Jazz
Jazz

Jazz

2001 1 Seasons 10 Episodes ⭐ 7.5 Documentary

Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.

Jazz is a ten part series that explores the evolution – and the genius – of America’s greatest original art form, focusing on the extraordinary men and women who could do something remarkable – create art on the spot. Jazz celebrates their profoundly enduring, endlessly varied, and infinitely alluring music in the context of the complicated country that gave birth to and influenced it, and was in turn transformed by it.

Watch Free Now

Seasons & Episodes

EP 1

Gumbo: Beginnings to 1917

"Gumbo" traces the roots of jazz from the 1800s to 1917. The viewer will catch glimpses of Jelly Roll Morton, who errone

EP 2

The Gift: 1917-1924

How can one explain the genius of a Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington? Blessed with skill and talent far exceeding their

EP 3

Our Language: 1924 -1929

Colorful characters like the tragic Bix Beiderbecke, powerhouse Bessie Smith, and the braggart Jelly Roll Morton, make t

EP 4

The True Welcome: 1929-1934

"The True Welcome" continues many of the stories begun in Episode 3, following several troubling years for Louis Armstro

EP 5

Swing: Pure Pleasure - 1935-1937

1935 was the year that swing became the most popular music in the country and that the king of swing, Benny Goodman, bec

EP 6

Swing: The Velocity of Celebration - 1937-1939

Swing would be reacquainted with its blues roots by way of Kansas City, when Count Basie and the Barons of Rhythm brough

EP 7

Dedicated to Chaos: 1940-1945

"Dedicated to Chaos" finds jazz musicians teetering on the brink of the modern era, fighting against the straightjacket

EP 8

Risk: 1945-1955

The bop revolution’s influence would spread to other musicians, but unlike swing, it would never become a popular musi

EP 9

The Adventure: 1956-1960

Critics who had believed that Charlie Parker was "too much" musically, could not have welcomed the arrival of Ornette Co

EP 10

A Masterpiece by Midnight: 1960 to the Present

Obviously Ken Burns knows that he can’t fit the last thirty-nine years of jazz history onto two hours of video tape, s

Popular Cast