Jazz in Film
Most interesting films about the american music genre and its artists, and films with the best jazz soundtracks
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47 titles
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsDexter GordonFrançois CluzetGabrielle HakerA troubled, but talented musician flees the US to escape his problems, finding refuge and support in Paris.
- DirectorRobert ParrishBertrand TavernierThe two directors meander through rural Mississippi in search of the spirit of local music and society. Highlights the heritage of William Faulkner, the role of Black churches, and gospel and blues music.
- StarsB.B. KingIke TurnerPinetop PerkinsA documentary series about the origin and history of The Blues.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsForest WhitakerDiane VenoraMichael ZelnikerThe troubled life and career of jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsPatrick McGoohanKeith MichellBetsy BlairThis movie, based on William Shakespeare's Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best jazz musicians of the period, including Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
- DirectorOsias WilenskiStarsInda LedesmaSergio RenánZelmar GueñolThe story of a saxophonist with delusions of persecution who is being destroyed little by little by means of alcohol, drugs and sex. A story by Cortázar inspired by the life of Charlie Parker, it shows a fragmented narration and remarkable formal aspects.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsSean PennSamantha MortonWoody AllenIn the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonSpike LeeWesley SnipesJazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic lives.
- DirectorRobert BudreauStarsEthan HawkeCarmen EjogoCallum Keith RennieA re-imagining of jazz legend Chet Baker's musical comeback in the late '60s.
- DirectorFernando TruebaStarsMichel CamiloTito PuenteArturo O'FarrillA film featuring performances of several stars of the Latin Jazz music scene.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsRalph MacchioJoe SenecaJami GertzA wannabe blues-guitar virtuoso finds an old blues player and hopes he can teach him a long-lost song by legendary musician Robert Johnson.
- DirectorDon CheadleStarsDon CheadleEmayatzy CorinealdiEwan McGregorAn exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsRoy ScheiderJessica LangeAnn ReinkingDirector/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsRichard GereGregory HinesDiane LaneMeet the jazz musicians, dancers, owner, and guests (like gangster Dutch Schultz) of The Cotton Club in 1928-1930s Harlem.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
- DirectorAllen ReisnerStarsNat 'King' ColeEartha KittCab CallowayThe story of W. C. Handy, the undisputed father of the blues.
- DirectorCharlotte ZwerinStarsThelonious MonkJohn ColtraneJimmy ClevelandA documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
- DirectorJohn ScheinfeldStarsDenzel WashingtonReggie WorkmanRavi ColtraneAn exploration of the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane where the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds are revealed.
- DirectorLiz GarbusStarsNina SimoneLisa Simone KellyRoger NupieA documentary about the life and legend Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist labeled the "High Priestess of Soul."
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsJamie FoxxRegina KingKerry WashingtonThe story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsJeanne MoreauMaurice RonetGeorges PoujoulyA self-assured businessman murders his employer, the husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.Miles Davis Score
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJames StewartLee RemickBen GazzaraAn upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?Duke Ellington Score
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsRony ClantonCarl LeeYolanda RodríguezA look at the horrors of Harlem ghetto slum life filled with drugs, violence, human misery, and a sense of despair due to the racial prejudices of American society.Mal Waldron score, Dizzy Gillespie (horn), James Moody (sax) & Kenny Barron (piano)
- DirectorBert SternAram AvakianStarsLouis ArmstrongMahalia JacksonChuck BerryThe highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPeter WellerJudy DavisIan HolmAfter developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.Howard Shore score (featuring Ornette Coleman)
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.Herbie Hancock score
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsSteve McQueenJacqueline BissetRobert VaughnA nonconformist San Francisco cop is determined to find the underworld kingpin who killed the witness under his protection.Lalo Schifrin score
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsJack NicholsonFaye DunawayJohn HustonA private detective hired to expose an adulterer in 1930s Los Angeles finds himself caught up in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder.Jerry Goldsmith jazz score
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsJean-Paul BelmondoJean SebergVan DoudeA small-time crook, hunted by the authorities for a car theft and the murder a police officer, attempts to persuade a hip American journalism student to run away with him to Italy.Martial Solal score
- DirectorAlexander MackendrickStarsBurt LancasterTony CurtisSusan HarrisonPowerful but unethical Broadway columnist J.J. Hunsecker coerces unscrupulous press agent Sidney Falco into breaking up his sister's romance with a jazz musician.Elmer Bersntein score
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael CaineShelley WintersMillicent MartinAn unrepentant ladies' man gradually begins to understand the consequences of his lifestyle.Sonny Rollins score
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSteve McQueenFaye DunawayPaul BurkeA debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.Michel Legrands score
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFrank SinatraKim NovakEleanor ParkerA junkie must face his true self to kick his drug addiction.Elmer Bernstein score
- DirectorOtto PremingerRouben MamoulianStarsSidney PoitierDorothy DandridgeSammy Davis Jr.A woman whose past is scorned by nearly everyone around her meets a man who'd love her regardlessly- if only everyone else would allow them to.Adaptation of George Gershwin musical
- DirectorStellan OlssonStarsHenric HolmbergEva RemaeusJan LindellSweden 1958. In a small provincial town there is a band who plays dance music twice every week. All decisions are made by Sven Klang, the undisputed leader of the band. A new member joins them, saxophone player Lasse. He starts to criticize Sven's decisions, questions the way they divide the money and he also wants them to be more of a jazz band.
- DirectorRobert MuggeStarsSun RaRobert Mugge filmed jazz great Sun Ra on location in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. between 1978 and 1980. The resulting 60-minute film includes multiple public and private performances, poetry readings, a band rehearsal, interviews, and extensive improvisations. Transferred to HD from the original 16mm film and lovingly restored for the best possible viewing experience.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsWilliam RedfieldWarren FinnertyGarry GoodrowA director tries to film a group of junkies in Leach's room while they are waiting for Cowboy to bring their heroin connection.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsJennifer Jason LeighMiranda RichardsonHarry BelafonteA pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.
- DirectorKasper CollinStarsLee MorganHelen MorganWayne ShorterAn exploration of the relationship between jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who was implicated in his murder in 1972.
- DirectorJean BachStarsDizzy GillespieMilt HintonMarian McPartlandThe documentary compiles interviews of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine.
- DirectorBruce WeberStarsChet BakerCarol BakerVera BakerDocumentary on the life of jazz trumpeter and drug addict Chet Baker. Fascinating series of interviews with friends, family, associates and lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life and some modern-day performances.
- DirectorGeorge C. WolfeStarsViola DavisChadwick BosemanGlynn TurmanTensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927.
- DirectorLee DanielsStarsAndra DayTrevante RhodesGarrett HedlundFollows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she has a tumultuous affair.
- DirectorStella MeghieStarsIssa RaeLaKeith StanfieldChanté AdamsA series of intertwining love stories set in the past and in the present.
- DirectorShin'ichirô WatanabeMary Elizabeth McGlynnTensai OkamuraStarsBeau BillingsleaMelissa FahnNicholas GuestA terrorist explosion releases a deadly virus on the masses, and it's up to the bounty-hunting Bebop crew to catch the cold-blooded culprit.
- DirectorRobert BudreauStarsEthan HawkeCarmen EjogoCallum Keith RennieA re-imagining of jazz legend Chet Baker's musical comeback in the late '60s.