Jacques Goldstein goes on a quest for a specter, a specter that haunts jazz. Who was Ornette Coleman, the saxophonist and composer to whom we owe the invention of free jazz? If his seminal body of work is now, rightfully so, fully recognized, the man remains deliberately mysterious and enigmatic. The director visits and interviews musicians who owe him a lot. A portrait of Ornette takes shape as these sketches gradually unfold, the man who thought...

A feature-length portrait of renowned percussionist Milford Graves, exploring his kaleidoscopic creativity and relentless curiosity. He is a founding pioneer of avant-garde jazz, and he remains one of the most influential living figures in jazz. Oscillating from present to past and weaving intimate glimpses of the artist₂s complex cosmology with performances from around the globe, this is cinema full of fluidity, polyrhythm, and intensity, embodying...

The award-winning documentary film tells the poignant, untold stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists and their fascinating, history-making journeys from the late 30s to the present day. The many first-hand accounts of the challenges faced by these talented women provide a glimpse into decades of racism and sexism that have existed in America.

The documentary chronicles the life of saxophonist Ronnie Scott, a poor Jewish kid who grew up in 1940s East End, London who became owner of the eponymous nightclub. Musical greats spanning decades played at Ronnie's including Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Nina Simone, Van Morrison, Chet Baker, and Jimi Hendrix, who played there the night of his death. Glorious clips bring to life this legendary...

In February 1972, celebrated jazz musician Lee Morgan was shot dead by his common-law wife Helen during a gig at a club in New York City. The murder sent shockwaves through the jazz community, and the memory of the event still haunts those who knew the Morgans. This feature documentary by filmmaker Kasper Collin is a love letter to two unique personalities and the music that brought them together.

In the 1930's, the fictional Emmet Ray ruled as the second greatest jazz guitarist in the world. But his reputation was eclipsed by his eccentric career moves, hilarious clashes with gangsters and stormy love affairs with two very different women.

Billy Tipton was a transgender jazz musician whose career spanned the 1930s through the 1970s, but this fact wasn't known until after his death in the late 1980s. At the time, his story was framed as that of an ambitious woman merely trying to get ahead in a male-dominated music scene, but by collaborating with trans artists, that story is correctly celebrated as that of a trans culture icon.

Beyond the notes is a journey behind the scenes of Blue Note Records, one of the most important labels in the history of jazz. Founded in New York in 1939 by German Jewish refugees Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, the history of the label goes beyond the landmark recordings, encompassing the pursuit of musical freedom, the conflict between art and commerce, and the idea of music as a transformative and revolutionary force. Includes archival footage,...

Joe Gardner is a middle-school band teacher who gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. A misstep takes him from New York City to The Great Before, a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities before going to Earth. Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, 22, who has never understood the appeal of the human life. As Joe tries to show 22 what's great about life, he may discover...

It is a love letter from director Bertrand Tavernier to the heyday of bebop and to the Black American musicians who found refuge in the smoky underground jazz clubs of 1950s Paris. In a miraculous, sui generis fusion of performer and character that was nominated for an Oscar, legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon plays Dale Turner, a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching...