Ovation

The Story of Jazz puts the crown on the Masters of American series. As entertaining as it is informative, it is a seamless array of performances, comments, and compelling historic insight. Many call Jazz the greatest art form of the 20th century. The Story of Jazz is a colorful tale of cross-cultural influences that produced a constantly evolving and enduring music. It is a rich 97-minute weave of sounds, rare film clips, stills and interviews. This absorbing mix of sights and sounds shows how this truly American expression spread to become the universal language. A captivating trek through the stylistic changes that have kept jazz so fresh for all these years: New Orleans traditions, Stride, Swing, Boogie Woogie, Big Band, Jump Band, the singers, the dancers, the blues, Bebop, Afro-Cuban, Cool, Free-form it's all here. Never before have the filmed comments of so many important jazz artists been assembled for one project, and never before has the history of jazz been told as vividly and with such attention to historic detail.