Saturday, January 5, 2008

Weekend Video - Jazz On A Summer Day




Bert Stern has been caught in Marilyn Monroe "Last Sitting" mode for so long it's easy to forget what a talented photographer and film-maker he was and is. His film "Jazz on a Summer's Day" covers the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in startling Kodachrome color and with amazing photo-cinematographic compositions. The audience shots are a master class in how cutaways can invigorate rather than distract, and the multiple cameras and sharp edits never make the wrong move. In this clip Dinah Washington gives a swinging performance of "All of Me", but marvel at how Stern introduces Washington with just a close-up of the bopping jeweled bow of her dress!

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