Great Performances
Wednesday, August 26, at 8 p.m.
on WKAR-HD and WKAR-23
Recall the Jazz Age on "Harlem in Montmartre"
Inspired by the book Harlem in Montmartre: A Paris Jazz Story (University of California Press) by historian William A. Shack and utilizing rare archival material from both France and America, this remarkable performance-driven Great Performances documentary features the stories and music of such key figures as James Reese Europe, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Bricktop, Eugene Bullard, Django Reinhardt and more.
“The film explores a fascinating, yet often neglected, era in African-American cultural history” says producer Margaret Smilow. “It is a colorful, musical, poignant look at the contributions of a select group of black Americans, without whom the collective voice of jazz music around the world would sound entirely different.”
Executive producer Charles Hobson of Vanguard Documentaries reveals, “The French were the first people in the world to respect jazz as serious art form, and it all began in Paris with the arrival of the Harlem Hellfighters, a military band.”
published: August 26, 2009
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