Hollywood Rhythm 1: the Best of Jazz & Blues, DVD

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Opening Titles [2:30]
2. "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead (You Rascal You)" - Louis Armstrong [4:04]
3. "Shine" - Louis Armstrong [3:29]
4. "Lightnin'"/Opening Titles [:32]
5. "Rockin' in Rhythm" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:17]
6. "Stormy Weather" - Ivie Anderson [5:19]
7. "Bugle Call Rag" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [2:00]
8. Opening Titles [1:08]
9. "Harlem Camp Meeting" - Cab Calloway [2:11]
10. "Zaz-Zuh-Zaz" - Cab Calloway [2:16]
11. "The Lady With the Fan" - Cab Calloway [3:48]
12. "I Love a Parade" (Generic) [:29]
13. "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Opening Titles) - Fats Waller [3:11]
14. Opening Titles [:58]
15. Part One: "The Laborers" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:43]
16. Part Two: "A Triangle: Dance" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:02]
17. Part Two: "A Triangle: Jealousy" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [:41]
18. Part Two: "A Triangle: Blues" - Billie Holiday [2:10]
19. Part Three: "A Hymn of Sorrow" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:46]
20. Part Four: "Harlem Rhythm" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:14]
21. "The Call of the Jitterbug" (Opening Titles) [:43]
22. "Gotcha Razz-Ma-Tazz" - Cab Calloway [2:08]
23. "Long About Midnight" - Cab Calloway [3:01]
24. "Jitterbug" - Cab Calloway [1:40]
25. Opening Titles [6:35]
26. "St. Louis Blues" - Bessie Smith [7:41]
27. "St. Louis Blues" (Reprise) - Bessie Smith [1:23]
31. "Lazy Bones" - Jack Teagarden Orchestra [:51]
32. "Small Fry" - Jack Teagarden Orchestra [1:12]
33. "Rockin' Chair" - Hoagy Carmichael [1:22]
34. "Stardust" (Reprise) - Meredith Blake/Charlie Spivak, Trumpet [2:21]
35. "Ol' King Cotton" (Opening Titles) [5:45]
36. "On the 'Sippi Shore" - George Dewey Washington [3:07]
37. "Ol' King Cotton" (Reprise) - George Dewey Washington [1:47]
38. "Black and Tan Fantasy" (Opening Titles) [6:20]
39. "Duke Steps Out" - Duke Ellington/Art Whetsol [:50]
40. "Black Beauty" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:58]
41. "Duke Steps Out" (Reprise) - Duke Ellington Orchestra [:57]
42. "Black Beauty" (Reprise) [2:05]
43. "Cotton Club Stomp" - Duke Ellington Orchestra/Fredi Washington, Dance Solo [1:20]
44. "Hot Feet" - Duke Ellington Orchestra/Cotton Club Chorines [1:35]
45. "Black and Tan Fantasy" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [3:56]
46. "St. Louis Blues" (Opening Titles) - Vincent Lopez Orchestra [5:33]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

More than a bracing opportunity to watch the preeminent musicians of 20th-century music move and swing, these "mini-musical" shorts from Paramount's vaults are an invaluable contribution to understanding how jazz music was distilled by Hollywood. This disc, along with its lighter companion, Hollywood Rhythm, Vol. 2: Best of Big Bands and Swing, just about outwits the Ken Burns Jazz series, if only because these shorts are shown uncut and without commentary. To call these films crucial would be an understatement. The compilation kicks off with Louis Armstrong in A Rhapsody in Black and Blue, wherein Satchmo transcends the movie's setting (a promised land called "Jazzmania" sprinkled in cheap glitter), his costume (a caveman's tiger skin), and a horribly dated, demeaning tune called "Shine." His instrumental virtuosity, coupled with his inimitable, groundbreaking singing, make both that song and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead (You Rascal, You)" sublime experiences. Duke Ellington and his orchestra, mining their success at the fabled Cotton Club, are in three of the movies here, all essential viewing, too: A Bundle of Blues, Symphony in Black, and Black-and-Tan Fantasy. Bundle shows off Ellington's innovative arrangement of "Stormy Weather," with Ivie Anderson plaintively interpreting the classic lyrics before two hot-cha dancers bring the film to a smashing close. Even better is Billie Holiday singing with Ellington and company in Symphony in Black, Ellington's bluesy orchestral tone poem about the black experience in America. Also included are two Cab Calloway shorts, Ain't Misbehavin' by the hilarious, ad-libbing Fats Waller, and the stark St. Louis Blues, one of the only moving-picture recordings of Bessie Smith. The Queen of the Blues is backed by the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra; and although this film is one of the earliest in the collection (coming from 1929) it provides considerable, moving evidence of Smith's gifts as a musical stylist. Eddy Crouse, Barnes & Noble

Customer Reviews

Viewer Rating:

Write a Review

Barnes & Noble

More than a bracing opportunity to watch the preeminent musicians of 20th-century music move and swing, these "mini-musical" shorts from Paramount's vaults are an invaluable contribution to understanding how jazz music was distilled by Hollywood. This disc, along with its lighter companion, Hollywood Rhythm, Vol. 2: Best of Big Bands and Swing, just about outwits the Ken Burns Jazz series, if only because these shorts are shown uncut and without commentary. To call these films crucial would be an understatement. The compilation kicks off with Louis Armstrong in A Rhapsody in Black and Blue, wherein Satchmo transcends the movie's setting (a promised land called "Jazzmania" sprinkled in cheap glitter), his costume (a caveman's tiger skin), and a horribly dated, demeaning tune called "Shine." His instrumental virtuosity, coupled with his inimitable, groundbreaking singing, make both that song and "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead (You Rascal, You)" sublime experiences. Duke Ellington and his orchestra, mining their success at the fabled Cotton Club, are in three of the movies here, all essential viewing, too: A Bundle of Blues, Symphony in Black, and Black-and-Tan Fantasy. Bundle shows off Ellington's innovative arrangement of "Stormy Weather," with Ivie Anderson plaintively interpreting the classic lyrics before two hot-cha dancers bring the film to a smashing close. Even better is Billie Holiday singing with Ellington and company in Symphony in Black, Ellington's bluesy orchestral tone poem about the black experience in America. Also included are two Cab Calloway shorts, Ain't Misbehavin' by the hilarious, ad-libbing Fats Waller, and the stark St. Louis Blues, one of the only moving-picture recordings of Bessie Smith. The Queen of the Blues is backed by the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra; and although this film is one of the earliest in the collection (coming from 1929) it provides considerable, moving evidence of Smith's gifts as a musical stylist. Eddy Crouse

UPC: 738329019723
Source: KINO VIDEO
Time: 2:03:00
Sales Rank: 21,731

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

A Rhapsody in Black and Blue
Symphony in Black
A Bundle of Blues
Cab Calloway's Hi-De-Ho
Ain't Misbehavin'
Jitterbug Party
St. Louis Blues
Hoagy Carmichael
Ol' King Cotton
Black and Tan
Those Blues
Jazz a la Cuba

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Opening Titles [2:30]
2. "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead (You Rascal You)" - Louis Armstrong [4:04]
3. "Shine" - Louis Armstrong [3:29]
4. "Lightnin'"/Opening Titles [:32]
5. "Rockin' in Rhythm" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:17]
6. "Stormy Weather" - Ivie Anderson [5:19]
7. "Bugle Call Rag" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [2:00]
8. Opening Titles [1:08]
9. "Harlem Camp Meeting" - Cab Calloway [2:11]
10. "Zaz-Zuh-Zaz" - Cab Calloway [2:16]
11. "The Lady With the Fan" - Cab Calloway [3:48]
12. "I Love a Parade" (Generic) [:29]
13. "Ain't Misbehavin'" (Opening Titles) - Fats Waller [3:11]
14. Opening Titles [:58]
15. Part One: "The Laborers" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:43]
16. Part Two: "A Triangle: Dance" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:02]
17. Part Two: "A Triangle: Jealousy" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [:41]
18. Part Two: "A Triangle: Blues" - Billie Holiday [2:10]
19. Part Three: "A Hymn of Sorrow" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:46]
20. Part Four: "Harlem Rhythm" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:14]
21. "The Call of the Jitterbug" (Opening Titles) [:43]
22. "Gotcha Razz-Ma-Tazz" - Cab Calloway [2:08]
23. "Long About Midnight" - Cab Calloway [3:01]
24. "Jitterbug" - Cab Calloway [1:40]
25. Opening Titles [6:35]
26. "St. Louis Blues" - Bessie Smith [7:41]
27. "St. Louis Blues" (Reprise) - Bessie Smith [1:23]
31. "Lazy Bones" - Jack Teagarden Orchestra [:51]
32. "Small Fry" - Jack Teagarden Orchestra [1:12]
33. "Rockin' Chair" - Hoagy Carmichael [1:22]
34. "Stardust" (Reprise) - Meredith Blake/Charlie Spivak, Trumpet [2:21]
35. "Ol' King Cotton" (Opening Titles) [5:45]
36. "On the 'Sippi Shore" - George Dewey Washington [3:07]
37. "Ol' King Cotton" (Reprise) - George Dewey Washington [1:47]
38. "Black and Tan Fantasy" (Opening Titles) [6:20]
39. "Duke Steps Out" - Duke Ellington/Art Whetsol [:50]
40. "Black Beauty" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [1:58]
41. "Duke Steps Out" (Reprise) - Duke Ellington Orchestra [:57]
42. "Black Beauty" (Reprise) [2:05]
43. "Cotton Club Stomp" - Duke Ellington Orchestra/Fredi Washington, Dance Solo [1:20]
44. "Hot Feet" - Duke Ellington Orchestra/Cotton Club Chorines [1:35]
45. "Black and Tan Fantasy" - Duke Ellington Orchestra [3:56]
46. "St. Louis Blues" (Opening Titles) - Vincent Lopez Orchestra [5:33]

DVD MENU

Side #1 --
Play All
Select a Song
Extra
Jazz a la Cuba - Don Aspiazu