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 Location:  Home » Documentary » General » Harlem Renaissance / Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King ColeJanuary 8, 2009  


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Harlem Renaissance / Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole
Harlem Renaissance / Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Nat King Cole
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Director: Marino Amoruso
Actors: The Mills Brothers, Cab Calloway, Dorothy Dandridge, Nat 'king' Cole, Fats Waller
Studio: Kultur Video
Category: DVD

List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $10.19
You Save: $9.80 (49%)
Buy New/Used from $10.19

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars(5 reviews)
Sales Rank: 39724

Format: Black & White, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 75 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

MPN: 3115
ISBN: 0769731155
UPC: 032031311596
EAN: 9780769731155
ASIN: B000294SIY

Release Date: July 27, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Editorial Reviews:

Description
A fabulous look at Harlem and its greatest musicians of the 20s, 30s and 40s: with extraordinary archival, full song performances by Fats Waller (This Joint Is Jumpin', Ain't Misbehaving, Your Feets Too Big), Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (Let's Scuffle), Dorothy Dandridge (Easy Street), Cab Calloway (We The Cats Will Hep You), Mills Brothers (Caravan, Cielito Lindo), Tiny Grimes (Romance Without Finance), Duke Ellington (Cottontail, Satin Doll) , Count Basie (The Start of Something Big, Take Me Back Baby)), Dizzy Gillespie (Salt Peanuts), Sidney Bechet (Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen), Nat King Cole (Frim Fram Sauce, I'm A Shy Guy, That's My Girl, Calypso Blues), Louis Armstrong (Swingin' On Nothin') and others. Featuring commentary by distinguished historians and the performers themselves, this program traces the roots of the music of the Harlem Renaissance, its social impact on society and its eventual acceptance in mainstream culture. 2004 Production.


Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars Jazz musicians & Tap dancers   July 4, 2007
  2 out of 2 found this review helpful

This DVD has a great collection of many old film clips interspersed with limited but informative commentary. I really enjoyed listening and watching the jazz musicians play/sing and the dancers dance. There are two dozen artists/groups that are featured here. I have never seen this video footage elsewhere, so it was really special to see what the music LOOKed like.


3 out of 5 stars Good footage, poor documentary   October 24, 2006
  8 out of 9 found this review helpful

I bought this DVD for a course I teach on African-American Literature. This is a great DVD if you are interested in showing/discussing the music or performances of the period. However, the "documentary" components of this film are sorely lacking; the commentary provides only the most basic information about the Harlem Renaissance, and there is only about five minutes of commentary throughout the whole documentary. As such, this is mainly just a collection of performance clips, so you will need to do a lot more backgrounding for your students if you wish to explore this aspect of the Harlem Renaissance in depth. Also, don't be fooled by the running time -- the actual "documentary" portion of the film is only about 45 minutes long, and there is an extra 30 minutes of "bonus features" with an additional 11 performances.


4 out of 5 stars Great collection   September 23, 2005
  18 out of 18 found this review helpful

It is certainly hard to find films in jazz from this time period, so this collection is a very valuable one. The quality of the recordings are incredible considering their age, and the representations of the music/musicians sometimes surprising, even for those who study jazz culture.
Although the commentary may not give you much information beyond an introductory level, being able to see jazz performance is something which simply reading about the period can't compare to. One thing to mention--though this DVD is entitled Harlem Renaissance, it seems like several of these films were produced after renaissance was considered to be over.



5 out of 5 stars An essential for anyone who wants to learn about/enjoy this period of time.   August 15, 2005
  23 out of 23 found this review helpful

I have seen so many films about the Harlem Renaissance, I was beginning to think that there was no film that both captured and explained the history of the period and also made learning fun for students. As a teacher, I use this DVD with my 12 and 13 year old students. The full versions of songs on the bonus part of the DVD shows the power that visual and audio images can have and had way before MTV. For the price and quality, this is a must have for educators, and a joy for historians and music lovers in general.


2 out of 5 stars music of the Renaissance   March 4, 2005
  15 out of 23 found this review helpful

While most books and documentaries on the Harlem Renaissance focus on the writers and the painters of the era, this work focuses on the musicians. Most of the musical coverage is of the grainy, black-and-white motion picture productions of the time. This is accurate but may not appeal to modern viewers. Some of the vibrancy that comes through in the materials art just isn't here. Further, the transition from performances to narrative and commentary and back does not flow well. Still, this would be a great work for students taking jazz courses or for fans of classic jazz. Unlike many of the Renaissance's writers and artists, the musicians covered here survived for decades. It's hard for me to even pigeonhole them as Renaissance figures.


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