Sun Ra - Cry of Jazz

Oh, that's rough...There are some positives, but the written narration lacks a real understanding of the subject while meaning to sound informed, which makes the film difficult to stomach, especially 60+ years later. The music is great and the original intentions were certainly positive. Two stars for some historical significance, but I can't recommend this film in general; its unprepared stretch to describe jazz has not aged well.

Since the 1950s a year doesn't go by without some music journal featuring a discussion on whether "jazz is dead". Likewise, discussion as to what extent jazz is "African American music" is a perennial topic, reawakened most recently and controversially by powerful and courageous trumpet master Nicholas Payton. Anyone exploring those topics would do well to explore "The Cry of Jazz", which, if not the absolute first exploration of these topics, certainly planted seeds of that order more than half a century ago. It is also safe to say that the discussion articulates emotions and politics that would later find a broader voice in the black power movement that blossomed in the 1960s.It is worthwhile to note that on the Edward Bland website, the late Mr. Bland, the filmmaker, is quoted saying he wished he had made a better film. I give it four stars because, although it is not a stupendous film, it is a historically significant film that should not be forgotten and would certainly be interesting to many people while of limited appeal to many more. Although dated in toneit is a sincere and forceful presentation that remains relevant and provocative more than half a century after its debut.The minimal plot centers around an after-hours cocktail party in which a small group of men and women, some black, some white, discuss jazz in a heated manner, with the film interspersing the polemics with segments of live jazz performances and scenes of poverty in the black community. The musical performers, at least in part, are presumably Sun Ra and members of his band during their days in Chicago, but the performances are presented in a shadowy nightclub setting and the identities of the musicians are not clear. The packaging of the film stressing that it features "Sun Ra & His Arkestra" seems more of an afterthought to capitalize on Sun Ra's later notoriety. While the performances are of good quality, being more straight-ahead or bebop style than what Sun Ra would later become known for, the film provides only excerpts of performances those hoping to experience seminal Sun Ra performances could be disappointed.Above all this is an Edward O. Bland film, a heartfelt work of a serious-minded musician, composer and arranger (now deceased) who went on to ply his talents and philosophies in various aspects of the music world in the decades following the creation of this film. Ironically, but fortunately, those who come to this film for insights and inspiration from Sun Ra could very well find new fruits of creative thought and musical evolution by using this film as a spring board to delve into the significant but generally overlooked legacy of Edward O. Bland.

I first became interested in this film after reading about it in "Film as a Subversive Art" that said it was a "forerunner to black power". That said, yes it is dated but this was a turning point in jazz. Not the "death of jazz" but the birth of free jazz (Ornette and company were just getting warmed up)and Archie Shepp shouting in "Live at the Pan-African Festival", "Jazz is black power!". "The Cry of Jazz" is very much at a point in time, before rock really mattered, when jazz was music to be listened to, not yet music to take up a cause to. My only objection is titling it "Sun Ra-Cry of Jazz" because even though it has footage of Sun Ra, it is not a documentary about Sun Ra or a concert of his performances (though of course footage is shown). Instead it is a documentary about racial oppression and how jazz relates to it, in standing up against it. Of course, our society has progressed beyond that point now and jazz is mostly played sedately for appreciative audiences in expensive nightclubs (with notable exceptions such as Charles Gayle and David S. Ware). To travel back in time and see when jazz was just starting to take up a political cause, "The Cry of Jazz" will be a worthwhile find.

Thanks to the efforts of Atavistic, Ed Bland's historically significant film, THE CRY OF JAZZ has finally made it onto DVD. Adapted from Bland's book, THE FRUITS OF THE DEATH OF JAZZ, and produced by the innovative KHBT Productions, THE CRY OF JAZZ is a fascinating analysis of the state of jazz music in the late 1950s and its relationship to African-American life. No other film of the 1950s probes as deeply into the evils of racism and the appropriation of African-American art forms by white jazz musicians.Bland's film is divided into two, alternating segments. The first features dramatic scenes of a racially-mixed party wherein the subject of jazz comes up in conversation. The white individuals are skeptical of one African-American's claim that "jazz is dead." In the alternating sections, a voice-over discusses the foundation of jazz and what makes the art form African-American by nature. The philosophical musings on the "paradox of jazz" are quite thought-provoking: Bland argues that the form of the music (repeating chorus or head) is restraining while improvisation allows for freedom. This paradoxical element of jazz is elaborated on as Bland relates the form/changes to the "suffering, futureless future" for African-Americans while identifying improvisation/solos as the eternal present and hope for change. Here are a few quotes that are representative of the tone and direction of this controversial film:"The jazzman must be constantly creating, otherwise the dehumanizing portrait of him in American life will triumph""The American Negro produces an oblique musical product and a damaging commentary on the human wastelands of America.""The cry of joy and suffering in jazz is based on the contradiction between freedom and restraint. The feeling of freedom is based on the negro's view of what life in America should be, why the feeling of restraint is based on the actual inhuman situation in which the Negro finds himself."All of the music here is beautifully done by Sun Ra and his Chicago Arkestra of 1958. Although Ra himself is rarely seen in the film, some of the great Arkestra players - like John Gilmore and Julian Priester - are seen up close on the stage.What makes this film historically significant is Bland's overt commentary on blatant racism and his clear condemnation of whites who appropriate jazz music without truly understanding the art form.