BBC Documentaries

Blue Note: A Story of Modern Jazz (2015x154)

: 30, 2015

The story of Blue Note Records, the jazz label that was home to such greats as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. In 1939 Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, who had emigrated from Nazi Germany to New York, 'discovered' an American art form which at the time received little serious attention from mainstream America - jazz music. Without money or connections and speaking little English, they began to record practically unknown musicians, following their own taste and judgement. Today the list of artists who recorded for their label reads like a who's who of jazz. A portrayal of the rise of modern jazz, the film explores a very special friendship in exile and uncompromising artistic excellence. Told by the musicians, friends, associates and fans of the Blue Note recordings from all walks of life, it recreates an era of American cultural history and is widely regarded as one of the best films ever made about jazz.