Jazz Shots From The East Coast Vol.2

Like other DVDs in Efor Films jazz series, this collection draws from a number of different television broadcasts, with no information as to personnel, recording dates, or locations, though many of the musicians will be instantly recognizable to seasoned jazz fans. Miles Davis opens with his quintet (circa 1959 with John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb), occasionally augmented by a brass choir that looks like it is being conducted by Gil Evans (who is mostly off camera). Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers charge headfirst through an energized take of Bobby Watson's "Ms. B.C.," with the band including Wynton and Branford Marsalis, tenorist Billy Pierce, pianist Donald Brown, and bassist Charles Fambrough. The vintage footage of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie playing "Hot House" with a rhythm section led by pianist Dick Hyman represents one of the few complete video performances to feature Parker. Louis Armstrong sings and plays his composition"Someday" and his theme song "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," showcasing trombonist Trummy Young. The tracks by the Modern Jazz Quartet, along with the first two by tenor saxophonist Ben Webster (accompanied by pianist Vince Guaraldi) and also the Art Farmer/Jim Hall Quartet are excerpts from full programs in the Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual series. Webster and trumpeter Buck Clayton deliver a rousing "C Jam Blues" in a late-'50s broadcast, though the sound is a bit muffled. Count Basie swings like mad in the breezy "Dickie's Dream." Art Tatum is the only high point of the odd pairing with the Dorsey Brothers and Charlie Barnett taken from the mediocre biopic The Fabulous Dorseys. Finally, trumpeter Bobby Hackett, who is accompanied by a band that includes a very young Bob Wilber on clarinet and Dave McKenna on piano, offers a swinging "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home." The scattershot nature of these excerpts makes a viewer wish for the complete programs from which they were taken, but at least these are complete performances, even if some of the audio is muddy in spots. ~ Ken Dryden|