Ellington IS one of the greatest composers that ever lived. If you do your history, and actually do some study you'll come to that realization too! This documentary will be a starting point for many. It merely scratches the surface, but ANYTHING that promotes the music is a good thing. If truth be told, jazz IS the only TRUE original art form, and has never gotten its due. Rock and roll came from jazz, but how many rockers actually know that, or care to actually educate themselves enough to find out? This documentary will be seen by many a young student, and however incorrect or condensed the information, will no doubt result in encouraging children to study music. That's a good thing, as the end result will be a continuance of the great legacy left before them!
In episode 9, the documentary suggests young people were swayed away from jazz in the early 60's by the popularity of the Beetles and rock and roll. An obvious sign of those times, but where are the Beetles now? Nothing against their contribution to rock and roll, but I've yet to observe a single person requesting transcriptions of any of their material. Jazz Lives...The fact is, jazz is the greatest music there is, but it doesn't get its due in America...not then, or now. Japanese and Europeans have greater respect and knowledge of this art form than the average American. Why does it take 40 years after the popularity of an art form to create a documentary about it? Heck, if Mozart or Beethoven were alive when jazz had evolved, they'd have played it too!
Uhhh Ohhh'...I better go now...some of these comments are getting my dander up. Go ahead, rip the documentary to shreds if you will, but if you really want to know about jazz, or music, it'll require more than a documentary to truly educate yourself. Enjoy!
