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Film, Video The cry of jazz

digital viewing copy

About this Item

Title

  • The cry of jazz

Summary

  • Uses dramatic dialogue, direct address argumentation, realist documentary illustration, an innovative music soundtrack, and essayistic construction to argue for jazz music as an expression of the situation of Black Americans. Seeing jazz as both empowering and limiting, the film is an acute and even painful statement of its political, social, cultural, and artistic moment.

Names

  • Bland, Ed, film director, film producer, screenwriter, musical director
  • Hill, Nelam L., 1926-1992, film producer, screenwriter
  • Kennedy, Mark (Screenwriter) screenwriter
  • Starr, Hank, cinematographer
  • Alk, Howard, film editor
  • Waller, George (Actor) actor
  • Horton, Dorothea, actor
  • Dillon, Melinda, 1939- actor
  • Duncan, Andrew, 1927- actor
  • Inman, LaRoy, actor
  • Miller, James (Actor) actor
  • MacFadyen, Gavin, actor
  • Sun Ra, composer, musician
  • Priester, Julian, composer
  • Severson, Paul, composer
  • Higgins, Eddie, 1932-2009, composer
  • Leist, Norman, composer
  • KHTB Productions, production company, film distributor
  • Copyright Collection (Library of Congress)

Created / Published

  • United States : KHTB Productions, 1959.

Headings

  • -  Jazz--Drama
  • -  African Americans--Social conditions--Drama
  • -  African Americans--Race identity--Drama
  • -  African American arts--Illinois--Chicago--Drama
  • -  United States--Race relations--Drama
  • -  Sun Ra Arkestra

Genre

  • Independent films
  • Social problem films
  • Short films
  • Fiction films

Notes

  • -  MP9590 U.S. Copyright Office
  • -  Based in part on the book "The fruits of the death of jazz" by Edward O. Bland.
  • -  Copyright: KHTB Productions, Inc.; 1Jun59; MP9590.
  • -  George Waller, Dorthea Horton, Linda Dillon, Andrew Duncan, Laroy Inman, James Miller, Gavin McFadyen, Carl Dupree, Goldina Rojas, Alan Leavitt, Carl McCormack, Lettie Mae Randolph.
  • -  Appearing: Sun Ra and His Arkestra (Sun Ra (piano), Marshall Allen (alto sax), Robert Barry (drums), Ronnie Boykins (bass), William "Bugs" Cochran (drums), Charles Davis (baritone), Hobart Dotson (trumpet), John Gilmore (tenor sax), Jim Herndon (tympani), Art Hoyle (trumpet), Pat Patrick (baritone sax), Julian Priester (trombone), Luscious Randolph (trumpet), Victor Sproles (bass), BeBop Sam Thomas (electric guitar)).
  • -  Director of photography, Hank Starr ; assistant director, Nelam L. Hill ; film editor, Howard Alk ; musical director, Edward O. Bland ; music by Le Sun Ra, Paul Severson, Julian Priester, Eddie Higgins, Norman Leist ; art director, Bernard Goss ; sound crew, Garry Harris, Timmy Harris, Nelam L. Hill ; script consultants, Eugene Titus, Madeline Tourtelot, Frank McGovern ; additional photography, Jonathan Chernoble ; lighting, Valentin Scheglowski.
  • -  The names of the musicians appearing in the film (filmed at various clubs 1956-1958) provided by Dr. Gary Heller, identified by Dr. Robert Campbell.
  • -  Filmed in 1958 in Chicago, Illinois.
  • -  Summary from Chuck Kleinhans' essay, "The cry of jazz" on the National Film Preservation Foundation page, Library of Congress website.
  • -  In end credits: Music recorded in Europe, available in United States on Academy record album mwjs #1, Saturn record album #srlp0216. According to Robert Campbell in "From Sonny Blount to Sun Ra: The Chicago Years", mwjs #1 is Academy MWJ-1, The Paul Severson Quartet, and #srlp0216 is SR-LP 0216, Super-Sonic Jazz, by Sun Ra and His Arkestra. Music from both albums is used in the soundtrack.
  • -  This film was selected for the National Film Registry.
  • -  Sources used: MBRS Film and Television catalog card; Eagan, D. America's film legacy, 2009-2010, p. 96-98; Educational Film guide, 1960 Annual Supplement, Part 1. Alphabetical title list, p. 25 viewed February 15, 2022 via the Internet Archive; Library of Congress catalog: Motion pictures and filmstrips; a cumulative list of works represented by Library of Congress printed cards, 1953, p. 157 viewed February 15, 2022 via the Internet Archive; National Film Preservation Board essay, viewed February 15, 2022 via the Library of Congress WWW site; Internet movie database, February 15, 2022; email from Dr. Gary Heller, February 25, 2022; "From Sonny Blount to Sun Ra: The Chicago Years", viewed February 28, 2022 at Robert Campbell's WWW site (http://campber.people.clemson.edu/sunra.html External).

Medium

  • 1 video file (digital) (34 min.) : sd., b&w.
  • viewing print 1 film reel of 1 (34 min., 1,226 ft.) : sd., b&w ; 16 mm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • FCA 0324 (viewing print)

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2022602507

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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Credit Line: Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Bland, Ed, Film Director, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Musical Director, Nelam L Hill, Mark Screenwriter Kennedy, Hank Starr, Howard Alk, George Actor Waller, Dorothea Horton, et al. The Cry of Jazz. composeds by Sun Ra, Musician, Priester, Julian, Severson, Paul, Higgins, Eddie, and Leist, Norman, , produceds by Khtb Productionsuction Company, Film Distributor United States: KHTB Productions, 1959. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2022602507/.

APA citation style:

Bland, E., Hill, N. L., Kennedy, M. S., Starr, H., Alk, H., Waller, G. A. [...] Copyright Collection. (1959) The Cry of Jazz. Sun Ra, M., Priester, J., Severson, P., Higgins, E. & Leist, N., comps, , Khtb Productionsuction Company, F. D., prod United States: KHTB Productions. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2022602507/.

MLA citation style:

Bland, Ed, Film Director, Film Producer, Screenwriter, Musical Director, et al. The Cry of Jazz. comp by Sun Ra, Musician, et al., , prod by Khtb Productionsuction Company, Film Distributor United States: KHTB Productions, 1959. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2022602507/>.