Duke Ellington

Rare musical performances: Django Reinhardt with Stéphane Grapelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France in Jazz hot (1939), Duke Ellington and the Cotton Club Orchestra featured in Black and tan (1929), Louis Armstrong in Copenhagen, 1934, and a 1929 performance from the Utica Jubilee Singers.

A collection of jazz short films.

Two American jazz musicians living in Paris fall in love with two girls on vacation from America. They must decide whether to stay in Paris for their music careers, or move back to America for love.

A small-town Michigan lawyer takes on a difficult case: that of a young Army lieutenant accused of murdering the local tavern owner who he believes raped his wife. A gripping, envelope-pushing courtroom drama, Anatomy of a murder was groundbreaking for the frankness of its discussion of sex. More than anything else, it is a striking depiction of the power of words. With its outstanding supporting cast and influential jazz score by Duke Ellington,...

Tony Palmer introduces his landmark series.

A made-for-TV musical revue, compiled from soundies and film and TV performances by jazz greats from the 1930s to the 1950s.