Seriously? Charlie Christian not on Video?

[dortmundjazzguitar]

it seems that american media went out of their way to not show any meaningful jazz on tv, especially in the 60s. without the european networks we would have basically nothing. almost no wes, no jazz messengers, no monk, no bud powell, no grant green, no trane, etc pp. there's no footage from people like hank mobley, clifford brown, tina brooks, sonny clark, willis jackson, etc. mainstream media was off limits for black people.

[henryrobinett]

I'm surprised that people are surprised. It's not like video was prevalent in the 30s. This is the 30s! And a black musician who wasn't Armstrong or even Duke. Few enough videos of Duke from the 30s, though of course there are some.

[wintermoon]

it seems that american media went out of their way to not show any meaningful jazz on tv, especially in the 60s. without the european networks we would have basically nothing. almost no wes, no jazz messengers, no monk, no bud powell, no grant green, no trane, etc pp. there's no footage from people like hank mobley, clifford brown, tina brooks, sonny clark, willis jackson, etc. mainstream media was off limits for black people.

well, there's this....

[Nate Miller]

it seems that american media went out of their way to not show any meaningful jazz on tv, especially in the 60s. without the european networks we would have basically nothing. almost no wes, no jazz messengers, no monk, no bud powell, no grant green, no trane, etc pp. there's no footage from people like hank mobley, clifford brown, tina brooks, sonny clark, willis jackson, etc. mainstream media was off limits for black people.

you sound like there was some sort of conspiracy. Jazz in the 60s couldn't hold a candle to the folk revival, Motown, and the British invasion.

jazz just wasn't as popular as any of the pop music going on then

I mean, Dianna Ross and the Supreams sure as hell were on the Ed Sullivan show a lot back then

remember that LBJ signed the Civil Right legislation well after the British Invasion. So judging society of that time by today's standards isn't being fair. And back when there were only 3 TV stations, none of them broadcasting 24/7, there just was just less stuff getting recorded in general. This everybody videoing everything is very recent, actually.

[Dennis D]

I'm surprised that people are surprised. It's not like video was prevalent in the 30s. This is the 30s! And a black musician who wasn't Armstrong or even Duke. Few enough videos of Duke from the 30s, though of course there are some.

OR -- fast forward * thirty years * and even more. How many vid's exist of Howard Roberts or Johnny Smith ? Go to YT and so far you can count them on one hand.


Fortunately for us, at least there's more Wes Montgomery vid's.

[klk]

there may be newsreel footage somewhere, but lots of it was lost. the medium isn't stable-- highly flammable to the point of being dangerous, for a start. there were basically five important newsreel companies, so it itsn't like after television, where each little town could have its own station or two with local shows. of course, few of those stations kept much less archived their old footage, often reusing or dumping it, so even researching 1950s or 1960s local television can be super frustrating even for professionals.

chunks of the newsreel footage are periodically digitized-- universal, for instance, uploaded a bunch of old reels to youtube awhile back.

here's the best quick way into searching north american digitized collections that isn't behind a paywall:

Research - Moving Image Source

but that's just for chasing down stuff already digitized, which probably represents a fraction of the existing total.

[henryrobinett]

I'm not so concerned about that. I'm bemoaning that there aren't more Charlie Parker videos.

[Stuart Elliott]

Before blanket over-generalizations, we should remember programs like the 1957 Sound of Jazz. (BTW, the LP/CD is not a recorded version of the TV program.)

In the 1960s, there were programs like Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual and Steve Allen's Jazz Scene USA. Before that there were "soundies" from the 1940s, and various syndicated programs that included jazz and r&b performers.

In one of Dan Morgenstern's books there is an essay which discusses jazz on film and television.

[grahambop]

you sound like there was some sort of conspiracy. Jazz in the 60s couldn't hold a candle to the folk revival, Motown, and the British invasion.

jazz just wasn't as popular as any of the pop music going on then

I mean, Dianna Ross and the Supreams sure as hell were on the Ed Sullivan show a lot back then

remember that LBJ signed the Civil Right legislation well after the British Invasion. So judging society of that time by today's standards isn't being fair. And back when there were only 3 TV stations, none of them broadcasting 24/7, there just was just less stuff getting recorded in general. This everybody videoing everything is very recent, actually.

Dortmundjazzguitar has a point. The European TV stations were mostly state-subsidised, so they had a certain cultural remit to show music outside the pop mainstream. That's why most of the Jazz Icons DVDs have been sourced from European TV film or tapes.

The U.S. stations were far more commercially driven, with advertising income, so they featured a lot less jazz.

It actually says this in some of the Jazz Icons DVD booklets (at least the ones I have).

[princeplanet]

it seems that american media went out of their way to not show any meaningful jazz on tv, especially in the 60s. without the european networks we would have basically nothing. almost no wes, no jazz messengers, no monk, no bud powell, no grant green, no trane, etc pp. there's no footage from people like hank mobley, clifford brown, tina brooks, sonny clark, willis jackson, etc. mainstream media was off limits for black people.

Tina Brooks! This is exceptionally rare. Poor Tina, gets blown away here by Fathead on his only TV or video appearance ever. Very shy, very humble but make no mistake, Tina is the coolest ! I have his 4 blue note albums, 3 of which were not released while he was alive. Like a drier, more sinewy version of Hank Mobley. I love his tone and lines. He was once described in some liner note that he sounded as if he "hated every note that he played"!

But please don't judge him by this clip. History can be so unkind...

[vinlander]

Really a bummer considering there are old footages of antique players like this one

[dougnham]

remember that its reported that back then racial prejudice was still prevalent in America and a lot of coloured musicians would rarely be put on the sport-light visually, no matter how good they were, this probably explains why there is no video/film featuring Charlie Christian now, in my opinion CC was Goodman's best guitarist, ironically Goodman only appears with Caucasian guitarists on his moving/live videos/films. To front a black man back then would be committing suicide commercially.

[robertoart]

remember that its reported that back then racial prejudice was still prevalent in America and a lot of coloured musicians would rarely be put on the sport-light visually, no matter how good they were, this probably explains why there is no video/film featuring Charlie Christian now, in my opinion CC was Goodman's best guitarist, ironically Goodman only appears with Caucasian guitarists on his moving/live videos/films. To front a black man back then would be committing suicide commercially.

Yep. And they put Tal Farlow in Blackface. Sadly Tal must have been naive enough to do it. Masters like Charlie Christian lived on the fringes both professionally and in terms of human rights. Charlie Christian. Hardship would have contributed to his early death. It was only because he was so unique and so gifted that he got to play with Goodman in the first place probably. Barney Kessel met and knew him though, so White guitar players must have known of him very well.

[robertoart]

it seems that american media went out of their way to not show any meaningful jazz on tv, especially in the 60s. without the european networks we would have basically nothing. almost no wes, no jazz messengers, no monk, no bud powell, no grant green, no trane, etc pp. there's no footage from people like hank mobley, clifford brown, tina brooks, sonny clark, willis jackson, etc. mainstream media was off limits for black people.

This is so true. Apart from a few of those shows mentioned upthread, it was Europe (and especially France), that have given a film legacy to all these magnificent artists you mention. The recently discovered Grant Green footage is so great to know of. And of course, the beautifully filmed performances of Wes from his European tour is priceless.

[wintermoon]

Yep. And they put Tal Farlow in Blackface. Sadly Tal must have been naive enough to do it. Masters like Charlie Christian lived on the fringes both professionally and in terms of human rights. Charlie Christian. Hardship would have contributed to his early death. It was only because he was so unique and so gifted that he got to play with Goodman in the first place probably. Barney Kessel met and knew him though, so White guitar players must have known of him very well.

I wasn't aware that Tal was put in blackface.
Kessel said he had his hands stained for the Gjon Mili film 'Jammin'The Blues'
I wonder if Christian wasn't filmed because he was black, why were Hamp and Teddy Wilson?

[OldGuitarPlayer]

I think part of the problem is that CC really only had a couple of features with the full band. The vast majority of his recorded output was with the sextet or in jam sessions, where video would be very unlikely.

I believe this to be a correct assessment of the actual situation. Also as already been stated the racial divide in the USA was in full force at that time and by no means did bands integrate for public appearances unless it was for novelty purposes. Goodman was a pioneer in that sense having black musicians in his sextet. Lionel Hampton was also one of his sextet players but he became a famous soloist in his own right.

[sgcim]

In tribute to CC, I'm going to be playing "Solo Flight" with a swing big band at a concert in the park/boardwalk area at Rye Playland, in Rye, NY, this Friday at 7:30pm, July 29th, the 100th birthday of CC according to Wikipedia.

I'm sorry, but I will not be appearing in blackface!

[campusfive]

Here is a mash-up of video and photos from 1938. Goodman had a rhythm guitarist. I just wonder if any footage was shot when CC was in the group. BG played some big venues, and after 1938 Carnegie Hall Goodman and jazz became mainstream and got lots of attention. Surely CC is hiding in some newsreel vault somewhere!!!

That would be Allan Reuss in the Carnegie Hall clip, as well as Benny's other 30's movie appearances, 1937's "Hollywood Hotel" and 1936's... ah crap I can't remember the title, but they play "Bugle Call Rag" with a great Busby Berkeley-type staging, and I know Reuss has a white-pickguard Epi Deluxe in it.

Anyway, Benny became less popular following the ascendancy of rivals like Artie Shaw and Glen Miller in 1938-1939, and with the departures of most of his now famous sidemen in 1938. Benny wouldn't be in a movie again until 1942's "Stage Door Canteen" where they played "Why Don't You Do Right?" with Peggy Lee singing.

Sadly, I really think it's unlikely, though clearly not impossible, that there will be no video of CC playing found, which is real bummer. At least there's 4 full CD's worth of his playing with the BG Sextet (the 4-CD box set on Columbia), as well as another 4 discs of airchecks (on Definitive Records), not to mention another 10 tracks or so with Lionel Hampton, and Edmond Hall, and others. At least it wasn't like trying find recordings of Snoozer Quinn....

[campusfive]

In tribute to CC, I'm going to be playing "Solo Flight" with a swing big band at a concert in the park/boardwalk area at Rye Playland, in Rye, NY, this Friday at 7:30pm, July 29th, the 100th birthday of CC according to Wikipedia.

I'm also doing playing a Charlie Christian tribute show on Friday 7/29, for anybody in the Los Angeles-area.
Details here at the facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1202966519776658/



We've got my Grand Slam Sextet (with vibes and clarinet for that full-BG sextet experience), and will be joined by special guest guitarist Nick Rossi from San Francisco, as well as by members of my Campus Five, so we can recreate the later BG-sextet tunes as well. It's gonna be a great night!

I'm also gonna be making a series of tribute videos this week. Here's one for "Flying Home":

Cheers!

[KirkP]

NPR's Fresh Air recently did a nice piece on Charlie Christian. It includes some tracks I haven't heard before.
http://www.npr.org/2016/07/26/487478...rlie-christian