Jazz on a Summer’s Day

Bert Stern’s legendary documentary capturing the music, personalities, and a bygone way of life over the course of a weekend at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival has been given a loving 4K restoration that positively shines. In what is certainly one of the first (if not the very first) concert documentaries ever made, young and old, black and white, hip and square, rich and less rich all join together to celebrate the icons and music of jazz. We see and hear Louis Armstrong, Anita O’Day (the acknowledged highlight of the film), Dinah Washington, Mahalia Jackson, Thelonious Monk and many others. Be prepared to be transported.

‘What editor/director Aram Avakian and fashion photographer-turned-filmmaker Bert Stern captured remains a crystalizing moment in pop culture… This is jazz as the first great integrated American art form… and “Jazz on a Summer's Day” is as quietly vital a political document as it is a gloriously entertaining sprint through a long weekend that changed the music industry forever. Never more vivid or entrancing, the restored “Jazz on a Summer's Day” is a time capsule, yes, but it's also a vivid snapshot that makes you feel like you're there.’—Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle