Ken Burns' JAZZ starts Monday on PBS!

My problem, ultimately comes down to the Burn's formula not working with this particular subject. I found "Civil War" and "Baseball" far more interesting. Jazz, it seems to me, is far to spontaneous, exciting, and creative a subject to be well served by this sanitized format. I tried to like this series, I really did, but I believe historical/social context approach has taken center stage - at the expense of the music. I'm sure there'll be worthwhile segments ahead, but I won't be making a great effort to tune in. But, if it works for you, great.

Interesting? I have never thought of a documentary as being differant than journalism. I always viewed it as a longitudinal examiation of events. "An accurate reporting of history." Certainly,I never thought that during a documentary you could obscure the fact with subjective reporting and call it art. Anyway, I might catch some parts of it. We'll see.

All documents of events are framed within some context. Even so-called objective reporting is colored by the viewpoints of the author. This is just common sense and obvious to any one who has heard the difference in the way The New York Times and Wall Street Journal will cover the same events. People shade their observations of the world around them with their experiences. This isn't a bad thing; without experience we would have no ability to assign meaning to the various stimuli around us. A documentary film director has a responsibility to never falsify as that would become the realm of fiction. However, it is the perrogative of the director to report the events in whatever context he wishes. While the social climate of the United States may seem unimportant to you in it's effect on jazz, clearly Burton disagrees (having read their autobiographies I'd say that Mingus and Miles would side with Burton). We should not let this dismay us! Even in the subjective recount we can compile the truth (whatever that means). As an example, I submit Goya's The Fifth of May. This is a single snapshot in a long war. Moreover, it is clear that Goya has abandoned photo realism in favor of a hypereal presentation of the event. His sympathies are evident, even though he is documenting an event. The beauty is, however, that his presentation is more valuable for understanding the war in ways that a photograph could never be. In my life I have found that History books are filled with lies and revisions. Only in art can we begin to look for some underlying truth. That, by the way, is why I love music.

Great post Robba, I could not agree with you more. Very, very well stated observations.

For anyone that may be interested, the entire 10 DVD set can be purchased online for $114 shipped. Go to www.twec.com and you can acquire the entire 10 DVD set for $114 delivered. Use coupon code HLD22 @ checkout for a $37 savings over the standard retail street price. http://www.twec.com/VideoTITLE.asp?TitleID=V02000076518&Desc1=Jazz%3AA+Film+ By+Ken+Burns&AID=&SubAID=&CO=US&Mode=2