Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Subject is Jazz: Swing (1958)



Produced in New York City by National Educational Television for classroom use and in conjunction with the National Broadcasting Corporation for broadcast. If you had a television in 1957-1958 and were lucky enough to get one of the affiliate stations, this is a sample of what you would see Friday night at 5 PM.

I've been reading series host and pianist Billy Taylor's Smithsonian Jazz oral history transcript available here. Just follow the link and scroll down to Dr. Taylor. There were so many good things about Billy and The Subject is Jazz is just one of them. Check out the clips, read the transcript, and check out some of Taylor's recordings (many of which are available on iTunes).

Side note: this series features the wonderful guitarist Mundell Lowe, a personal favorite and probably one of the last dozen or so living musicians to have played with Charlie Parker.

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