Jazz On A Summer’s Day is one of the greatest concert movies ever made, a timeless record of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, with some of the most stunning images of live music ever brought to the cinema screen.

 

CD/DVD edition in brilliant jewel case using the 60th Anniversary remaster.

 

“Sixty years on, Jazz On A Summer’s Day remains forever memorable." - MOJO

 

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Conceived by stills photographer Bert Stern (Vogue magazine, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn) and filmed over the four days of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, the movie not only captured inspired performances by some of the biggest names in jazz at the time, but also the style and fashions of late Fifties America. Interspersing footage of the crowds and the America’s Cup yacht races with the artists live on stage and largely devoid of dialogue, Stern’s fluid form perfectly echoes the jazz vibe tempering a fly-on-the-wall documentary style with surreal, dreamlike flourishes. 

 

His photographer’s eye for composition and subject matter is much in evidence in Stern’s series of unforgettable images of the performers which include Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Louis Armstrong, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Chuck Berry, Big Maybelle,Gerry Mulligan and peerless gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, the audience and the picturesque setting of Rhode Island that 4th July week-end. In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

 

Presented as a 2-disc brilliant jewel case set with a 16-page booklet. DVD extras include an interview with Bert Stern, an introduction to Jazz On A Summer's Day, artist biographies and photo gallery.