10th edition Jazz on Film

The Museum of Fine Arts presents the return of its 10th edition of Jazz on Film, showcasing three weekends of exploring music, film, and culture. Organized by Peter Lucas, Odds Against Tomorrow starring Harry Belafonte, Passing Through by Horace Tapscott’s Pan African People's Arkestra, and various other documentaries celebrating the various intersections of jazz and cinema are to be featured.

Odds Against Tomorrow
Directed by Robert Wise
(USA, 1959, 95 minutes, 35mm)
Saturdays, June 4 & 18, 7:00 p.m.
Robert Wise’s noir thriller stars Harry Belafonte and was produced by Belafonte’s HarBel Productions. To pull off a robbery, a former policeman recruits the unlikely partners of a gambling nightclub entertainer and a racist ex-con. A suspenseful crime film and an allegory about racism, greed, and humankind’s propensity for self-destruction, the film’s dynamic musical score composed by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet is performed by his MJQ bandmates (Milt Jackson, Percy Heath, and Connie Kay) with additional musicians including Bill Evans and Jim Hall.

Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise
Directed by Robert Mugge
(USA, 1980, 60 minutes, digital)
Sunday, June 5, 5:00 p.m.
Introduced by musician Damon Choice, member of Sun Ra’s Arkestra in the 1960s and 70s.
Filmed between 1978 and 1980, director Robert Mugge’s documentary portrait of mythic Free Jazz innovator Sun Ra captures performances by Ra and his Arkestra in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. Musical interludes (“Astro Black,” “Spaceship Earth,” “We Travel the Spaceways,” “Requiem for Trevor Johnson”) are intercut with footage of band members at their shared house in Philly’s Germantown neighborhood and Ra standing among Egyptian artifacts while relaying his poetic proclamations about vibrations, myth, and mystery.

The Jazz Baroness
Directed by Hannah Rothschild
(UK, 2009, 83 minutes, digital)
Saturday, June 11, 7:00 p.m.
This fascinating documentary about jazz patron Baroness Pannonica Rothschild, directed by her great-niece, reveals an intriguingly complex figure. A member of the famous Jewish banking family, Nica began a lifelong obsession with New York’s jazz scene beginning in the 1950s and developed a passionate friendship with one of its greatest artists, Thelonious Monk. Though she ended up in the tabloids when Charlie Parker died at her apartment, she long remained a mystery to most. Pannonica’s voice is provided here by actress Helen Mirren in interview and diary excerpts, and jazz musicians including Quincy Jones and Sonny Rollins are interviewed.

Passing Through
Directed by Larry Clark
(USA, 1977, 115 minutes, digital)
Sunday, June 12, 5:00 p.m.
This rarely screened gem of African-American independent cinema is the debut feature of filmmaker Larry Clark–a leading figure in the “L.A. Rebellion” movement (and nephew of jazz pianist Sonny Clark). Passing Through tells the story of Warmack, a jazz musician just released from prison, who refuses to participate in the exploitative music industry and searches for his grandfather and musical/spiritual mentor. The film’s original score is by Houston-born musician/composer Horace Tapscott and his Pan African People's Arkestra, who appear in the film as Warmack’s band. The soundtrack also features songs by Charlie Parker, Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, and others.
Digital presentation courtesy of the UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Round Midnight
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
(USA/France, 1986, 136 minutes, digital)
Friday, June 17, 7:00 p.m.
The acclaimed Round Midnight is a wistful portrait of a jazz musician near the end of his life. Real-life tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon stars as Dale Turner (a character based on musicians Lester Young and Bud Powell), who goes to Paris in the late-1950s to play nightly at the Blue Note club. He is befriended by young French man who idolizes him and tries to steer him away from alcohol abuse. The film’s many jazz performances were recorded live as they are performed – played by Gordon with Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, and others.