JazzMF

This installment in the four-part Jazz in America series was filmed at Blues Alley in Washington, DC on March 2, 1981. It’s a nice hour-long set, without any introduction, historical context, or commentary. The band is Roach’s quartet with Cecil Bridgewater (t), Odean Pope (ts), and Calvin Hill (b), all of whom are in top form.

The other shows in the Jazz in America series, which aired on PBS in September 1983 (filmed in February-March 1981) are: Dizzy’s Dream Band at Lincoln Center in New York City, Gerry Mulligan at Eric’s in Chicago, and Dizzy Gillespie at Concerts by the Sea in Redondo Beach.

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This brief promotional film features footage of guitarist and vocalist Bill Harris as a member of The Clovers; giving a solo performing at his DC club Pigfoot; as well as a feature on a mid-1970s installment of the WTTG-TV show Panorama, introduced by host Maury Povich. There is also earlier (1960s?) footage that I have not been able to trace as yet. Harris died within a year of this film’s production, but he is seen performing with the D.C. Youth Orchestra in Cramton Audtorium at a concert from January 24, 1988.

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