Restored ‘ Jazz on a Summer’s Day’ still a hot time
Released in the U.S. to glowing reviews in March 1960, “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” the 85-minute film made at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, boldly breaks many “rules” of documentaries: There’s no story at its center, cameras keep jumping away from its main subjects, it’s much more impressionistic than focused. And all of that works to its advantage.
No one watching this gorgeously restored edition of it is going to come away convinced that they knew what the 1958 Newport
Jazz Festival was all about. They’ll have seen and heard only snatches of it, gotten a taste of its many delicious flavors. In tossing out the documentary rulebook, the directors were free to insert a whole song here, and a piece of a different performance there. A group could be playing onstage, with the cameras trained on them, but midway through the song, though it’s still heard on the soundtrack, the cameras might decide to see what else was going on away from the stage: a static shot of buildings in downtown Newport, a glimpse of sailboats taking part in the concurrent America’s Cup Trials, an audience member spellbound by a song.
Jazz fans need not worry that there isn’t enough music on display. The film opens with some artsy water shots, then jumps to the cool sounds of “The Train on the River,” and a static closeup of tenor saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre and trombonist Bob Brookmeyer playing it.
It’s followed by an offstage introduction of pianist Thelonious Monk, who offers up a fine version of “Blue Monk” with his trio. Then there’s Sonny Stitt playing “Loose Walk” and Chico Hamilton doing “Blue Sands.”
By that point, it’s clear that this isn’t just a documentary, it’s a jazz documentary, and the rules that it’s making up as it goes along are those of a jazz performance. The directors are riffing, improvising within their own art form. Think of it as freewheeling, loose filmmaking.
“Jazz” is available in virtual cinemas through Kino Marquee starting Aug. 12.