# Jazz musician movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029 "2011-07-14T17:31:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/1 "2011-07-14T17:31:09Z")
I’m interested in finding documentaries (or possibly biopics) about jazz musicians. Ones I’ve seen so far: _Bird (Charlie Parker) Let’s Get Lost (Chet Baker) Charles Mingus, Triumph of the Underdog Thelonious Monk Dave Brubeck (TV doc)_ I’ve also seen romanticized films such as The Benny Goodman Story and the like, but those are not of interest. Any recommendations appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/2 "2011-07-14T17:35:18Z")
Round Midnight? Straight No Chaser? Les Paul: Chasing Sound? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/3 "2011-07-14T17:36:59Z")
> **['Round Midnight (1986) ⭐ 7.4 | Drama, Music](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090557/)** > > 2h 13m | R > [@](#): > > In 'Round Midnight, real-life jazz legend Dexter Gordon brilliantly portrays the fictional tenor sax player Dale Turner That sort of thing worth pursuing? ETA: check out [Category:Films about music and musicians - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Films_about_music_and_musicians) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/4 "2011-07-14T17:52:02Z")
This was especially hard to watch a few minutes of: [All Night Long (1962).](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054614/) That in spite of having – Dave Brubeck … Himself - Piano – John Dankworth … Himself - Alto Sax (as Johnny Dankworth) – Charles Mingus … Himself - Bass – Bert Courtley … Himself - Trumpet – Keith Christie … Himself - Trombone – Ray Dempsey … Himself - Guitar and Patrick McGoohan in the cast. Music was cheesy at best. And [The Subterraneans (1960)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054351/) has some jazz folks in a sappy period piece. If you have even the slightest interest in that sort of movie, there are others. For a while in the 50’s and early 60’s jazz was “in” enough to be background music in any number of movies and TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/5 "2011-07-14T17:53:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Round Midnight? > > Straight No Chaser? > > Les Paul: Chasing Sound? _Straight, No Chaser_ is the Monk film I’ve seen. I’ve also seen _Round Midnight_, which is fiction, but based on a real musician. The Les Paul film is a possibility, though. Appreciate the link to Wiki, but most of those films are not jazz documentaries. In fact, some of them are animated films, and one (Play Misty For Me) is a psychokillerbitch film. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/6 "2011-07-14T17:56:04Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > This was especially hard to watch a few minutes of: [All Night Long (1962).](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054614/) > > That in spite of having > – Dave Brubeck … Himself - Piano > – John Dankworth … Himself - Alto Sax (as Johnny Dankworth) > – Charles Mingus … Himself - Bass > – Bert Courtley … Himself - Trumpet > – Keith Christie … Himself - Trombone > – Ray Dempsey … Himself - Guitar > > and Patrick McGoohan in the cast. Music was cheesy at best. > > And [The Subterraneans (1960)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054351/) has some jazz folks in a sappy period piece. > > If you have even the slightest interest in that sort of movie, there are others. For a while in the 50’s and early 60’s jazz was “in” enough to be background music in any number of movies and TV shows. There is no end to films with musicians in them, or even films that just contain musicians’ gigs. That’s really not what I’m looking for. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/7 "2011-07-14T18:02:08Z")
Have you seen **Ken Burns’** documentary, **Jazz**? It tries to be definitive and doesn’t succeed (too many folks not given enough air time), but is otherwise fascinating and informative. How about that documentary **A Great Day in Harlem** , about the famous photo with all of the jazz players in it? oh, and while \*\*Tom Dowd: The Language of Music \*\*touches on a variety of music styles including jazz, it is so damn good and Dowd’s contributions to music so important that you need to see it anyway. There will be a quiz. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/8 "2011-07-14T18:09:23Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > How about that documentary **A Great Day in Harlem** , about the famous photo with all of the jazz players in it? > > oh, and while \*\*Tom Dowd: The Language of Music \*\*touches on a variety of music styles including jazz, it is so damn good and Dowd’s contributions to music so important that you need to see it anyway. There will be a quiz. Amen to both! Dowd is amazing in all he did for good music. I would also suggest that there are any number of good YouTube videos on all aspects of jazz. Bill Evans especially. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/9 "2011-07-14T19:14:07Z")
How about \*Buena Vista Social Club \*from 1999? About Cuban jazz musicians. > **[Buena Vista Social Club (1999) ⭐ 7.6 | Documentary, Music](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186508/)** > > 1h 45m | G ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/10 "2011-07-14T19:40:34Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > How about \*Buena Vista Social Club \*from 1999? About Cuban jazz musicians. > > [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186508/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0186508/) Dang! Yeah, I saw that one, too. Sorry about my incomplete list. I’ve reserved the Les Paul film and _[The Miles Davis Story](http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Davis-Story-George-Avakian/dp/B00007CVRL/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1310672336&sr=1-4)_ at the library. My wife thinks Paul is a poseur as far as jazz goes, but without him we wouldn’t have had the electric guitar or rock and roll as soon as we did. I tend to agree with her as far as genre, but even with true jazz guitar, a little goes a long way with me. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/11 "2011-07-14T20:00:54Z")
[The Genius of Lenny Breau.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243274/) [Talmage Farlow.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294955/) are two wonderful films about jazz guitarists. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/12 "2011-07-14T20:48:27Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > [The Genius of Lenny Breau.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243274/) > > [Talmage Farlow.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294955/) > > are two wonderful films about jazz guitarists. Those sound good. The Lenny Breau film is not available at Amazon, however. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/13 "2011-07-14T21:06:23Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Those sound good. The Lenny Breau film is not available at Amazon, however. If you can stand to watch it 10 minutes at a time, it’s on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9SvTtaQLC4). My friend Pierre Brault (no relation) did a fantastic one man play called ‘[Five O’Clock Bells](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0q8AEaqdYw)’, where he simultaneously played the seven people who were closest to Lenny - his mother, his father, his first wife, a Winnipeg jazz musician who got him out of country and into jazz, Don Francks, Chet Atkins and his last wife. Link goes to a CBC piece from when the play first came out… I found this[cool, cool link](http://www.jazzonfilm.com/documentaries.php) while I was looking. I don’t think I’ve seen a tenth of what’s on it, and it looks like the person who compiled it gets your notion of documentary rather than feature film. Nancy Wilson had a great series on NPR called Jazz Profiles that was available as a podcast last year. It’s still there on iTunes - npr: jazz profiles podcast. (Audio only, natch.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/14 "2011-07-14T21:24:53Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > [The Genius of Lenny Breau.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243274/) > > [Talmage Farlow.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294955/) > > are two wonderful films about jazz guitarists. Hmm, I haven’t seen either of these…may have to check them out. \*\*Chefguy \*\*- Les Paul played commercial pop with a heavy jazz influence, but it is not like he was Joe Pass or anything. But that documentary is great for making the case for Les Paul’s influence in all of the music that came after him… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/15 "2011-07-14T22:34:31Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > If you can stand to watch it 10 minutes at a time, it’s on [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9SvTtaQLC4). My friend Pierre Brault (no relation) did a fantastic one man play called ‘[Five O’Clock Bells](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0q8AEaqdYw)’, where he simultaneously played the seven people who were closest to Lenny - his mother, his father, his first wife, a Winnipeg jazz musician who got him out of country and into jazz, Don Francks, Chet Atkins and his last wife. Link goes to a CBC piece from when the play first came out… > > I found this[cool, cool link](http://www.jazzonfilm.com/documentaries.php) while I was looking. I don’t think I’ve seen a tenth of what’s on it, and it looks like the person who compiled it gets your notion of documentary rather than feature film. > > Nancy Wilson had a great series on NPR called Jazz Profiles that was available as a podcast last year. It’s still there on iTunes - npr: jazz profiles podcast. (Audio only, natch.) Wow. Breau was a major talent and I never heard of him. What a sorry ending for a great musician. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/16 "2011-07-18T23:42:17Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Have you seen **Ken Burns’** documentary, **Jazz**? > > It tries to be definitive and doesn’t succeed (too many folks not given enough air time), but is otherwise fascinating and informative. > > How about that documentary **A Great Day in Harlem** , about the famous photo with all of the jazz players in it? > > oh, and while \*\*Tom Dowd: The Language of Music \*\*touches on a variety of music styles including jazz, it is so damn good and Dowd’s contributions to music so important that you need to see it anyway. There will be a quiz. We just watched the Tom Dowd film. The most famous man you never heard of, I guess. Very well done film. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/17 "2011-07-19T00:06:22Z")
Another vote for _Bird_ – I’ve seen it three times and I don’t even **like** jazz! Forrest Whitaker is one hell of an actor! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/18 "2011-07-19T01:40:49Z")
I see where they have **Lady Day** (1993) at the library. Anybody seen it? The combination documentary and concert scene DVD on Ben Webster arrived today from Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/19 "2011-07-19T02:00:50Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > We just watched the Tom Dowd film. The most famous man you never heard of, I guess. Very well done film. My work here is done ;). Quiz: what song / artist were you most amazed by the story about? For me it was his suggesting the Tom Tom beat for Sunshine of Your Love. My realizing the drums mattered more than the famous riff was part of my listenng education. To hear it was the key that brought the music ttogether was really cool. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029/20 "2011-07-19T03:17:59Z")
[“Exactly Like You”](http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2007/09/exactly-like-yo.php) is a biopic about [Billy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton) [Tipton](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1060/whats-the-story-on-the-female-jazz-musician-who-lived-as-a-man). I also found reference to a short film on his/her life and career titled [“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man.”](http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809400272/info) However, I don’t find either of these on IMDB, so they may be a challenge to find. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jazz-musician-movies/589029.md?page=2)