Ten hours of jazz history and somehow you'll still want more—this is Ken Burns at his most dangerously addictive.
6.3109 minSeason 1 • Episode 10
LatestObviously Ken Burns knows that he can’t fit the last thirty-nine years of jazz history onto two hours of video tape, so from the outset, that shouldn’t be expected. There’s an excellent biography of John Coltrane, and footage of Miles Davis’ wonderful mid-‘60s quintet. There is also a nice, small section on the magnificent Charles Mingus.
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.
Editing
That signature Burns pan-and-zoom—still hypnotic after all these years.
Score
The music speaks for itself—Armstrong, Ellington, Coltrane, all unfiltered.
Direction
Ken Burns transforms dusty archives into pure cinematic oxygen.
Keith David
Narrator (voice)
Louis Armstrong
Self (archive footage)
Duke Ellington
Self (archive footage)
Benny Goodman
Self (archive footage)
Artie Shaw
Self (archive footage)
Billie Holiday
Self (archive footage)
Glenn Miller
Self (archive footage)
Dave Brubeck
Self (archive footage)
Art Tatum
Self (archive footage)
John Coltrane
Self (archive footage)
Art Blakey
Self (archive footage)
Charles Mingus
Self (archive footage)
Wynton Marsalis
Self
Miles Davis
Self (archive footage)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Keith David recorded narration for over six months, sometimes doing 12-hour days—his voice is literally embedded in the DNA of this series.
Wynton Marsalis served as senior creative consultant and his influence shapes the series' controversial preference for acoustic jazz over electric fusion—jazz purists still argue about this hierarchy today.
US
