

Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.

Bird

June 1988 •English

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

A Night In Havana: Dizzy Gillespie In Cuba

May 1989 •English

A documentary on Dizzy Gillespie's landmark visit to Cuba and his performance at the Fifth International Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba. Filmed in 1985 with Arturo Sandoval and Sayyd Abdul Al Khabyyr.

Starstruck: Gene Kelly's Love Letter to Ballet

November 2021 •English

In 1960, American dancer and actor Gene Kelly created for the Paris Opera Ballet an original choreography that was highly acclaimed at the time, yet rarely performed thereafter; a genius work that the Scottish Ballet, accompanied by the stirring and evocative score by composer and pianist George Gershwin, epitome of orchestral jazz, brings back to life sixty years later.

Oscar

November 2016 •English

Brilliantly mixing animated sequences and archival footage, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre paints a touching portrait of virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson.

Gregory Porter: One Night Only - Live at the Royal Albert Hall

April 2018 •German

Gregory Porter One Night Only – Live at the Royal Albert Hall captures the two-time GRAMMY-winning singer in a stunning live performance at the famed London venue with his band accompanied by the London Studio Orchestra conducted and arranged by Vince Mendoza. Porter sings songs from his acclaimed recent album Nat King Cole & Me, as well as favorite songs of his own including “Hey Laura,” “No Love Dying,” “Don’t Lose Your Steam,” and “When Love Was King.”

Red Light Solo

February 2020 •English

A feature-length tour of Amsterdam's thriving jazz scene.