Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Vocalist Sheila Jordan Dies at 96
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
Trumpeter Lee Morgan (left) is the subject of Kasper Collin’s I Called Him Morgan.
(Photo: Courtesy of Venice Film Festival)
Despite pianist Fred Hersch’s onstage composure, when he plays, there’s always something intensely personal stirring just below the surface.
(Photo: Vincent Soyez)
Ornette Coleman (1930–2015)
(Photo: Courtesy of Atlantic Records)Well, readers: We’re still stuck at home, figuring out ways to stay sane and remain connected to the outside world. But when the day’s over, here are 10 more jazzworld movies to take in, each suggested to DownBeat through social media. Our initial post recommending movies to binge during the pandemic is here. Please keep the suggestions coming—we’re all gonna need ’em to get through these challenging times. DB
• A Great Day in Harlem (Amazon)
Art Kane’s photo is one of the best known images of jazzworld players. But Jean Bach’s documentary, detailing how it all come together, is just as fascinating.
• The Ballad of Fred Hersch (Vimeo)
The film follows the pianist’s life as it moves through health issues and bandmates.
• Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes (Amazon)
Blue Note Records arguably is one of the most iconic record labels in music history. And now, the label is the focus of Blue Note Records: Beyond The Notes, a documentary directed by Sophie Huber, which premiered in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018.
• I Called Him Morgan (Netflix)
It’s likely that you know how this ends (not well). But this film charting the brief life and career of trumpeter Lee Morgan is still a fascinating examination of what went wrong, and it’s done through the use of surprising narration.
• Jackie McLean on Mars (YouTube)
Ken Levis’ 1979 film finds Jackie McLean talking about education and gigging, what he saw on the scene and the society that surrounded it.
• Miles Ahead (Amazon)
Don Cheadle is a national treasure—and a pretty big Miles Davis fan (he talks to Marc Maron about music on a recent episode of WTF). Cheadle wrote, directed and starred in this 2015 biopic.
• Mingus: Charlie Mingus 1968 (Vimeo)
One of the genre’s most important composers has a camera trained on him during the eviction process.
• Ornette: Made in America (Amazon)
Independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke used a nonlinear approach to get at the musical world of Ornette Coleman.
• Charlie Haden: Rambling Boy (Vimeo)
Family and colleagues from the roots and jazz worlds figure into this 2009 documentary around the vaunted bassist.
• Space Is the Place (YouTube)
This definitely isn’t a concert film. Instead, Space Is the Place is a sci-fi trip through the East Bay during the 1970s with Sun Ra in the lead.
• Thelonious Monk: American Composer (YouTube)
A combination of archival footage and lions of the genre discussing Monk, this film is basically a love letter to a unique bandleader, pianist and composer.
Jordan was a dyed-in-the-wool bebopper whose formative musical experiences were with Charlie Parker.
Aug 12, 2025 10:24 AM
Sheila Jordan, a vocalist who was celebrated for her scatting and lyric-improvising abilities, died Aug. 11 at her home…
“I don’t guess I’m going to excite you; I know I’m going to excite you,” Palmieri said in an August 1994 DownBeat feature.
Aug 12, 2025 10:33 AM
Famed Latin jazz composer, bandleader and pianist Eddie Palmieri passed away in his New Jersey home on Aug. 6. He was…
“What I got from Percy was the dignity of playing the bass,” Buster Williams said of Percy Heath.
Aug 26, 2025 1:53 PM
Buster Williams, who at the age of 83 has been on the scene for 65 years, had never done a Blindfold Test. The first…
Don and Maureen Sickler serve as the keepers of engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s flame at Van Gelder Studio, perhaps the most famous recording studio in jazz history.
Sep 3, 2025 12:02 PM
On the last Sunday of 2024, in the control room of Van Gelder Studio, Don and Maureen Sickler, co-owners since Rudy Van…
The Free Slave, Cosmos Nucleus and Sunset To Dawn: three classic Muse albums being reissued this fall by Timer Traveler Recordings.
Aug 26, 2025 1:32 PM
Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler…
