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Ken Burns; Jazz.....


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is really engrossing, I love Jazz so much, it gives me a feeling of nostalgia. Like a pride in something "American", a thing that never happens with me. Especially Louis Armstrong, what a treasure of a man! It is streaming on Netflix now.

 

:love::love::love:

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Yes!!! I recommend watching every second of this show! Right now I'm taking a "Baseball and the American Experience" class and the Ken Burns Baseball Doc is what we use. Best college class I have ever taken, watch a movie once a week and then write a three page paper on it.

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I have a friend from the UK, an older gentleman who I've worked with locally and in China. He was here in the States on a work visa for two years, but had very limited experience with "American culture" - if that even exists. So at the beginning of his trip, he said he watched Ken Burns' Jazz, Baseball, and Civil War documentaries. Says it gave him an indepth look at a purely american artform, our pasttime, and our worst time...

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is really engrossing, I love Jazz so much, it gives me a feeling of nostalgia. Like a pride in something "American", a thing that never happens with me. Especially Louis Armstrong, what a treasure of a man! It is streaming on Netflix now.


:love:
:love:
:love:

 

Satchmo will always be an American national treasure, and jazz will always be one of the few truly great American art forms.

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I thought it was good but lacking depth, I already knew quite a bit about the history and the shapers of the music before I saw the doc so it was just a rehash for me.

I guess what bugged me the most was that there were so many influential living players who could have been interviewed that weren't like Kenny Burrell or Sonny Rollins, etc. It would have been more than just a history lesson if people like that had been included - they still make powerful music.

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Satchmo will always be an American national treasure, and jazz will always be one of the few truly great American art forms.

 

 

He singlehandedly changed music - there is no contesting this. Prior to Satch popular music was either classical, marches, or based in the theatre. His phrasing style both with his voice and his horn was completely original at the time - every modern musician and singer owes him a huge thanks for busting out of rigid time structures and putting some frickin' stank on it.

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I guess what bugged me the most was that there were so many influential living players who could have been interviewed that weren't like Kenny Burrell or Sonny Rollins, etc. It would have been more than just a history lesson if people like that had been included - they still make powerful music.

 

 

Saw Kenny Burrell at the Catalina Club in LA awhile back. Such a badass.

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I'm a Ken Burns fan, BTW - seen everything he's ever done. Even met him a few times.

One of the coolest moments of my life was playing in a softball game that Ken hosted with the Telluride Film Festival to coincide with the Baseball doc that premiered there (like 1992/3-ish I think). I was on a team of people from the town vs. 'All Stars' from the festival like Werner Hertzog the director and Nina Hartley the porn star. We {censored}ing crushed them, although we let Nina score an inside the park homer just so we could watch her run the bases.

Buck O'Neill was the umpire. If you've seen the doc, you know who I'm talking about. Sweetest man ever to walk the face of the earth.

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{censored} yes, Ken Burns' Jazz, {censored} yes.

{censored} yes, Ken Burns' Civil War, {censored} yes.

{censored} yes, Ken Burns' Baseball, {censored} yes.

{censored} yes, Ken Burns' The War, {censored} yes.

{censored} yes, Ken Burns' National Parks, {censored} yes

Did I say {censored}?


















Yes

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I'm a huge jazz lover and I thought the series was quite good for the most part.

I watched it a long time ago and haven't seen it since..... but there were things about it that annoyed me.

Every artist they covered....... at one point or another it was mentioned that they were the "greatest _______ in jazz"

"Billy Holiday was the greatest singer in jazz......."
"Coleman Hawkins was the greatest tenor playor in jazz......."

Also..... one of their talking head guys was quite the reverse racist. He was always getting in a dig on white people in his comments. And, at one point, he said "Art Blakey specifically wrote music that white people couldn't play......."

I thought that was a bunch of B.S.

Also I would have liked to have seen some guitarists covered...... or some piano players. I can't remember....... but I don't think they covered any.

But....... they did cover some of the most important artists.... Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, etc...

It wasn't perfect..... but still fascinating and enjoyable to watch. :cool:

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