International Jazz Day (30 April)
The United Nations proclaimed 30 April as International Jazz Day, raising awareness in the international community of the virtues of jazz as a force for peace, unity, dialogue and enhanced cooperation among people, as well as an educational tool.
Which one of these movies featuring jazz is your favorite?
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Which one of these movies featuring jazz is your favorite?
Discuss this poll here.
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- DirectorAnthony MannStarsJames StewartJune AllysonHarry MorganBiography of bandleader Glenn Miller from his beginnings to his death over the English Channel in December 1944.
- DirectorJack WebbStarsJack WebbJanet LeighEdmond O'BrienIn 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.
- DirectorValentine DaviesStarsSteve AllenDonna ReedBerta GerstenThe young Benny Goodman is taught clarinet by a Chicago music professor. He is advised by bandleader Kid Ory to play whichever kind of music he likes best, but to make a living, Benny begins by joining the Ben Pollack traveling band.
- DirectorAllen ReisnerStarsNat 'King' ColeEartha KittCab CallowayThe story of W. C. Handy, the undisputed father of the blues.
- DirectorBert SternAram AvakianStarsLouis ArmstrongMahalia JacksonChuck BerryThe highlights of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival.
- DirectorDon WeisStarsSal MineoSusan KohnerJames DarrenBiopic of famous jazz drummer, Gene Krupa, who becomes a sensation but cannot handle success and life in the fast lane and ends-up broke, struggling with drugs and alcohol.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsPaul NewmanJoanne WoodwardSidney PoitierDuring the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
- DirectorBasil DeardenStarsPatrick McGoohanKeith MichellBetsy BlairThis movie, based on William Shakespeare's Othello, is neatly positioned as a vehicle to showcase some of the best jazz musicians of the period, including Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus.
- DirectorLeo PennStarsSammy Davis Jr.Louis ArmstrongOssie DavisA famous jazz trumpeter finds himself unable to cope with the problems of everyday life.
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLiza MinnelliRobert De NiroLionel StanderAn egotistical saxophonist and a young lounge singer meet on VJ Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long, uphill climb.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsRoy ScheiderJessica LangeAnn ReinkingDirector/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsRichard GereGregory HinesDiane LaneMeet the jazz musicians, dancers, owner, and guests (like gangster Dutch Schultz) of The Cotton Club in 1928-1930s Harlem.
- DirectorJohn JopsonStarsArt BlakeyRon CarterWalter Davis Jr.Considered one of the greatest nights in Jazz history, this film documents the reunion of 30 jazz greats from the Blue Note label filmed at Town Hall in New York City on February 22nd, 1985.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsDexter GordonFrançois CluzetGabrielle HakerA troubled, but talented musician flees the US to escape his problems, finding refuge and support in Paris.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsForest WhitakerDiane VenoraMichael ZelnikerThe troubled life and career of jazz musician Charlie "Bird" Parker.
- DirectorBruce WeberStarsChet BakerCarol BakerVera BakerDocumentary on the life of jazz trumpeter and drug addict Chet Baker. Fascinating series of interviews with friends, family, associates and lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life and some modern-day performances.
- DirectorMike FiggisStarsMelanie GriffithTommy Lee JonesStingA crooked American businessman tries to push the shady influential owner of a nightclub in Newcastle, England to sell him the club. The club's new employee and the American's ex lover fall in love and inadvertently stir the pot.
- DirectorCharlotte ZwerinStarsThelonious MonkJohn ColtraneJimmy ClevelandA documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Sphere Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.
- DirectorRalph ToporoffStarsPeter MacNicolCarl CapotortoTim GuineeJack, Nat, Jerry, Lee and Tommy play jazz in small clubs, but only one of them will reach success.
- DirectorSteve KlovesStarsJeff BridgesMichelle PfeifferBeau BridgesThe lives of two struggling musicians, who happen to be brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonSpike LeeWesley SnipesJazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam makes questionable decisions in his professional and romantic lives.
- DirectorMarc-Henri WajnbergStarsJosse De PauwAnn-Gisel GlassSylvie MilhaudJack has a tenor saxophone and he plays jazz. In the 1950s, in the Belgian harbor town Antwerp, there is not a lot off future for a jazz musician. Jack and his band try to earn a living by playing at weddings and the odd tea party, usually resulting in mixed emotions and hilarious scenes. Most of the time, he earns a living by unloading bananas in the Antwerp docks. Jack is convinced that New York is the place to be for a jazz musician, but where will he get the money for the big trip? And what is more important: a woman or a saxophone?
- DirectorJean BachStarsDizzy GillespieMilt HintonMarian McPartlandThe documentary compiles interviews of all the top jazz musicians in NYC in the year 1958, for a piece in Esquire magazine.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsJennifer Jason LeighMiranda RichardsonHarry BelafonteA pair of kidnappings expose the complex power dynamics within the corrupt and unpredictable workings of 1930s Kansas City.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsSean PennSamantha MortonWoody AllenIn the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsRenée ZellwegerCatherine Zeta-JonesRichard GereTwo death-row murderesses develop a fierce rivalry while competing for publicity, celebrity, and a sleazy lawyer's attention.
- DirectorTono ErrandoJavier MariscalFernando TruebaStarsEman Xor OñaLimara MenesesMario GuerraChico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.
- DirectorRobert BudreauStarsEthan HawkeCarmen EjogoCallum Keith RennieA re-imagining of jazz legend Chet Baker's musical comeback in the late '60s.
- DirectorDon CheadleStarsDon CheadleEmayatzy CorinealdiEwan McGregorAn exploration of the life and music of Miles Davis.
- DirectorJohn ScheinfeldStarsDenzel WashingtonReggie WorkmanRavi ColtraneAn exploration of the global power and impact of the music of John Coltrane where the passions, experiences and forces that shaped his life and revolutionary sounds are revealed.
- DirectorKasper CollinStarsLee MorganHelen MorganWayne ShorterAn exploration of the relationship between jazz trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who was implicated in his murder in 1972.
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsRyan GoslingEmma StoneRosemarie DeWittWhile navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist and an actress fall in love while attempting to reconcile their aspirations for the future.
- DirectorSophie HuberStarsRobert GlasperAmbrose AkinmusireMarcus StricklandA revelatory, thrilling and emotional journey behind the scenes of Blue Note Records, the pioneering label that gave voice to some of the finest jazz artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.