Product Details

• Actors: George Waller, Dorothea Horton, Linda Dillon, Andrew Duncan, Leroy Inman
• Directors: Edward Bland
• Writers: Edward Bland, Nelam Hill, Eugene Titus, Mark Kennedy
• Producers: Edward Bland, Nelam Hill
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Quantum Leap
• DVD Release Date: February 10, 2004
• Run Time: 34 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00012SYSM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,922 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Sun Ra - Cry of Jazz" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

CRY OF JAZZ - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The historically significant CRY OF JAZZ, January 9, 2005

By 

Marc Minsker "Mackie" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun Ra - Cry of Jazz (DVD)

Thanks to the efforts of Atavistic, Ed Bland's historically significant film, THE CRY OF JAZZ has finally made it onto DVD. Adapted from Bland's book, THE FRUITS OF THE DEATH OF JAZZ, and produced by the innovative KHBT Productions, THE CRY OF JAZZ is a fascinating analysis of the state of jazz music in the late 1950s and its relationship to African-American life. No other film of the 1950s probes as deeply into the evils of racism and the appropriation of African-American art forms by white jazz musicians.

Bland's film is divided into two, alternating segments. The first features dramatic scenes of a racially-mixed party wherein the subject of jazz comes up in conversation. The white individuals are skeptical of one African-American's claim that "jazz is dead." In the alternating sections, a voice-over discusses the foundation of jazz and what makes the art form African-American by nature. The philosophical musings on the "paradox of jazz" are quite thought-provoking: Bland argues that the form of the music (repeating chorus or head) is restraining while improvisation allows for freedom. This paradoxical element of jazz is elaborated on as Bland relates the form/changes to the "suffering, futureless future" for African-Americans while identifying improvisation/solos as the eternal present and hope for change. Here are a few quotes that are representative of the tone and direction of this controversial film:

"The jazzman must be constantly creating, otherwise the dehumanizing portrait of him in American life will triumph"

"The American Negro produces an oblique musical product and a damaging commentary on the human wastelands of America."

"The cry of joy and suffering in jazz is based on the contradiction between freedom and restraint. The feeling of freedom is based on the negro's view of what life in America should be, why the feeling of restraint is based on the actual inhuman situation in which the Negro finds himself."

All of the music here is beautifully done by Sun Ra and his Chicago Arkestra of 1958. Although Ra himself is rarely seen in the film, some of the great Arkestra players - like John Gilmore and Julian Priester - are seen up close on the stage.

What makes this film historically significant is Bland's overt commentary on blatant racism and his clear condemnation of whites who appropriate jazz music without truly understanding the art form.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars for the completist, August 13, 2004

By 

Christopher B. Eddy (Other Planes OF There, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sun Ra - Cry of Jazz (DVD)

Unheard Music could have fit both of their DVD releases onto one disc with room for many extras, but this is Sun Ra, so fans pay alot for very little in most cases. For an enthusiast 15 dollars is a small price to see footage of a young Arkestra.

That aside, the stregth of this release is the very clean transfer of both image and audio, compared to underground VHS tapes that circulate in collectors circles.

the message of the film is an intersting reflection of the times.
"Jazz is Dead!"

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jazz Raises its Fist, June 27, 2006

By 

directions "neuralbuddhist" (Space Time Foam) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sun Ra - Cry of Jazz (DVD)

I first became interested in this film after reading about it in "Film as a Subversive Art" that said it was a "forerunner to black power". That said, yes it is dated but this was a turning point in jazz. Not the "death of jazz" but the birth of free jazz (Ornette and company were just getting warmed up)and Archie Shepp shouting in "Live at the Pan-African Festival", "Jazz is black power!". "The Cry of Jazz" is very much at a point in time, before rock really mattered, when jazz was music to be listened to, not yet music to take up a cause to. My only objection is titling it "Sun Ra-Cry of Jazz" because even though it has footage of Sun Ra, it is not a documentary about Sun Ra or a concert of his performances (though of course footage is shown). Instead it is a documentary about racial oppression and how jazz relates to it, in standing up against it. Of course, our society has progressed beyond that point now and jazz is mostly played sedately for appreciative audiences in expensive nightclubs (with notable exceptions such as Charles Gayle and David S. Ware). To travel back in time and see when jazz was just starting to take up a political cause, "The Cry of Jazz" will be a worthwhile find.