Trap Jazz

Toronto is regarded as the third largest jazz centre in North America. This film features a cross-section of jazz bands of that city: the Lenny Breau Trio, the Don Thompson Quintet and the Alf Jones Quartet. Their styles show creative self-expression, hard work, and improvisation.

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

Tenor saxophone master Sonny Rollins has long been hailed as one of the most important artists in jazz history, and still, today, he is viewed as the greatest living jazz improviser. In 1986, filmmaker Robert Mugge produced Saxophone Colossus, a feature-length portrait of Rollins, named after one of his most celebrated albums.

American dancer and choreographer Hermes Pan recalls his life and work as he relives the glorious history of the Hollywood musical.

It’s the second semester of junior year for Pierce “Sparni” Sparnroft, a gifted jazz vibraphonist studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Sparni’s prospects on the vibes were rejuvenated by their new professor, the world-renowned Steve Nelson, and are to be showcased during a student-driven recital in May 2023. But all the while, Sparni must face a crisis within.

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.

Taken in by the musical world as a young orphan, Rick Martin grows up with a desire to play pure jazz instead of the commercial gigs he lands, whilst also coping with the problems caused by his tempestuous marriage to an aloof heiress.

A journey into the life of blind jazz musician Caitlin Smith as she explores how her voice as a musician and teacher has become a tool of identity, resilience, and empowerment.

A fictionalized account of the career of jazz singer Ruth Etting and her tempestuous marriage to gangster Marty Snyder, who helped propel her to stardom.

Il est minuit, Paris s'éveille

Django Reinhardt, trois doigts de génie

A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.

The two musical masters swing out.

Oscar Peterson is accompanied by the stellar duo of bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen for each concert performance. This is the classic Oscar Peterson Trio, considered by many to be the best Oscar Peterson Band ever. Oscar and the trio collaborate with trumpeters Clark Terry (Finland'65) and Roy Eldridge (Sweden'63) and re-create some of the excitement and fun of the Jazz at the Philharmonic (JATP) tours. Among the many highlights in this collection are the Oscar and vocalist-trumpeter Clark Terry collaboration on the ever-popular Mumbles ,and for the first time on commercial video, an Oscar Peterson Trio rendition of Tonight from his award-winning West Side Story album.

In 1960s France, a jazz musician becomes the subject of an impromptu documentary.

Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra return to Earth after several years in space. Ra proclaims himself "the alter-destiny", meets with inner-city youths and battles with the devil himself to save the black race.

Saxophone player Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker comes to New York in 1940 and is quickly noticed for his remarkable way of playing. He becomes a drug addict but his loving wife Chan tries to help him.

Documentary about the Chicago jazz scene.

A vibrant tribute to one of America's legendary bandleaders, charting Glenn Miller's rise from obscurity and poverty to fame and wealth in the early 1940s.

Crazy is the story of a legendary guitar player who emerged from Nashville in the 1950s. Blessed with incomparable, natural talent, Hank Garland quickly established his reputation as the finest sessions player in Nashville.