New Blue Sun (Listening)

Micah McCaw presents an evening with music featured in Christmas movies and TV specials.

The concert captured on William "Count" Basie's entry in the "must-own" audio/video Jazz Icons series comes from the vaults of Swedish Television. Modern eyes and ears are whisked to April 24, 1962, with Basie conducting his Atomic-era orchestra.

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).

His unforgettable scores are an essential part of some of the most beloved movies of our time, over a career that spans decades. See and hear maestro John Williams' own story, with insights from filmmakers, musicians, and others he has inspired, complete with rare behind-the-scenes looks at the making of movie history.

A documentary about a life dedicated to jazz, as told by Velibor Pedevski, who has been living among a dynamic New York crowd for over a quarter of a century. Pedevski brings a unique perspective on the historical events surrounding the creative phenomenon of jazz. One of the most prestigious and important of all American cultural exports, jazz has conquered the world

An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.

Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

Eric Clapton: Live at Budokan

Musical performers put on a show in a pawn shop to convince a man to give them the money they need to buy back their instruments.

Inada plays Betty Yoshida, a singer and dancer from America who arrives in Japan to go on tour, only to be swindled by scheming managers. Penniless and cast to the streets, Betty is taken in by Oki (Nakagawa), a talented tap dancer who introduces her to a group of struggling musicians living and working together.

The emblematic festival Jazz à Vienne welcomes each year more than 200 000 festival-goers and 1000 artists. This documentary retraces the history and relives the highlights of the festival, since its creation in 1981 by Jean-Paul Boutellier, Jean Gueffier, Pierre Domeyne, Jean-Pierre Vignola and George Wein. The greatest jazz musicians have performed there, such as Miles Davis, Michel Petrucciani, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny Rollins, Lionel Hampton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Herbie Hancock, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie. So much so that in four decades, Jazz à Vienne has become one of the most important jazz festivals in the world, open to all styles.

Bizet's Carmen gets a modern adaptation. Seducting, provocating, sensual. All the ingredients for a perfect drama. With her charm, Karmen gets out of many situations.

A documentary on Dizzy Gillespie's landmark visit to Cuba and his performance at the Fifth International Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba. Filmed in 1985 with Arturo Sandoval and Sayyd Abdul Al Khabyyr.

Three female performers – pianist Renara, tap-dancer Irene Cutter and singer Shirley Lenner – are supported by Harry Parry and his band in this short film. Cinema audiences were cheered up through WWII by entertaining revue films such as this.

An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.

As seen and heard by... the Standing on the corner art ensemble, an "Exhibition" Index Film

A struggling young man secretly plays a magical trumpet that transports him from his desolate world into a colorful "bliss." When his younger brother discovers his secret, their relationship is put in jeopardy.