Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of American Music [Box set, Original recording remastered]

Ken Burns JAZZ Collection | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 14, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 5
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000050HVG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,500 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This five-CD box set soundtrack to filmmaker Ken Burns's 10-part, 19-hour documentary Jazz spans nearly a century of jazz styles, from the martial rhythms of James Reese Europe to the soul-jazz of Grover Washington Jr. It includes time-tested classics like Benny Goodman's 1938 classic, "Sing, Sing, Sing"; John Coltrane's chanting 1965 immortal track, "A Love Supreme"; Billie Holiday's blue-ember ballad, "God Bless the Child"; and Ella Fitzgerald peeling off "A-Tisket A-Tasket." Bebop is represented by Charlie Parker's orchestral bop version of "Just Friends"; Thelonious Monk's nocturnal calling card, "'Round Midnight"; and Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts" and "Groovin' High."

The jazz-instrumentalist-as-singer comes to life on Coleman Hawkins's "Body and Soul" and Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers' "Doodlin'." Clifford Brown and Max Roach's "I Get a Kick out of You" epitomizes the hard-bop era, while Miles Davis's "So What" stands as the modal masterpiece. The cool school is in session with Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan dishing out "Walkin' Shoes," and the Modern Jazz Quartet's soulful elegy "Django" straddles all the above musical orbits. As for Django Reinhardt, he's featured on "Shine" with the justly famed Le Quartet du Hot Club de France.

Louis Armstrong's "West End Blues" and "Potato Head Blues" and Duke Ellington's rousing rendition of Billy Strayhorn's anthem, "Take the A Train," and his moody "Solitude" show why they are the Olympian masters of this art form--and the most frequently featured artists in the series. Although Ken Burns tries bringing the music up-to-date with Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, and two jazz-hip-hop-influenced tracks--Herbie Hancock's robotic "Rockit" and the French-language "Un Aige en Danger" by MC Solaar and bass legend Ron Carter--there are significant holes here. After Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, the avant-garde period from the late 1960s to the 1980s is lacking. And aside from the bossa nova hit "Desafinado," Latin jazz is also missing. It's a tough task summarizing jazz in five CDs, and Burns has given us a vibrant and vivid multicolored aural portrait of the music. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Product Description

If you set out to create a single anthology that charted all the twists and tributaries of that uniquely American river we call jazz, you couldn't do better than this companion set to the PBS series-94 tracks on 5 CDs licensed from virtually every important label in the history of the music. Includes The Pearls Jelly Roll Morton; Charleston James P. Johnson; West End Blues Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five; The Mooche Duke Ellington; Singin' the Blues Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke; Moten Swing Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra; Strange Fruit Billie Holiday; Three Little Words Art Tatum; Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins; In the Mood Glenn Miller; Take Five Dave Brubeck; So What Miles Davis; Giant Steps John Coltrane; Desafinado Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, and many more classics.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

167 of 171 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Major inclusions...minor omissions November 25, 2000

By J. Lund VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Along with a number of other jazz fans and critics, I've been looking forward to the Ken Burns Jazz video history with mixed emotions, given that what has already been issued--the book in particular--seemed to lack a basic understanding of the art form's most-recent half-century. Although there is some evidence of that stance here, the sheer abundance of classic tracks on this five-CD set makes it an excellent introduction to the art form, particularly for newcomers. Absorb this box, and you are well on your way to experiencing the width and depth of this ever-evolving art form, one that at its best values both teamwork and individuality.

What I like about this set is that with five-CDs, there is room to give a number of important events in jazz history a bit more play than just a cameo appearance. For instance, Louis Armstrong's 1920s classic hot 5/hot 7 recordings are represented by three key tracks. With 2-3 examples of such creative peaks, one can better discern the unique qualities of each artist. With multiple chances to listen, one can become more familiar with a player's sound...the consistencies and variances in a player's solo approach become increasingly apparent when comparisons can be made.

Other early greats are similiarly documented, from Ellington, Basie, Goodman, and Billie Holiday up through the late-1940s bebop revolution (Monk, Parker, Gillespie, Powell, Davis, etc.). The one negative about this set is that, after bebop, there isn't enough room left in the box to continue this comparison process. Thus, only two artists (Ellington and Davis) out of jazz's most recent half-century get more than one track per creative peak each..and at least in Miles' case, the two successive tracks are nearly bookends to a extended, rapidly evolving period of creativity.

Even so, there is at least a taste of the avant-garde, fusion, pop jazz, bossa nova, neo-classicism, etc., so recent events are not entirely ignored, just given relatively brief exposure. Add that to the excellent overview of jazz's up-and-coming decades, and this set overall serves a valuable purpose, particularly for those who wonder what jazz is ALL about.

66 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gee Guys. You Missed the Point. January 31, 2001

By robbabub

Format:Audio CD

I agree with everyone. Ken Burns missed so much in his documentary. This CD set is missing so much. But then did he make this documentary for us egghead jazz lovers who have multiple copies of every record that was played and talked about on the show. Copies so worn out from listening that we had to buy new ones. Music that we could name in two notes because we have listened to so much jazz. Film clips we have seen a hundred times because we never miss a chance to look at jazz as well as listen to it. I don't think he made the show for us. I think he made the show for about 259 million other people in America who never listen to jazz and are scared to death of it. People who don't begin to know what they are missing. Jazz afficiandos can be such snobs and snot heads. Jazz belongs to everyone and others deserve a door to the secret. This is a great door. If I was wanting to find a way into this wonderful and beautiful world, I think this set is a good place to start. Welcome everyone. Once you are in there is no way out. There is to much to hear. Too much too know. Too much excitement to ever get bored. Jazz is.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful introduction to jazz, with a few provisos.... November 26, 2000

By Ted Graham

Format:Audio CD

This is a wonderful 5-disc set of the history of jazz music. In fact, I listened to it all in one sitting, and I can say as an introduction for those uninitiated in the ways of jazz, this is a superb collection. However, it is by no means thorough. I suppose you might expect this from an introduction, but I was somewhat surprised to see its extensive inclusion of Ellington, Davis and especially Armstrong at the expense of some rather less well known artists. Alloting to the great Django Reinhardt a single track seems a crime. Even so, it's a good listen. As my dear friend says, a true jazz afficianado is never satisfied.