EBBA JAHN RISING TONES CROSS (1984)

Director: Ebba Jahn

Year: 1984

Time: 112 mins

Music

Peter Kowald Quintet

Peter Kowald Trio

John Zorn & Wayne Horvitz

Billy Bang's Forbidden Planet

William Parker & Patricia Nicholson Ensemble

Charles Tyler Quintet

Don Cherry & The Sound Unity Orchestra

Jemeel Moondoc Sextet

Irène Schweizer Trio

Peter Brotzman Ensemble

[see comments for details]

Eye of Sound: It may sound difficult to believe it, but most of the artists listed above were once striving for recognition in the jazz scene and fighting for sheer survival. Ebba Jahn's Rising Tone Cross captures a moment when these artists were just starting to create a "scene", when their sparkling creativity was not yet comforted by certainty and success. More interestingly, perhaps, the film deals with issues of class and race and with the differences between the social contexts of improvised music in Europe and America, challenging many assumptions about musicianship, career building, and the possibilities for an artistic livelihood. What really distinguishes this from other "jazz films", however, is the visual and narrative focus on New York as the metaphorical force behind the musician's creative burst, portraying it as a dirty, poor, rough and lively city not yet tamed by shinny images of  success and bourgeois comfort.

- links removed by request -

JOELLE LÉANDRE STONE QUARTET LIVE IN MANS 2009

Director: Jean-Marc Birraux

Year: 2009

Time: 54 mins

Music

Joelle Léandre - Bass

Marilyn Crispell - Paino

Roy Campbell - Trumpets, Flute

Carlos Zíngaro - Violin

Eye of Sound: There is something different about Léandre's projects, something that distinguishes it from most strands of improv. Though "accepted" in some modern jazz circles, her music seems to constantly avoid coming into close contact with the genre's conventions. This exciting concert recorded last year in Mans for the Europa Jazz Festival seems to prove the point. The quartet floats around a "chamber music" setting and despite the intense energy of the instrumentation, it rarely seems to border on jazz territory. The alternation between solo, duo, trio and quartet formations creates different landscapes, allowing multiple contrasting possibilities. Most importantly, this a spacious performance, in that each instrument is allowed enough room to breathe on its own without intruding on one another's acoustic space. As George Lewis once said, a musician who forgets to listen is just as good as a blind painter.

http://rapidshare.com/files/387811227/leandre.avi.001

http://rapidshare.com/files/387811209/leandre.avi.002

http://rapidshare.com/files/387811256/leandre.avi.003

http://rapidshare.com/files/387811302/leandre.avi.004

http://rapidshare.com/files/387811232/leandre.avi.005