Product Details

• Actors: Tom Brannan, Margretta Downey, Herb Ellis, Seawood Evans, Vanoy Green
• Directors: Gary Don Rhodes
• Writers: Gary Don Rhodes
• Producers: Donald Rhodes
• Format: Black & White, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: View Video
• VHS Release Date: August 1, 1996
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304324359
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,621 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Booklist- James Scholtz

An excellent biography of a lesser-known but extremely important jazz musician who sculpted the style of the modern electric guitar.

Product Description

When he began playing melodic, single-string solos on an amplified guitar, Charlie Christian caused a guitar revolution, elevating the instrument from its traditionally background position onto center stage, and charting a new musical course from which jazz is still flowing.

"Solo Flight" traces the life and music of one of the greatest sculptors of jazz. We journey to the heart of Texas where Christian was born in 1919, and to Oklahoma City where he made his first musical mark. Along theway we gather precious recollections from the musicians and the communities that witnessed Christian's prodigious beginnings.

We then follow the evolution of his career to his legendary tenure with the Benny Goodman Sextet, and on to the late-night sessions at Minton's Harlem with Dizzy, Kenny Clarke, Thelonious Monk and Bird, where we explore Christian's essential contribution to the birth of Bebop.

V.I.E.W. Video is proud to present this poignant, in-depth account of an extraordinary guitarists, whose innovations outlasted his all-too-brief career, continuing to reverberate in the sound of jazz guitar to this very day.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but no Charlie!, May 1, 2000

By 

DANIEL MILES (FOUNTAIN HILLS, ARIZONA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Genius of Charlie Christian [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Having heard the name "Charlie Christian" uttered so reverently and so frequently in jazz circles I was curious to learn more about him and to hear him play. With that in mind I bought this video. Unfortunately it turns out that this is not a performance video. It's a half hour (in black and white) of reminiscences of Christian's friends and acquaintances and some of the guitarists he's influenced. Although I did learn alot about his background, there isn't a single visual example of his playing. There are fragments of his recordings here and there, but the video is essentially just a verbal documentary. Apparently the motivation for its creation was to raise funds for a tombstone for the pioneering guitarist's unmarked grave. There's a note at the end indicating that a public showing of the film did indeed raise the money to carry out that purpose, so I suppose that in that respect the film is a success. Having passed away so early in his career I guess it's probable that little (if any) film footage of Charlie Christian playing exists today. Therefore I would advise interested parties to turn to his recordings for samples of his revolutionary technique. Unfortunately in this video you'll hear quite a bit about it but won't get to see any of it.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Everyone but Charlie..., August 13, 2006

By 

Curly Q. Link (Somewhere Out There) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SOLO FLIGHT: The Genius of CHARLIE CHRISTIAN (DVD)

Recently bought this DVD, excited to catch any available glimpse of jazz guitar innovator Charlie Christian in action. Watched the whole thing, and I'm still waiting. If this "movie" is any indicator, there must not be any film footage of him in existence. This video is a mere 31 minutes long, and consists of a whole slew of known and unknown people who knew or admired Charlie, each putting in their two cents' worth (if that). In short, all talk and NO ACTION. This video might as well have been a book. The closest we get to "The Genius of Charlie Christian" are four audio tracks selectable from the bonus material---c'mon, any audio CD beats that! While some of the interviewees are interesting, jazz guitar veteran Herb Ellis for example, others are nearly incoherent and some are clearly reciting their "lines" from a script! So, don't waste your money folks. If anybody knows of a video with any real live footage of C.C. playing, please post info here!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solo Flight-The Genius of Charlie Christian, March 27, 2007

By 

G. Naron (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Solo Flight: The Genius of Charlie Christian (DVD)

Having seen this documentary on VHS ten years ago I was interested in revisiting it on DVD. SOLO FILGHT is a short (almost 30 minutes) but rewarding bio of Charlie Christian, a Texas born jazz guitarist. Christian is credited with being an early pioneer in single string lead guitar, using amplification and talent to bring the instrument to the forefront during the big band era, most notably with Benny Goodman.

Writer, producer and director Gary Rhodes has assemble a collection of interviews with family, friends and musicians who played with or were influenced by Charlie. He chronicles Christian's budding career in Texas and Oklahoma through photographs, local newspaper articles and interviews. The progression of his career from local joints to his all to brief time with Goodman's Sextet also offers a somewhat painful reminder of segregated society of pre-WWII America.

Christian's death from tuberculosis at age 26 in 1942 robbed the world of a great talent, much like the untimely deaths of Janis Joplin, Patsy Cline, Jimi Hendrix and other major influences on our musical heritage.

For those interested in the life of groundbreakers who are not going to receive the big budget approach ala Ken Burns or Martin Scorsese this is a very acceptable program. There are four bonus music tracks on the DVD to give a taste of Christian's flavor. If motion picture footage existed of Charlie it would be icing on the cake, but none has yet to be found.