Dave Brubeck Movies
Part of The Blues documentary film series on PBS, Piano Blues is directed by actor, filmmaker, and pianist Clint Eastwood. This installment explores the director's fascination with piano blues and jazz, starting with Fats Waller and the early stride piano sound. The sound evolved into boogie-woogie with expressive players like Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. Includes the classic "How Long Blues" as interpreted through the generations by Jimmy Yancey, the Count Basie Orchestra, and Dr. John. Features performances by Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins, Dave Brubeck, and Jay McShann. Piano Blues was originally broadcast by PBS on October 4, 2003. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marcia Ball, Pinetop Perkins, (more)
- 1984
Based on the novel by Agatha Christie and set in the late 1950s, this unevenly told film starts when Dr. Arthur Calgary (Donald Sutherland) comes back to England after two years on an Antarctic expedition and discovers that the man he is searching for has been executed for murder. At the beginning of his expedition he had given a ride one night to a hitchhiker and accidentally ended up with his address book. To his horror, the hitchhiker's mother was killed on that night, and he had been the alibi that would have saved him from execution. Spurred on by his sense of shock and guilt, Calgary makes contact with the family and is put off by their disinterest in finding the real killer. It seems that the mother had many enemies among her close family members: her husband was having an affair, there was a blackmail scheme in the works, and many felt that she had already excluded them from any inheritance. Although the acting is uneven and the plot may seem predictable or contrived to non-Christie readers, the story retains interest, and Dave Brubeck's jazz score adds a special dimension to the proceedings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sutherland, Christopher Plummer, (more)
- 1981
Rather than a film with a storyline or narrative theme, Southern Crossing records five days of jazz performances in Sydney, Australia by notables such as the Dave Brubeck Quartet, Herbie Mann & the Family of Mann, the Les McCann Band, Howie Smith & the Jazz Co-op, and others. The challenge in producing this 92-minute version of a five-day event lay in the editing of 50,000 feet of film, helped in part by coercing the musicians to wear the same outfits in all their performances so separate nights could be spliced together without any apparent break in time. The result is a condensation of the music and its performances that captures the excitement, entertainment, and inspiration of the longer concerts at their best. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave Brubeck
- 1975
One in a series of jazz-themed compilation releases, the title of this one is misleading, as neither Dave Brubeck nor Paul Desmond appear in all of the concert clips presented here. The program is culled from three unrelated sessions. The first features Brubeck on piano, Desmond on alto sax, Joe Morello on drums and Eugene Wright on bass; it was shot in San Francisco on October 17, 1961. The selections in that segment include: "Take Five," "It's a Raggy Waltz," "Castillian Blues," "Waltz Limp," and "Blue Rondo a la Turk." The second features Desmond on alto sax, Don Thompson on bass, Jerry Fuller on drums, and Ed Bickert on guitar, playing "Emily"; it was shot in Monterey, California on September 21, 1975. And the third has nothing to do with either Brubeck or Desmond; instead, it features a session led by trumpeter Shorty Rogers, with Gary LeFebrvre on tenor sax, Gary Peacock on bass, Larry Bunker on drums, and Lou Levy on piano. It was filmed in New York in 1962. Selections in that segment include "Martians," "Time Was," and "Greensleeves." ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, (more)
- 1961
The British All Night Long is Othello to a jazz beat. Paul Harris is the Othello counterpart, a bandleader happily married to "Desdemona" Marti Stevens. Patrick McGoohan plays the film's funky Iago character, who covets Harris' job. McGoohan hopes to unnerve Harris by spreading rumors that Stevens has been unfaithful. Like the 1956 Joe MacBeth, All Night Long can either be taken seriously or as what used to be called 'high camp." Jazz aficionados will appreciate the brief appearances by Dave Brubeck, Johnny Dankworth, Paul Mingus, Tubby Hayes, Charles Mingus, Kenny Napper and several other top musicians. Also showing up in a cameo role is dancing star Geoffrey Holder, who wouldn't make a bad Othello (or Iago) himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick McGoohan, Marti Stevens, (more)
This program captures the Dave Brubeck Quartet's performance in Moscow with the Russian National Orchestra at the Bolshoi Hall of the Moscow Conservatory of Music. This was the first time that jazz had been performed at this most prestigious venue and Brubeck himself was considered to be an unofficial ambassador of goodwill. The program also features Brubeck discussing his 50 year career as a jazz pianist and a jam session with Russian jazz musicians at the Spaso House. Also included is a seminar with students of the Moscow Conservatory for whom jazz was for a long time banned and therefore, felt in many ways like a musical style that represented freedom. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
