Customer Reviews
Perfection - By: K. Walter, 16 Nov 2008 
In my opinion, this is the perfect movie. The photography is amazing thanks to Bert Stern being a stills man first of all, & a film maker second. His work shows the best of both worlds. The music is so fantastic that the audience actually listens to it!!!! A bit of a novelty nowadays. Mind you, I'm still wondering what Chuck Berry was doing there. Still he was fun!
I can't work out whether Mahalia Jackson or Chico Hamilton stole the show, but you could literally hear a pin drop during their performances, the audience was so entranced. I would put them equal first.
Watch it, listen to it, & make up your own mind. If you like wonderful music played with skill, love & talent, this is the DVD for you
wow amazeing this is fab and the soundtrack!! - By: Mr. S. L. Smith, 04 Sep 2008 my nana went to see the filmin the 60s she loved it i love it too wow & the soundtrack both essential buy them both!! you cant go wrong mahalia jackson,thelonious monk,count basie fantastic stuff what you waiting for!!
absolutely marvelous - By: Nikica Gilic, 10 Jun 2008 First of all, let me tell you how thrilled I am by this DVD
- it has amazing musical moment with, for instance, Thelonious Monk, Anita O'Day, Mahalia Jackson, Dinah Washington & Louis Armstrong shining very brightly (although, yes, the Monk number is marred by some mood shots & other interventions...), Satchmo & Teagarden crooning & scatting magnificently... Actually, I don't think I've seen a more beautiful footage of Armstrong's performance; he was still on the topin the 50s & Bert Stern portraits him beautifully, with some fortunatelly stylized stage lighting.
And it goes beyond music; check out the glamour of O'Day's attire, the moment very spirited Dinah Washington grabs the battons & joins Terry Gibbs on the vibes, the look on great Jo Jones' face while he supports Chuck Berry or, for that matter, the bizarre clarinet spot on that number - someone said it's Peanuts Hacko (who is too caucasian, as you can see on Armstrong's numbers on some other DVD's), others mention Rudy Rutheford - I don't know how he looked like (I do know he playedin Count Basie orchestra backin 40s or something like that, so I guess he might be African American)...
I would agree with those who say that cool jazz numbers don't fare here as well as the traditional jazz, blues, gospel, mainstream & some modern ( Thelonious Monk!) numbers, even with the annoying breakin the middle of the Sonny Stitt-Sal Salvador performance.
The breaksin the performance grow rarer as the film reaches the end, so there is place for true climax & musical as well as cinemathic catharsisin the end. But, from strictly cinematic point of view, I must add that there are some really fine shots; even the notoriously disinterested lady eating ice-cream looks interesting - it probably is a picture of the festival culturein the 50s, as is the attempt to connect it with the entertainment & leisure industryin general....
Allin all, this is a unique jazz experience (and an interesting although not perfect film), recommended (or, should I say indispensable) to all serious jazz fans & interested beginners.
a gem of a film - By: Mr D A Potter, 29 Jul 2004 The greatest jazz film of all time. 1958 was a turning pointin modern music & this film encapsulates the transition between the traditional & the modern. The Newport Jazz festival has been going now for 50 years but at no other festival was such a diversified line up of artists assembled. From Louis Armstrong to Chuck Berry, Anita O'Day to Theolonius Monk, this is a concert to savour. Shot by a fashion photographer & linked with stunning passages featuring the 1958 America's cup, this is more than a concert film. It is a study of 1950's America having a great time on a summer's day. Buy it.
A day not to be missed. - By: S. C. Comfort, 08 Jul 2004 I was 16 &in Missouri when this movie was made & when I saw the film, it just told me that there was a great wide world out there & I wanted to get to it fast. I spent years & years trying to find a record of Jazz on a Summers Day, but nothing appeared. Copyright problems I was told. Well, there is no problem now! I can put the DVD on my computer & just listen to the magic of the day or sit & watch. The movie & music capture an America long gone, & I miss that. But at least the DVD gives me that day when the sun shone & the music was HOT.
