Educational Media Reviews Online

This film, designed as a part of an Introduction to Music Series, illustrates the story of jazz through the eyes of tour guide, John McCusker, who takes the viewer on his New Orleans “Cradle of Jazz” tour. There are over 20 selections throughout the film digitally recreated from 78 rpm recordings that play while McCusker visits the places where jazz was first played, talks about how jazz music came together, and gives more detailed information about the early pioneers in jazz. The viewer sees the places where the musicians lived and learns about the culture that produced “America’s original music.” Performers and composers include Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong, and Charles Bolden. Filmed as a documentary during the French Quarter Jazz festival and the Mardi Gras Festival, there are alternating scenes with Mardi Gras parade participants enjoying the music of many of the great jazz performers and composers discussed in the film.

Although the historic value of the film is excellent, the sequence of tour sites with additional information interspersed provides a more fragmented view of the discussion. In addition, in the scenes showing the tourists on the bus with McCusker describing the sites, the film quality seems more like a home video by a novice and the audio of the narration is sometimes unclear. However, the quality of the musical selections is excellent and the number of selections included gives a good range to help viewers appreciate jazz music. The film includes subtitles for all musical selections with a complete listing of all cited performances during the ending credits. Viewer discretion advised for audiences younger than college adults because of the explicit candid views of persons in the Mardi Gras parades and celebration activities. Recommended for music and popular culture collections when needed as supplementary information for a discussion of jazz and for visual depiction of the Mardi Gras celebration.