Movielogr
The Cry of Jazz (1959)
Directed by Edward Bland
Overview
Filmed in Chicago & finished in 1959, The Cry of Jazz is filmmaker, composer and arranger Edward O. Bland’s polemical essay on the politics of music and race - a forecast of what he called “the death of jazz.” A landmark moment in black film, foreseeing the civil unrest of subsequent decades, it also features the only known footage of visionary pianist Sun Ra from his beloved Chicago period. Featured are ample images of tenor saxophonist John Gilmore and the rest of Ra’s Arkestra in Windy City nightclubs, all shot in glorious black & white.
Length 34 minutes
Actors
George Waller | Dorothea Horton | Melinda Dillon | Andrew Duncan | Leroy Inman | James Miller | Gavin McFadyan | Carl Dupree | Goldina Rojas | Alan Leavitt | Carl McCormack | Lettie Mae Randolph