Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns 4 - The True Welcome (1929-1935) (2001)

Synopsis: TELEVISION RELEASE: JANUARY 15, 2001 (PBS). For the third part of his American Trilogy--following THE CIVIL WAR and BASEBALL--Ken Burns takes on the "that most American of art forms": jazz. The... TELEVISION RELEASE: JANUARY 15, 2001 (PBS). For the third part of his American Trilogy--following THE CIVIL WAR and BASEBALL--Ken Burns takes on the "that most American of art forms": jazz. The 10-part, 19-hour film begins with the music's roots in post-Civil War New Orleans and concludes roughly a century later. The story focuses not only on the personalities and events that helped define the music but also on the social and cultural climate in which they emerged, making KEN BURNS' JAZZ a film about more than just music. THE TRUE WELCOME (1929-1935) follows the rise of swing during the years of the Great Depression. Large dancehalls in New York become the proving ground for big bands, and at the top is Chick Webb's band at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. The diminutive drummer leads a high-energy ensemble that draws young, integrated audiences and fuels all-night dance frenzies. Also in New York, Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington continue to push the limits of the music--Armstrong using his charisma to reach more and more listeners, Ellington refining his elegant art. In the city's clubs, pianists Art Tatum and Fats Waller amaze listeners with their brilliance. And taking his band on the road, Benny Goodman traverses the country to spread the word of swing, ending up in Los Angeles, where he is born as jazz's new star. [More]

Starring: Benny Goodman, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington

Starring: Benny Goodman, Art Tatum, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Artie Shaw, Gary Giddins, Chick Webb

Director: Ken Burns

Director: Ken Burns
Screenwriter: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns

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