Masters of American Music: The Story of Jazz / Masters of American Music / Directed by Matthew Seig / Written by Chris Albertson with Matthew Seig / Produced by Toby Byron and Richard Saylor / DVD

Format: NTSC

Run time: 98 Minutes

UPC: 880242571588

• Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Yes
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 2.71 Ounces
• Director ‏ : ‎ Matthew Seig
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC, Subtitled
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 38 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ November 17, 2009
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Buck Clayton, Billy Eckstine, Roy Haynes
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French, German
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ German, English, French
• Studio ‏ : ‎ EuroArts
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ France
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

"Various documentaries have been made about jazz over the years with mixed results. While the 1993 DVD Masters of American Music: The Story of Jazz is only 98 minutes long, it ends up being far more wide-ranging, less repetitious and better written than the much longer and somewhat controversial Ken Burns' Jazz released the following decade. The Story of Jazz covers the early cross-cultural roots of jazz then every major style by blending focused writing, plus careful choice of photos, music, film, video and interview subjects.

Director Matthew Seig and veteran jazz journalist/producer Chris Albertson cowrote the project. The interviews include dozens of players, which help to flesh out the contributions of individual artists or the influence of an earlier style on a new approach, woven into a fast-paced collage of often rarely-seen photos, film and video clips, covering ragtime, classic jazz and New Orleans jazz, blues, swing, boogie-woogie, bop, cool, free jazz and fusion. Among those examined in depth are Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan, Bud Powell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman, though the pace never bogs down on any one artist.

One of the strengths here is a focus upon the musicians who played during an era mentioned, often having worked with or been influenced by the players they discuss, instead of artists who weren't even born during the style's heyday or on long-winded writers. Of course, a number of respected jazz journalists, among them Gary Giddins, Howard Mandel, Albert Murray, Dan Morgenstern and others (though none of them are heard or seen on camera) were involved in interviewing these jazz greats, many of whom have passed away since the initial release of this DVD. Fortunately errors are at a minimum (though it is funny to hear Barry Harris call Monk a prolific composer by comparing him to Ellington). The Story of Jazz is the rare documentary that holds one's attention while encompassing a remarkable scope of subject matter." -Ken Dryden -- all about jazz: June 12, 2010 - www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=36450

A decade before Ken Burns aired his 20-hour 2001 PBS series "Jazz," producer Toby Byron and friends had already labored halfway through their own ambitious video retrospective on what is not inappropriately called America's classical music. Some parts of Byron's "Masters of American Music" got onto TV, some saw only VHS release -- the first four segments of the current Naxos-Medici DVD reissue project make you appreciate the role that connections, timing and reputation play in establishing which documentaries get considered definitive and which are nearly forgotten. It's now clear that Byron's work in no way fell short.

In fact, the proportions of the 1993 "Masters" overview, "The Story of Jazz," suggest that it could have served Burns as a template. Both "Story" and Burns' "Jazz" lean heavily on the first 20 years of jazz's recorded history; "Story" runs through more than an hour of its 98 minutes before it even arrives at the bebop revolution of the mid-1940s. Both devote generous swaths to Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington while cutting a thin slice of the pie for the avantists of the 1960s; "Story" doesn't mention Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp or even Sonny Rollins.

In the case of both series, the imbalance is a fault. But that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with either's coverage of the Dixieland, swing and bop eras. The "Masters" docs can boast one special strength: Before it was too late, they logged fresh interviews with musicians who knew the history firsthand. Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine, for instance, died in 1993, Carmen McRae in 1994, Joe Williams in 1999.

The second great strength of "Masters" lies in the archival performances. Even the overview (directed by Matthew Seig) lingers long enough on footage of Eckstine, Artie Shaw, Earl Hines and many more to leave vivid impressions of how they looked and played; many of the clips date to periods when few jazz musicians got their faces on film.

The stage shots stretch out even longer in the first three hourlong documentaries on individual artists -- Billie Holiday from 1990, Thelonious Monk from 1991 (both directed by Seig) and Charlie Parker from 1987 (by Gary Giddins and Kendrick Simmons). Each claims its own particular virtues. We see Holiday wither from a chubby child to a frail but devastating interpreter, her story given human warmth by the insightful memories of McRae and Annie Ross. Monk's hats, clothes and face change while his fingers explore the consistently brilliant corners of his original mind; we understand his family life and historical context through the words of Thelonious Monk III and the great pianist Randy Weston (watch Weston's spread-eagle hands as he demonstrates). Anytime you witness Parker's otherworldly speed, inflection and imagination, it'll blow you away, but Giddins' documentary scores extra points for its thorough setup of the saxist's early life in Kansas City, including a rare interview with his first wife, Rebecca, whom he married when he was 15.

In recent years, Naxos has ushered in a golden age of archival jazz with its mind-boggling "Jazz Icons" series of concert DVDs featuring Coltrane, Rollins, Mingus and more; the label remains far in front of a limited pack with "Masters of American Music," which will add reissues on Trane, Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie and the blues next year. As the late trumpeter Lester Bowie observes in "The Story of Jazz," this music remains a young art form. Injections like these guard it from premature senility. -- MetalJazz.com, December 3, 2009

A must have for any student, fan, lover of jazz. From New Orleans to free form, all styles are illustrated with rare film and video performances in black and white and color. Featuring a video clip from one of the legendary Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaboration sessions (Coltrane taking a blazing excursion on "Blues for Pablo"). -- Nuvo, Chuck Workman, December 9, 2009

In the late 1980s through 1997 German producer Toby Byron made a landmark series of jazz documentaries - under the umbrella title, Masters of American Music - which were released on VHS by Sony in the U.S. Now, thanks to Naxos, four of these are available again, this time on DVD. The one to start with is The Story of Jazz (MediciArts), which in 90 minutes takes the viewer from New Orleans to free jazz and beyond with interviews and performance clips - necessarily brief - from all the greats. Other volumes now available are devoted to Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. (My favorite Byron film - Satchmo - is not out yet on DVD.) There are no bonus features on these discs but they are indexed into chapters. If you missed the original releases, you'll want these. Along with the Jazz Icons, these DVDs should be in every music library. -- In The Groove, December 2009

Jazz is complex in its bobs and weaves, but back in the 80s and 90s, there was an award winning documentary series on some of the heavyweights of the genre that provided the first basic and historical look at what is the one of the world's greatest art forms of the twentieth century.

Known as the "Masters of American Music," the set has been restored, remastered and released on DVD for the first time on four discs, three celebrating individual artists and one giving a broad overview of jazz.

Dispensing with the often snobbish critics and historians, the series focuses on the musicians, dozens of them telling the story of jazz in their own words. Music performances are allowed to play out, entertaining moments are illuminated, and the irrepressible nature of the music and its greatest innovators shines through.