Film & Video

The only documentary film about alto saxophonist and jazz educator Jackie McLean is the fine work Jackie McLean on Mars by Ken Levis, filmed in 1976. I would love to see this reissued, but for now you can watch a low-resolution version on Vimeo.

I hadn't seen this film since Jackie showed it in history class in 1990. I watch it now with a completely different perspective, having seen many changes in the world since then. This film is essentially master class by Jackie McLean in that his teaching was as much about politics, racism, the mainstream media, the plague of drugs, and the education of young people as it was about jazz music itself. Here's a time capsule from the mid-seventies, yet the messages are shockingly relevant today. It's deep. You should really watch the whole thing.

Jackie McLean on Mars from Ken Levis on Vimeo.

Golden quote of the film:Read more

I bought some DVDs of live jazz concerts and TV performances, of the type that until recently was archival footage, seen only at the time and place of original transmission. In America such performances, say Miles Davis with Gil Evans at CBS in 1959, or Dave Brubeck's appearance on Ralph J. Gleason's Jazz Casual in 1961, might occasionally be glimpsed on some PBS documentary, but rarely would such things be released on VHS or (now) DVD. Maybe it was certain copyrights and such that kept films from being sold to the general public until now.

The appearance of these DVDs, plus postings on YouTube of rare footage makes me very excited; in fact I might not be able to overstate it. As I was growing up and getting into jazz in the '80s, right around the beginning of the CD era, the recordings that I loved were only twenty or thirty years old, but the images with them were precious few. I was always curious to see for myself what these performers were like when they worked: the way they carried themselves, how they interacted with their bands and with audiences. Subsequently having watched some of my favorite pianists on video: Brubeck, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett (whom I can't watch anymore, quite frankly; looks too painful), I still haven't lost the thrill, the feeling of excitement and expectation at seeing them in action.Read more