Recommended Jazz DVDs

The famed trumpeter pays homage to his hometown of New Orleans in Congo Square, a suite celebrating the French Quarter marketplace where African slaves were allowed to perform their own music. Marsalis is joined by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in this dynamic two-hour performance filmed live at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Congo Square, a ground-breaking new work written by Wynton Marsalis with Ghanaian drum master Yacub Addy, debuted in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans in the spring of 2006 before a wildly enthusiastic audience in Congo Square (inside Louis Armstrong Park). Congo Square was the only place in America where African slaves were allowed to perform their own music and dance in the 1700s-1800s, establishing the roots of American music. Now this joyful and collaborative testament to the power of Congo Square—performed by two world-class ensembles—is available on two exquisitely recorded CDs. Enjoy this confluence of cultures and traditions converging to make a uniquely contemporary musical statement about the wellspring of jazz for those with ears to hear. Check out the Congo Square DVD from live concert at Montreal Jazz Festival)

John Coltrane is easily one of the key innovators, visionaries, and virtuosos of American Jazz. Coltrane's spiritually influenced and challenging music not only turned the jazz world upside down in the 1960s, but directly impacted all modern music for decades to follow. It is this relationship between music and spirituality that is the core of John Coltrane: The World According to John Coltrane. Produced with his wife's cooperation, The World According to John Coltrane is truly a heartfelt documentary on his work and influence on the music community. The bulk of the 60-minute documentary focuses on Coltrane's eastern spirituality/musical direction in the 1960s as told through the voices of friends, fellow musicians, and admirers. Perhaps the most impressive aspects of this documentary are its live footage clips. Listening to Coltrane is extremely powerful, but watching him pour his heart and soul into his sax is absolutely awe-inspiring. These clips will leave you yearning to see the entire performances, unedited. Unfortunately, this is the DVD's one fault; no extras of the performances in their entirety. Oh well. A fan can dream.

Diana Krall has had a long time fascination with bossa nova, a type of music, which perfectly suits her sophisticated yet sensual style. This culminated in her new studio album "Quiet Nights" (released by Verve in spring 2009) and in this stunning concert filmed in the home of the bossa nova, Rio de Janeiro, in November 2008. Accompanied by her band and an orchestra, Diana Krall delivers a superb set of standards in true bossa nova style but clearly bearing her unique stamp. This DVD captures Diana Krall at her scintillating best. TRACK LISTING: 1) I Love Being Here With You 2) Let's Fall In Love 3) Where Or When 4) Too Marvellous For Words 5) I've Grown Accustomed To His Face 6) Walk On By 7) Frim Fram Sauce 8) Cheek To Cheek 9) You're My Thrill 10) Let's Face The Music And Dance 11) Every Time We Say Goodbye 12) So Nice 13) Quiet Nights 14) Este Seu Olhar 15) The Boy From Ipanema 16) I Don't Know Enough About You 17) S'Wonderful 18) Exactly Like You BONUS FEATURES: "Quiet Conversations" - interviews with Diana and her band in Rio de Janeiro. "The Boy From Ipanema" - promotional film for the track from her new album filmed in Rio.

Bertrand Tavernier's 'Round Midnight (1986) takes as its source the rich social and musical lives of some of the finest, most volatile jazz legends of the be-bop era. Dale Turner, as played by saxophonist Dexter Gordon, combines the addictions of Charlie Parker, the pork-pie hat style of Lester Young, and the cantankerous personality of Thelonius Monk. In fact, he stands in for his entire musical style, playing with an unusual rhythm that dances around the beat. The film takes place in Paris in the fifties, a time when many jazz musicians were flocking to France seeking better treatment and more appreciative audiences. In Paris Dale meets Francis (François Cluzet, who looks like a cross between Ed Norton and Sean Penn). Francis has been a big fan of Dale's for much of his life and attributes some of his greatest inspirations to Dale's music. When Francis meets Dale, older and a bit rundown, he decides to return the favor by taking Dale into his home and helping him get back on his feet. What follows is a sweet, if slow-paced, film about two men coming together in common appreciation of each other and the music that introduced them.

Recorded live at the Paris Olympia on December 1, 2001, Krall's classic style blends equal parts artistic vision, hard work and determination. The British Columbia native began playing piano at the age of four and now has five stunning albums behind her. She made her debut with the critically acclaimed Only Trust Your Heart and the album topped the Billboard jazz charts for the most of 1998, earning Krall a Grammy nomination. She went on to win a Best Jazz Vocal Performance Grammy for 1999's platinum-selling When I Look in Your Eyes and became the first jazz artist in 25 years to be nominated in the Album of the Year category. Does it get any better than this? Canadian torch singer and pianist Diana Krall is in perfect form in this two-hour Paris concert, recorded in December 2001 shortly after the release of her CD The Look of Love. In her band, guitarist Anthony Wilson and bassist John Clayton get the lion's share of attention, but the entire ensemble (including lush strings from the Paris Symphony Orchestra) provides flawless support for Krall, whose skill on a Steinway is as impressive as her smoky interpretations of vintage standards and ballads. Inspired by guest conductor-arranger Claus Ogerman, Krall can surprise with subtleties (like a delicious hint of the Beatles' "Day Tripper" in her closing of "All or Nothing"), or glide into solos with a master's flair. Matching the music beat for beat, the camera coverage and editing are intimate without being obtrusive, making this a bit of jazz heaven here on earth.

The DVD version of Jazz offers a "music information" mode, in which the title of a song is displayed when it is played in the film. Pressing the Title button jumps the viewer out of the film to a screen that lists that song's composer, performers (including all band members, not just the headliner), year of recording, and album and record company information when applicable (and no, all the credits are not to the series' own CDs). Another click of the Title button returns the viewer to the film. When music information mode is turned off, song titles are not displayed but the Title button still accesses the song credits. Each DVD's scene-selection menu lists only the 10 subchapters, but in fact each song is individually tracked (50 to 80 tracks per DVD). The DVD set also includes three full-length performances not seen in the film: Louis Armstrong's "I Cover the Waterfront" from 1933, Duke Ellington's "C Jam Blues" from 1942, and Miles Davis's "New Rhumba" from 1959. Finally, the 16-minute documentary "Making of Jazz" provides insight into the production of the film. Ken Burns and producer Lynn Novick (who both admit their lack of musical training) discuss their process of researching and collecting materials, Wynton Marsalis mentions how he suggested to Burns the topic of jazz after the trumpeter became a fan of The Civil War, and narrator Keith David is shown recording his lines. --David Horiuchi