Jazz on a Summer's Day Blu-ray Review

Review of the Blu-ray release for Sight & Sound, March-April 2023. – EK

Jazz on a Summer's Day (Bert Stern, 1959)

The annual Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island received its only movie treatment thanks to Bert Stern, a photographer famous for his portraits of female stars and models – which should explain the film's fascination with fashion and the idea of the "cool". Here the attitude of the performer – the magnificent detachment of Thelonious Monk, the movie-star glamour of Anita O'Day – is as important as the sound. Equally instrumental in the direction (though, to his dismay, uncredited) and responsible for editing the film was Aram Avakian, who constructs the rapport between the performers and the festival audience, both captured at graceful ease.

The film follows an imaginary day at the festival, from morning until midnight, freely cutting away between the live acts to parties and indoor rehearsals. Featuring a diverse range of jazz stylists including Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Giuffre, Sonny Stitt, Chico Hamilton and Gerry Mulligan, it also showcases rhythm and blues music (Big Maybelle), gospel (Mahalia Jackson) and the newly arrived rock 'n' roll (Chuck Berry).

A low-budget affair, and probably shot with only two cameras, it pushes the idea of the jazz film a few giant steps ahead. Though the title credits and certain other scenes recall abstract jazz films by Norman McLaren and Albert Pierru, the focus on capturing live performances means it is free from the constraints of matching images with pre-recorded music. While the musicians stretch their popular tunes, Stern, apparently not too familiar with this world, follows every performance with a sense of wonder. 

If jazz is the sound of surprise, Jazz on a Summer's Day is a confirmation that everybody – musicians, filmmakers and audience alike – can be inspired by its joyous unpredictability.

* * *

Details: Bert Stern; US 1959; Kino Lorber (US), Carlotta (France); region-free Blu-ray; 83 minutes; 1.33:1. Extras: documentary Bert Stern: Original Madman (Shannah Laumeister Stern, 2011), image galleries, short interview with Stern, restoration trailer.

Disc: Having screened a pristine 35mm print of this before, I must say this 4K scan of the original camera negative is totally faithful to the breezy colours of the original.