The Life of Jazz (1956)
- Original title
- Vom Lebensweg des Jazz
- Directed by
- Wolfgang Bartsch
- Genre
- documentary film
- Country
- East Germany
- Runtime
- 19 min
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
This short documentary traces jazz from its roots in the music of Black slaves in 17th-century America. It uses historical film and audio recordings to show the development of the genre, including performances by Bessie Smith, George Gershwin, and Paul Robeson. The film also criticizes the commercial directions jazz took in the United States during the 20th century.
informativehistoricaleducationalseriousfactualcriticalblack-and-white
What happens
Vom Lebensweg des Jazz ist ein DEFA-Dokumentarkurzfilm von Peter Ulbrich und Wolfgang Bartsch von 1956. Der Film stellt die Geschichte des Jazz als Musik der schwarzen Sklaven in den USA seit dem 17. Jahrhundert dar. Gezeigt werden historische Bild- und Tonaufnahmen, darunter von Bessie Smith, George Gershwin und Paul Robeson. Er bewertet die kommerziellen Richtungen des Jazz in den USA des 20. Jahrhunderts dagegen kritisch.Helma Kaldewey, A People's Music. Jazz in East Germany 1945–1990, Cambridge 2020, pp. 127–128, mit kurzer Inhaltsangabe (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
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History of Jazz: Oxygen for the Ears (2012)
Fire Music (2018)
Momma Don't Allow (1955)
A Study of Negro Artists (1935)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.