The Rhapsody Films Collection offers hours of beautiful jazz performances, vivid interviews and incisive oral histories. The person behind Rhapsody Films is Bruce Ricker, a jazz-mad New York attorney who, between days as president of his company and round-midnights at the clubs, has directed and produced astute music documentaries.
Clint Eastwood started that: “jazz and western movies are America’s only original art forms.” Rhapsody Films exists to fulfill that thought!
2869005 ART ENSEMBLE
THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO
IN CONCERT Color. Hi-Fi Stereo . Total Time: 60 min
This outstanding DVD includes a memorable live performance by the most influential avant-garde jazz band of the 70s and 80s.
The primary innovators in the fusion of traditional African and African- American music with European performance art.
2869009 BARRY HARRIS
SPIRIT OF BEBOP
Feat. Bud powell, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Flanagan Total Time: 60 min; Color / Hi-Fi Stereo
USA 1999
One of the last living legends of the era, Harris has been hailed as bebop´s most important conservator. This pianist boundless energy belies his age, and at 78 he remains more musically active than ever before. A tru joy greatly aided with vintage footage of such outstanding musicians as featured here.
2869017 CALYPSO MUSIC HISTORY
ONE HAND DON´T CLAP
Feat. Lord Kitchener, Calypso Rose Total Time: 90 min; Color / Hi-Fi Stereo
USA 1991
The film concentrates on the life and music of Lord Kitchener and Calypso Rose. Through these to legendary musicians, the viewer gains an understanding of just what it means to be a
2869008 COLEMAN HAWKINS & PEE WEE RUSSELL
AFTER HOURS
JAZZ DANCE B&W / Hi-Fi Stereo. Total time: 60 min.
Featuring Harry Edison, Teddy Edwards, Hampton Hawes, Willie
A late-night jam session at the ´After Hours Club,´ staged for TV in the ´wee small hours´ of the New York dawn, with some fine playing from swing veterans. Plus an exuberant documentary with a great jazz band playing for dancers at the Central Park Dance Hall in Manhattan.
2869003 EDDIE JEFFERSON
Eddie Jefferson In Concert
With Ritchie Cole (alto sax), John Campbell (piano), Kelly Sill (bass), Joel Spencer (drums) and Eddie Jefferson (vocals) Color. Hi-Fi Stereo. Total Time: 60 Mins
The Jazz Showcase, May 6th, 1979.
This exceptional DVD includes rare footage of the last performance by the ´King of Vocalese´, the late great Eddie Jefferson. Only two days after the filming of his live concert at Joe Segal´s Jazz Showcase in Chicago, May 6th, 1979, Jefferson was tragically shot to death outside a Detroit nightclub. At 61, he was still perfoming with an exuberance and intensity that belied his years.
2869016 EVANS, BILL
THE UNIVERSAL MIND OF BILL EVANS
Jazz pianist on the creative process and self-teaching B&W. Hi-Fi Stereo. Total Time: 60 min
An extraordinary moment of live television…
Here is the late, brilliantly original jazz pianist in intense conversation with his composer brother, Harry, on the nature of creativity in jazz…
2869015 ILLINOIS JACQUET
TEXAS TENOR. The Illinois Jacquet Story
B&W. Hi-Fi Stereo. Total Time: 60 Mins
Feat. Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Harry Edison and Dorothy Donegan.
This phenomenal DVD - filmed fifty years after the release of
2869018 JAKI BYARD & ELVIN JONES
ANYTHING FOR JAZZ & DIFFERENT DRUMMER
DOUBLE FEATURE! Both episodes in one DVD Total Time: 60 Min; Color & B/W / Hi-Fi Stereo
USA 1979 & 1980. Feat. John Coltrane, Pat LaBarbera, McCoy Tyner, Ron Cater, Bill Evans
This DVD release includes documentaries of two of the most original and innovative musicians in jazz, drum legend Elvin Jones and the enigmatic pianist Jaki Byard. An excellent visual and aural study of the great innovator Elvin Jones. The movie also boasts an outstanding clip of Jones with Coltrane Quartet that shows their unique relationship
2869011 JIM HALL
A LIFE IN PROGRESS
Feat. Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Greg Osby, Chico Hamilton, Jimmy Giuffre, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans Total Time: 60 min; Color / Hi-Fi Stereo
USA 1998
While most jazz documentaries tend to concentrate on musicians who have passed away or are no longer in their prime, this DVD features one jazz legend who is in the midst of the most creative stage of his already prolific career. Also appearing thelonious Monk, Art farmer, Lester Young, Ben Webster and Count Basie among others...
2869013 LEE KONITZ
PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AS SAXOPHONIST
Featuring Harold Danko Total Time: 90 Mins; Color / Hi-Fi Stereo
USA 1988
Very rarely we do have the opportunity to see a music documentary in which the artist is free to express him or herself without the encumbrance of superfluous narration. This exciting DVD is one of such examples. It is a stunning work capturing the music and persona of one of the greatest legends of the alto saxophone.
