The Adventure

>> FOR OVER A DECADE, GENERAL MOTORS HAS BEEN THE SOLE CORPORATE SPONSOR OF THE FILMS OF KEN BURNS.

WE'RE PROUD OF OUR ASSOCIATION WITH KEN BURNS AND PBS.

IT'S ALL PART OF GM's COMMITMENT TO SHARE THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE THROUGH QUALITY TELEVISION PROGRAMMING.

MAJOR SUPPORT WAS ALSO PROVIDED BY THE PARK FOUNDATION, DEDICATED TO EDUCATION AND QUALITY TELEVISION.

SUPPORTING PERFORMING ARTISTS WITH THE CREATION AND PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF THEIR WORK.

LOUISIANA, HOME OF THE SOUNDS OF ZYDECO, CAJUN, GOSPEL, AND, OF COURSE, JAZZ.

EXPANDING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD.

A FAMILY FOUNDATION.

AND BY THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM... [GIANT STEPSPLAYING] Branford Marsalis: A LOT OF YOUNGER MUSICIANS WERE HANGING AROUND WITH ELVIN JONES, AND THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT, "MAN, YOU KNOW, WE HEAR THE INTENSITY THAT YOU GUYS PLAYED "WHEN YOU WERE PLAYING WITH COLTRANE.

"WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

HOW DO YOU, LIKE, PLAY WITH THAT KIND OF INTENSITY?"

AND ELVIN LOOKS AT THEM AND SAYS, "YOU GOT TO BE WILLING TO DIE WITH THE áááááááááááá."

AND THEN THEY STARTED LAUGHING LIKE KIDS DO WAITING FOR THE PUNCHLINE, AND THEN THEY REALIZE SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT, HE WAS SERIOUS.

HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW THAT ARE WILLING TO DIE PERIOD, DIE WITH ANYBODY?

AND WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THOSE RECORDS, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE.

I MEAN, THAT THEY WOULD DIE FOR EACH OTHER.

CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY GENERAL MOTORS [CHRONOLOGYPLAYING] Narrator: IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED CHARLIE PARKER'S DEATH, AMERICANS FOUND THEMSELVES LIVING IN AN ANXIOUS GOLDEN AGE.

THEY SAW THE REELECTION OF THE OLDEST PRESIDENT IN THEIR HISTORY AND THE ELECTION OF THE YOUNGEST.

THE BROOKLYN DODGERS LEFT NEW YORK FOR LOS ANGELES, SCIENCE CONQUERED POLIO, AND THE SOVIETS SENT THE FIRST SATELLITE HURTLING INTO SPACE.

BLACK AMERICANS INTENSIFIED THEIR DEMAND FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, INSISTING ON INTEGRATED SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC FACILITIES, REFUSING TO MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE BUS.

JAZZ OF EVERY KIND SURVIVED, BUT IT STRUGGLED TO FIND AN AUDIENCE.

BENNY GOODMAN PLAYED JAZZ ONLY OCCASIONALLY NOW, PREFERRING TO PERFORM CLASSICAL MUSIC.

DUKE ELLINGTON AND COUNT BASIE AND DIZZY GILLESPIE WERE STILL ON THE ROAD, BUT THEY FOUND WORK HARDER AND HARDER TO COME BY.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG WOULD FALL OUT OF FAVOR WITH MANY BLACK AMERICANS, THEN RISK HIS WHOLE CAREER ON A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE.

MILES DAVIS' BRILLIANT MUSIC AND ARROGANT SELF-CONFIDENCE WOULD MAKE HIM AN ICON FOR YOUNG BLACKS AND WHITES ALIKE, BUT SUCCESS DID LITTLE TO SUBDUE HIS INNER DEMONS.

MEMBERS OF THE "COOL," MOSTLY WHITE WEST COAST SCHOOL CONTINUED TO DO WELL ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES, AND PARTLY IN REACTION TO THEIR POPULARITY, A HARD-DRIVING DRUMMER FROM PITTSBURGH STARTED A GROUP AIMED AT BRINGING JAZZ BACK TO ITS AFRICAN-AMERICAN ROOTS.

MEANWHILE, AGAINST FORMIDABLE ODDS AND IN THE FACE OF WITHERING CRITICISM, A HANDFUL OF YOUNG INNOVATORS WOULD EMERGE.

THEY PUSHED THE BOUNDARIES OF THE MUSIC FAR BEYOND WHERE EVEN PARKER AND THE BEBOPPERS HAD GONE, UNTIL CONVENTIONAL NOTIONS OF RHYTHM AND HARMONY AND AGREED-UPON CHORD SEQUENCES HAD ALL BEEN ABANDONED.

THE MUSIC WAS CHANGING FASTER THAN EVER NOW, BRANCHING OUT IN UNEXPECTED WAYS, BREEDING FACTIONS AND SOMETIMES BITTER QUARRELS ABOUT ARTISTIC FREEDOM AND THE VERY NATURE OF CREATIVITY.

THE DEFINITION OF WHAT WAS JAZZ AND WHAT WAS NOT BEGAN TO BLUR.

IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED CHARLIE PARKER'S DEATH, JAZZ WOULD STRUGGLE TO EMBRACE IT ALL.

Matt Glaser: WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MUSIC, THE REASON WE USE TERMS THAT SOUND VAGUE IS NOT BECAUSE THERE'S ANYTHING VAGUE ABOUT MUSIC, BUT BECAUSE MUSIC EXPRESSES HUMAN EXPERIENCE SO SPECIFICALLY, IN SUCH SPECIFIC WAYS, THAT WHEN YOU ATTEMPT TO FIND LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE THAT, THE WORDS FALL SHORT.

WHAT'S FALLING SHORT IN THAT EQUATION IS LANGUAGE, NOT THE MUSIC.

THE MUSIC EXPRESSES THINGS ABOUT HUMAN EXPERIENCE THAT CANNOT BE EXPRESSED ANY OTHER WAY.

THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT.

[CROWD CHEERING] [PLAYING I GOT A WOMAN] Narrator: IN 1955, A BLIND PERFORMER FROM ALBANY, GEORGIA, NAMED RAY CHARLES DID SOMETHING FEW OTHER ARTISTS HAD EVER DARED TO DO.

♪ WOMAN... ♪ HE BLENDED JAZZ AND BLUES WITH THE SACRED MUSIC OF THE SANCTIFIED CHURCH.

♪ THAT'S BECAUSE ♪ ♪ I GOT A WOMAN ♪ ♪ WAY OVER TOWN ♪ ♪ GOOD TO ME ♪ ♪ YES, I HAVE... ♪ Narrator: SOME DENOUNCED THE RESULT AS BLASPHEMOUS, "DEVIL'S MUSIC," BUT BLACK TEENAGERS FLOCKED TO HEAR IT, AND I GOT A WOMAN SHOT TO THE TOP OF THE RHYTHM AND BLUES CHART.

♪ SHE'S A KIND OF FRIEND INDEED ♪ RAY CHARLES' BRAND OF MUSIC BECAME KNOWN AS "SOUL."

♪ SHE'S GOOD TO ME ♪ ♪ YES, I HAVE ♪ ♪ SHE SAVES HER LOVIN' ♪ ♪ EARLY IN THE MORNIN' ♪ ♪ JUST FOR ME ♪ ♪ OH, YES ♪ ♪ HEY, I GOT A WOMAN ♪ ♪ WAY 'CROSS TOWN... ♪ Narrator: SOME WHITES WERE LISTENING TO SOUL MUSIC, TOO, INCLUDING A ONE-TIME TRUCK DRIVER BORN IN TUPELO, MISSISSIPPI.

♪ I--I--I--I--I'M HER LOVIN' MAN ♪ Narrator: NOW WHITE TEENAGERS HAD A NEW DANCE MUSIC OF THEIR OWN.

THEY CALLED IT ROCK AND ROLL, AND THE AUDIENCE FOR JAZZ, ONCE THE MOST POPULAR MUSIC IN AMERICA, SHRANK STILL FURTHER.

♪ I GOT A WOMAN ♪ ♪ WAY OVER TOWN, THAT'S ♪ ♪ GOOD TO ME ♪ ♪ GOOD TO ME ♪ BUT FOR THOSE WHO STAYED WITH JAZZ, THE MUSIC WOULD NEVER BE MORE THRILLING.

Wynton Marsalis: THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSICIANS WITH DIFFERENT TALENTS.

LIKE, ONE MUSICIAN MIGHT BE ABLE TO REALLY HEAR HARMONY, ANOTHER MUSICIAN MIGHT BE ABLE TO PLAY REALLY FAST, ANOTHER ONE MIGHT HAVE A GREAT SOUND, ANOTHER ONE MIGHT HAVE A TREMENDOUS PERSONALITY THAT'S VERY UNIQUE, ANOTHER ONE MIGHT JUST SWING HARD, AND SOME MUSICIANS' TALENT IS IN KNOWING OTHER PEOPLE, AND THEY CAN PLAY, AND WHEN YOU HEAR THEM PLAY, YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THEIR PLAYING.

OTHER MUSICIANS PLAY, AND YOU HEAR NEUROSIS.

BUT IT'S GREAT, YOU KNOW.

OTHERS PLAY, YOU HEAR TREMENDOUS FEAR, BUT YOU HEAR THEM CONFRONTING IT.

SO IN JAZZ MUSIC, WE HAVE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSICIANS.

AND THE MUSIC IS POWERFUL FOR ANY TYPE OF PERSON.

AND SONNY ROLLINS IS THE TYPE OF MUSICIAN THAT'S CONSTANTLY QUESTIONING HIMSELF.

[ST. THOMASPLAYING] Gary Giddins: SONNY ROLLINS IS A TITAN.

HE HAS THAT EBULLIENCE THAT I ASSOCIATE WITH LOUIS ARMSTRONG, AND I THINK VERY FEW MUSICIANS HAVE THAT.

BUT SONNY IS AN OLD-STYLE MUSICIAN IN THE SENSE THAT HE DISTRUSTS RECORDS.

HE DOESN'T ENJOY RECORDING.

HE BELIEVES THAT RECORDS ARE BASICALLY COMMERCIALS TO BRING PEOPLE INTO THE CONCERTS.

THAT'S WHERE THE MUSIC REALLY TAKES PLACE.

HE'S A LIVE PERFORMER WHO LIKES TO RESPOND TO THE MOMENT.

BUT HE'S SUCH AN HONEST MUSICIAN THAT IF HE'S NOT INSPIRED, HE WON'T SIMPLY PLAY BY ROTE THE WAY MOST MUSICIANS WILL AND TURN OUT A PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE THAT THE AUDIENCE WON'T BE ABLE TO TELL THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG.

NO.

HE'LL RIFF ALL EVENING.

HE'LL GOOF OFF OR PLAY THE SAME TUNE FOR HALF AN HOUR.

I'VE SEEN HIM PLAY THE SAME MELODY STATEMENT FOR 20 MINUTES LIKE HE CAN'T GET OUT OF IT, THERE'S NOTHING HE REALLY WANTS TO PLAY.

BUT YOU CATCH HIM ON AN INSPIRED NIGHT, AND HE'D TEAR THE HAIR OFF YOUR HEAD.

Narrator: IT SEEMED TO MANY CRITICS LOOKING FOR AN HEIR TO CHARLIE PARKER THAT SONNY ROLLINS WAS THE MOST INNOVATIVE AND INFLUENTIAL SAXOPHONE PLAYER IN JAZZ.

HE GREW UP ON THE WEST SIDE OF MANHATTAN, A NEIGHBOR OF THELONIOUS MONK, BUD POWELL, AND THE GREAT COLEMAN HAWKINS, WHOSE BIG AGGRESSIVE TONE HE WOULD INCORPORATE INTO HIS OWN.

IT'S LIKE A LOT OF CATS ARE PRACTICERS, AND THEN THEY PRACTICE, AND THEN THEY COME, AND THEN THEY PLAY BASICALLY WHAT THEY'VE PRACTICED.

SONNY ROLLINS WOULD JUST COME OUT AND PLAY.

AND YOU CAN TELL A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT HE'S PLAYING ARE JUST THINGS THAT POP IN HIS HEAD, IMMEDIATELY, RIGHT THERE.

THE DRUMMER WILL PLAY SOMETHING, HE'LL HEAR IT AND TURN IT AROUND.

HE'S IN THE MOMENT.

Narrator: LIKE SO MANY OTHER ADMIRERS OF CHARLIE PARKER, ROLLINS BECAME ADDICTED TO HEROIN.

BUT UNLIKE MANY, HE ABRUPTLY LEFT NEW YORK AND WORKED AS A DAY LABORER FOR A YEAR TO GET HIMSELF OFF DRUGS.

WHEN HE RETURNED AND BEGAN WORKING WITH THE DRUMMER MAX ROACH, HE SEEMED MORE POWERFUL AND MORE RHYTHMICALLY INVENTIVE THAN EVER.

HIS SOLOS WERE LONG, ENDLESSLY IMAGINATIVE, YET LINKED WITH EVERYTHING THAT HAD GONE BEFORE.

ONE OF ROLLINS' BEST-KNOWN ALBUMS WAS SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS, AND HE SEEMED THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF THAT WORD.

Glaser: PEOPLE HAVE REALLY UNDERESTIMATED THE INTELLECTUAL ACHIEVEMENT OF JAZZ AND WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT THE HUMAN MIND AND HOW CAPACIOUS THE HUMAN MIND IS.

AND FOR ME, SONNY ROLLINS IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THIS.

I WENT TO SEE HIM PLAY A COUPLE YEARS AGO ON THE SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE EASTER SUNDAY.

AND I WENT TO SEE THE LATE SHOW, AND HE STARTED TO PLAY HIS FAVORITE THEME SONG, ST. THOMAS.

HE'S PLAYING, IMPROVISING JUST THE MOST MAGNIFICENT STUFF YOU'VE EVER HEARD.

AT EXACTLY 10 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT, AMIDST HIS SOLOING, HE PLAYS... [SINGING TUNE OF EASTER PARADE] BACK TO ST. THOMAS.

THE PIANO PLAYER CRACKS UP, A FEW PEOPLE CRACK UP.

HE HAD QUOTED... ♪ WITH YOUR EASTER BONNET ♪ ♪ WITH ALL THE FRILLS UPON IT ♪ AT EXACTLY MIDNIGHT, THAT IS, EXACTLY THE TIME IT HAD TURNED INTO EASTER SUNDAY, HE QUOTED EASTER BONNETAFTER PLAYING A SOLO FOR 15 MINUTES.

WHAT KIND OF MIND DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT?

[IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU PLAYING] Narrator: BUT FOR ALL THE SELF-CONFIDENT SWAGGER OF HIS SOUND, SONNY ROLLINS WAS ALWAYS HIS OWN TOUGHEST CRITIC.

IN 1959, THE PRESSURE OF HAVING TO OUTDO HIMSELF EVERY NIGHT BECAME TOO MUCH.

HE STOPPED PERFORMING ALTOGETHER AND BEGAN VENTURING ALONE OUT ONTO THE WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE TO PLAY HIS SAXOPHONE INTO THE WIND.

Wynton Marsalis: HE'S THE TYPE OF MUSICIAN THAT'S ALWAYS REASSESSING HIMSELF.

SO I COULD SEE HOW AT A CERTAIN TIME, HE DIDN'T FEEL HE WAS DEVELOPING TO THE LEVEL THAT HE WANTED TO DEVELOP, SO HE JUST STOPPED PLAYING PUBLICLY AND WENT OUT AND WOULD PRACTICE ON THE BRIDGE.

AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE A ROMANTIC THING, SOMEBODY ON THE BRIDGE WITH A SAXOPHONE.

BUT THE WHOLE CONCEPTION OF ISOLATION AND HAVING TO REALLY CONFRONT THE DRAGON...

WHICH IS THE DRAGON OF MUSIC AND OF PRACTICING YOUR HORN.

AND THEN WHEN HE CAME OFF OF THAT PERIOD OF INTENSE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, HE WAS PLAYING EVEN MORE HORN THAN HE PLAYED BEFORE.

I THINK SONNY ROLLINS WAS ONE OF THE HEIRS TO LOUIS ARMSTRONG WHO UNDERSTOOD THAT PITCHES ARE NOT CENTRALLY IMPORTANT IN JAZZ.

RHYTHM IS.

HE COULD PLAY A SOLO USING ONE PITCH THAT WOULD SWING SO VIOLENTLY YOU COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.

[ROLLINS PLAYING ONE-PITCH SOLO] THERE'S NO END TO WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH RHYTHM.

AND TO FUSE POLYRHYTHM WITH COMPLEX HARMONY IS AN AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT OF JAZZ.

Narrator: ROLLINS RETURNED TO JAZZ IN TRIUMPH, ONLY TO ABANDON IT AGAIN SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED, AS HIS RESTLESS TALENT AND HIS PRIVATE ANXIETY ABOUT ITS WORTH BATTLED FOR HIS HEART AND MIND.

"WE HAVE TO MAKE OURSELVES AS PERFECT AS WE CAN," HE ONCE SAID.

THAT'S A VERY FAMILIAR SCENE-- DUKE ELLINGTON AT HIS PIANO.

AS WE BOTH KNOW, BANDS COME AND GO.

HOW DO YOU ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT YOURS HAS BEEN UP THERE FOR SO LONG, THAT IT'S CONSTANTLY IN DEMAND FOR, WHAT, MORE THAN 30 YEARS NOW, ISN'T IT?

OH, IT'S ABOUT 80% LUCK-- GOOD LUCK, THAT IS.

MY IDEA OF GOOD LUCK IS BEING AT THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME, DOING THE RIGHT THING BEFORE THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

[CARAVANPLAYING] Narrator: DESPITE HIS NEAR-UNIVERSAL FAME, BY THE MID-1950s, DUKE ELLINGTON WAS IN TROUBLE.

SOME OF HIS FINEST MUSICIANS HAD LEFT HIM.

RUMORS FLEW THAT HE COULD NO LONGER AFFORD TO STAY ON THE ROAD.

HE ADMITTED TO A REPORTER THAT, "OUR BAND IS OPERATING AT A LOSS NOW."

IN THE SUMMER OF 1955, HE FOUND HIMSELF PLAYING HIS OLD TUNES FOR AN ICE SHOW AT THE AQUACADE IN FLUSHING, NEW YORK.

THEN IN JULY 1956, THE JAZZ IMPRESARIO GEORGE WEIN INVITED HIM TO APPEAR AT THE THIRD ANNUAL OUTDOOR JAZZ FESTIVAL HELD AT THE TRANQUIL SUMMER RETREAT OF SOME OF AMERICA'S WEALTHIEST FAMILIES-- NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

ELLINGTON SAW THE FESTIVAL AS A CHANCE TO REINVIGORATE HIS CAREER, AND HE DID SOMETHING HE HAD NEVER DONE.

HE GAVE A PEP TALK TO HIS MEN BEFORE THEY WENT ONSTAGE.

Man: THANK YOU.

Narrator: ELLINGTON HAD PUT TOGETHER A PIECE CALLED THE NEWPORT FESTIVAL SUITE.

IT WENT OVER WELL ENOUGH WITH THE AUDIENCE, BUT AS IT CAME TO A CLOSE, PEOPLE BEGAN HEADING FOR THE PARKING LOT.

[DIMINUENDO AND CRESCENDO IN BLUEPLAYING] ELLINGTON CALLED FOR ONE OF HIS OLD STANDBYS, DIMINUENDO AND CRESCENDO IN BLUE.

PEOPLE STOPPED, LISTENED, AND HURRIED BACK TO THEIR SEATS.

THEN TENOR SAXOPHONIST PAUL GONSALVES BEGAN TO PLAY.

George Wein: PEOPLE SAT IN RESERVED SEATS NORMALLY, AND THEY SAT AND WATCHED THE CONCERT, AND ONCE IN A WHILE, THEY'D STAND UP AND CHEER AND GIVE A STANDING OVATION.

BUT A WOMAN STARTED TO DANCE WHEN ELLINGTON HAD PAUL GONSALVES PLAYING HIS TENOR SOLO.

AND DUKE SAW THIS WOMAN DANCE.

EVERYBODY CROWDED AROUND TO SEE THE DANCING OF THIS WOMAN, A BLOND WOMAN FROM NEW BEDFORD.

SHE WAS QUITE ATTRACTIVE.

IT REALLY TOOK HOLD.

AND ELLINGTON SAW THIS THING HAPPENING, AND HE JUST KEPT PAUL GONSALVES PLAYING.

Clark Terry: AND AS IT BEGAN TO BUILD, SOME GORGEOUS, VOLUPTUOUS LADY IN THE AUDIENCE DECIDED THAT SHE WAS BEING MOVED TO THE POINT WHERE SHE COULD NO LONGER CONTAIN HERSELF, SO SHE JUMPED UP ON THE STAGE AND STARTED ALLOWING HERSELF TO BE FLOUNCED AROUND A BIT.

HA HA!

AND ELLINGTON KIND OF ENJOYED THAT, AND IT INSPIRED HIM, AND HE IN TURN INSPIRED THE BAND, AND THE BAND WAS, UH... SAM WOODYARD WAS THE DRUMMER, AND HE STARTED POUNDING A LITTLE HEAVIER, SO THINGS BEGIN TO BUILD UP TO A REAL FRENZY.

Narrator: GONSALVES DUG IN, ONE FURIOUS CHORUS FOLLOWING ANOTHER.

Wein: DUKE CAUGHT THAT SPIRIT.

HE KEPT PLAYING THAT PIANO AND COMPING AND COMPING AND KEPT IT GOING AND KEPT IT GOING.

AND YOU COULD SEE IN HIS FACE THE JOY AND THE EXCITEMENT.

THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT NEVER HAPPENED FOR HIM WITH ALL THE YEARS HE'D BEEN PLAYING.

Narrator: THE AUDIENCE BECAME SO ENTHUSIASTIC THAT GEORGE WEIN, AFRAID OF A RIOT, BEGAN FRANTICALLY SIGNALING ELLINGTON TO CUT THE NUMBER SHORT.

BUT ELLINGTON REFUSED TO STOP GONSALVES.

GONSALVES WENT ON PLAYING FOR 27 CHORUSES.

THE CROWD DEMANDED 4 ENCORES.

Ellington: PAUL GONSALVES!

PAUL GONSALVES!

Narrator: A RECORD OF THE CONCERT SOLD HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF COPIES, MORE THAN ANY OTHER RECORD DUKE ELLINGTON EVER MADE.

Wein: EVERY TIME I SAW DUKE AFTER THAT, HE WOULD BE TALKING ABOUT THE INTRODUCTION OF THE DIMINUENDO AND CRESCENDO IN BLUE.

HE WOULD SAY, "I WAS BORN AT NEWPORT IN 1956."

LOTS OF LUCK HE WAS "BORN."

HE'D ONLY CREATED THE WHOLE HISTORY OF AMERICAN MUSIC PRIOR TO 1956.

BUT THE BAND WAS WORKING MORE.

THEY WERE GETTING MORE MONEY.

PEOPLE WERE CALLING FOR THE BAND, AND DUKE FELT A NEW SURGE IN HIS LIFE.

[SURREY WITH THE FRINGE ON TOP PLAYING] Stanley Crouch: NOW, MILES DAVIS BENEFITED FROM THE REACTION THAT PEOPLE WERE BEGINNING TO FEEL IN THE 1950s AGAINST THE SUBURBANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES.

YOU KNOW, A LOT OF MASS PACKAGING IN A KIND OF A PROJECTION OF A CERTAIN SUBLIME MEDIOCRITY, IF YOU WILL.

SO PEOPLE WANTED SOMETHING THAT WAS ELEGANT BUT THAT HAD A BITE TO IT.

Narrator: AFTER MILES DAVIS HAD KICKED HIS HEROIN HABIT, HE RESOLVED TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME.

HE WAS UNDER CONTRACT TO A SMALL LABEL NAMED PRESTIGE AND RECORDED A STEADY STREAM OF ALBUMS WITH GROUP AFTER GROUP OF GIFTED MUSICIANS-- SONNY ROLLINS, HORACE SILVER, MILT JACKSON, RED GARLAND, PAUL CHAMBERS, PHILLY JOE JONES, CANNONBALL ADDERLEY, AND A YOUTHFUL VETERAN OF RHYTHM AND BLUES BANDS--JOHN COLTRANE.

Wynton Marsalis: HIS SOUND BECOMES REALLY CLEAR.

HIS DIRECTION IS CLEAR, PLAYING THE LONG LINES WITH A BEAUTIFUL SOUND, ALWAYS WITH THAT SENSE OF SWING, BECAUSE HE ALWAYS COULD REALLY SWING.

AND REAL SWINGING RHYTHM SECTIONS THAT ARE VERY ORGANIZED.

YOU DON'T HEAR A LOT OF SLOPPINESS ON HIS RECORDINGS BECAUSE HE HAS PEOPLE IN VERY DEFINED ROLES, AND HIS ALBUMS ARE ALWAYS GOOD TO STUDY BECAUSE YOU CAN HEAR WHAT'S GOING ON AT THAT TIME.

Narrator: LIKE DUKE ELLINGTON, DAVIS WAS ALWAYS ABLE TO INCORPORATE THE DISTINCTIVE SOUNDS OF DISPARATE MUSICIANS INTO HIS OWN MUSIC, LIKE THE SENSE OF SPACE HE HEARD IN THE WORK OF THE PIANISTS AHMAD JAMAL AND THELONIOUS MONK.

Crouch: FROM MONK, HE LEARNED THAT YOU COULD USE THE NEW KIND OF HARMONIC IDEAS THAT HAD ARRIVED, BUT YOU COULD USE THEM IN THE SPARE, TELLING WAY THAT BILLIE HOLIDAY AND LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND BLUES SINGERS AND PLAYERS USED THEIR MATERIAL.

[THE MAN I LOVEPLAYING] SO YOU DIDN'T NEED TO USE THE BAROQUE ELEMENTS THAT YOU GOT IN BOP.

YOU COULD JUST CUT STRAIGHT TO THE CHASE, AS THE SAYING GOES.

BECAUSE HE LEARNED FROM MONK THAT WHEREAS ONE GUY MIGHT PLAY 7 OR 8 NOTES, MONK MIGHT PLAY 3 OR 2.

BUT THEY'D BE SO TELLINGLY PLACED THAT THEY WOULD HAVE THE SAME IMPACT.

SOMETIMES BIGGER.

Giddins: HE WAS THE YOUNG ROMANTIC.

HE WAS A TRUE ROMANTIC.

HE PLAYED BALLADS THE WAY NOBODY ELSE COULD PLAY THEM.

THEY WEREN'T SENTIMENTALIZED.

THEY WERE BEAUTIFUL, AND THEY WERE DEEP, AND THEY DIDN'T REQUIRE A LOT OF HAND-WRINGING.

AND THEY WERE DIFFERENT FROM ANYBODY ELSE.

YOU'D HAVE THESE ALMOST STARK MELODIES IN A ROMANTIC BALLAD, AND THE STARKNESS WOULD MAKE THE ROMANCE ALL THE MORE COMPELLING.

AND HE KNEW THAT.

IT WAS JUST HIM AND THE TRUMPET, AND YOU WERE FEELING AS YOU WATCHED AND LISTENED THAT YOU WERE SORT OF EAVESDROPPING ON A VERY PRIVATE MOMENT, AND IT WAS ALMOST AN IMPOSITION WHEN THE OTHER MUSICIANS WOULD COME IN.

Narrator: DAVIS HAD BECOME A CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL, AND HIS TENDERNESS WHEN PLAYING LOVE SONGS HAD BEGUN TO WIN HIM A WHOLE NEW AUDIENCE.

BUT MILES DAVIS WANTED MORE.

"THE REAL MONEY," HE SAID, "WAS IN GETTING TO THE MAINSTREAM OF AMERICA."

HE HAD BEEN RECENTLY SIGNED BY THE BIGGEST LABEL IN THE BUSINESS, COLUMBIA RECORDS, A COMPANY WITH ALL THE RESOURCES HE WOULD NEED TO BECOME A BIGGER STAR.

BUT HE COULD NOT BEGIN TO RECORD FOR COLUMBIA UNTIL HE HAD PRODUCED 4 FINAL ALBUMS FOR PRESTIGE.

DAVIS WAS SO EAGER TO MOVE ON THAT HE MANAGED TO MAKE ALL 4 RECORDS IN 2 DAYS.

NO SECOND TAKES WERE EVER NEEDED.

Wynton Marsalis: MILES' MUSIC APPEALS TO THE VULNERABLE SIDE OF PEOPLE.

HIS MUSIC SPEAKS TO THE SOLITARY PERSON INSIDE OF EACH OF US.

AND IT SOOTHES US IN KNOWING THAT WE ALL FEEL ALONE.

BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, HE SWINGS.

AND THIS COMBINATION OF 2 OPPOSITE THINGS, YOU PUT THEM TOGETHER, AND THAT'S A COCKTAIL THAT IS IRRESISTIBLE.

AT THE ROUGE LOUNGE ALL THIS WEEK IS ONE OF THE GREAT JAZZ GROUPS IN THE COUNTRY TODAY, AND THAT'S THE MAX ROACH-CLIFF BROWN ENSEMBLE.

AND WITH US TONIGHT IS ONE OF THE OUTSTANDING JAZZ TRUMPETERS IN THE COUNTRY TODAY-- EMARCY RECORDING STAR CLIFFORD BROWN.

[PLAYING OH!

LADY BE GOOD] Narrator: IN THE HARD LIVING WORLD OF JAZZ, CLIFFORD BROWN STOOD OUT.

DRUGS AND ALCOHOL DIDN'T INTEREST HIM, NOR WAS HE TEMPERAMENTAL.

BROWN ROUTINELY ARRIVED AN HOUR EARLY FOR RECORDING DATES TO CLEAN HIS HORN AND READY HIS MIND.

AND HE ALWAYS SEEMED TO HAVE TIME FOR YOUNGER PLAYERS EAGER FOR ADVICE.

HIS ONLY VICE WAS CHESS.

"CLIFFORD WAS A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON MY PERSONAL LIFE," SONNY ROLLINS REMEMBERED.

"HE SHOWED ME THAT IT WAS POSSIBLE TO LIVE A GOOD CLEAN LIFE AND STILL BE A GOOD JAZZ MUSICIAN."

Giddins: CLIFFORD BROWN DIDN'T TAKE ANY DRUGS, AND HE DIDN'T SMOKE, AND HE DIDN'T CURSE, AND HE WAS A, YOU KNOW, PUREBRED YOUNG MAN.

BUT HE PLAYED WITH MORE BRILLIANCE THAN ANYONE WHO HAD COME ALONG SINCE PARKER, AND IN A SENSE HE PROVED THAT IT WASN'T ABOUT DRUGS.

AND IN FACT, IT HAS OFTEN BEEN SUGGESTED THAT THE END OF HEROIN'S SWAY OVER JAZZ OCCURRED IN THE MIDDLE 1950s FOR 2 REASONS: ONE, BECAUSE OF CHARLIE PARKER'S DEATH, AND 2, BECAUSE OF THE ARRIVAL OF CLIFFORD BROWN.

[I GET A KICK OUT OF YOU PLAYING] Narrator: AS MUCH AS HIS FELLOW MUSICIANS ADMIRED CLIFFORD BROWN'S CHARACTER, THEY WERE AWED BY THE WARMTH AND RICHNESS OF HIS TONE... AND THE LONG, MELODIC DANCING LINES THAT SEEMED TO FLOW EFFORTLESSLY FROM HIS HORN.

Joe Lovano: I LOVE CLIFFORD BROWN'S PLAYING.

IT'S SOME OF THE WARMEST PLAYING ON ANY INSTRUMENT THAT'S BEEN RECORDED IN JAZZ.

THE PASSION THAT HE PLAYED HIS LINES WITH, YOU KNOW?

HE CREATED, WHEN I SAY LINES, I MEAN HIS PHRASES, YOU KNOW, THE WAY THEY UNFOLDED AND KIND OF JUST OOZED OUT OF HIS HORN.

Narrator: IN 1954, HE HAD JOINED FORCES WITH THE BRILLIANT DRUMMER MAX ROACH.

FOR MORE THAN 2 YEARS, THEIR QUINTET WAS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE IN JAZZ.

AND IT SEEMED TO MANY THAT CLIFFORD BROWN WAS DESTINED TO JOIN THE RANKS OF THE GREATEST OF ALL TRUMPET PLAYERS-- LOUIS ARMSTRONG, DIZZY GILLESPIE, MILES DAVIS.

[SONG ENDS] [APPLAUSE] Brown: THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

YOU'VE MADE ME FEEL SO WONDERFUL.

[EASY LIVINGPLAYING] Narrator: ON THE EVENING OF MONDAY, JUNE 25, 1956, AT THE END OF A RARE DAY OFF SPENT WITH HIS WIFE AND INFANT SON, BROWN TOOK PART IN A JAM SESSION IN PHILADELPHIA.

HE HADN'T REALLY WANTED TO BE THERE, BUT CHARACTERISTICALLY, HE WAS DOING A FAVOR FOR A FRIEND.

NOW HE WOULD BE FORCED TO DRIVE THROUGH THE NIGHT TO GET TO HIS NEXT GIG IN CHICAGO.

IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT BEFORE BROWN AND THE PIANIST RICHIE POWELL FINISHED PLAYING.

THEY TOOK OFF IN POWELL'S NEW CAR WITH POWELL'S WIFE NANCY AT THE WHEEL.

IT BEGAN TO RAIN.

SUDDENLY, THE CAR SKIDDED OUT OF CONTROL, FLEW OVER AN EMBANKMENT, AND TURNED OVER.

ALL 3 PASSENGERS WERE KILLED INSTANTLY.

DIZZY GILLESPIE WAS ABOUT TO GO ONSTAGE AT THE APOLLO THEATER IN HARLEM WHEN HIS MEN HEARD THE NEWS THAT CLIFFORD BROWN WAS DEAD.

WHEN THE CURTAIN ROSE, MOST OF THE MUSICIANS WERE IN TEARS.

"FOR HIS ARTISTRY," GILLESPIE SAID, "THERE CAN BE NO REPLACEMENT."

Sarah Vaughan: ♪ I DON'T KNOW WHY ♪ ♪ BUT I'M FEELIN' SO SAD ♪ ♪ I LONG TO TRY ♪ ♪ SOMETHING I'VE NEVER HAD ♪ ♪ NEVER HAD NO KISSIN' ♪ ♪ OH, WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSIN' ♪ ♪ LOVER MAN, OH, WHERE CAN YOU BE?

♪ Giddins: SARAH VAUGHAN IS MY FAVORITE SINGER.

Vaughan: ♪ THE NIGHT IS SO COLD ♪ ♪ AND I'M SO ALL ALONE... ♪ Giddins: SHE HAD THE MOST ASTONISHING RANGE OF ANY JAZZ SINGER.

SHE WAS EXTREMELY SOPHISTICATED HARMONICALLY-- I MEAN IN THE WAY THAT CHARLIE PARKER AND DIZZY GILLESPIE AND ALL THE GREAT INSTRUMENTALISTS OF BOP WERE.

PEOPLE MAKE THE MISTAKE OF CALLING HER OPERATIC AND SAYING THAT IF SHE WANTED TO, SHE COULD HAVE BEEN AN OPERA SINGER, AND I THINK THEY'RE ENTIRELY MISSING THE POINT.

SHE HAD THE RANGE, BUT SHE HAD NO INTEREST IN THAT KIND OF SINGING.

HER WHOLE APPROACH TO PHRASING IS MUCH MORE ORIENTED AROUND THE CHURCH AND AROUND JAZZ.

Vaughan: ♪ I'VE HEARD IT SAID ♪ ♪ THAT THE THRILL OF ROMANCE ♪ ♪ CAN BE ♪ ♪ LIKE A HEAVENLY DREAM ♪ Cassandra Wilson: THE TONE OF HER VOICE, THE RICHNESS OF HER VOICE... Vaughan: ♪ I GO TO BED ♪ Wilson: ...FOR ME, WAS OTHERWORLDLY.

Vaughan: ♪ WITH A PRAYER ♪ I FELT I LEFT MY BODY WHEN I LISTENED TO SARAH VAUGHAN.

Vaughan: ♪ ...LOVE TO ME ♪ ♪ STRANGE AS IT SEEMS ♪ CHOPS LIKE YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE.

ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE VOCALISTS WHO CAN STAND RIGHT NEXT TO AN INSTRUMENTALIST AND DELIVER WITH AS MUCH DEXTERITY AND WITH AS MUCH CLARITY AS ANY INSTRUMENTALIST OF HER TIME.

Narrator: SARAH VAUGHAN SAW HERSELF AS A MUSICIAN RATHER THAN A SINGER.

SHE WAS A GIFTED PIANIST IN HER OWN RIGHT, AND WHEN SHE CLOSED HER EYES ONSTAGE, SHE SAID, SHE COULD SEE--AND SING-- LINES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN IMPROVISED ON THE PIANO.

MUSICIANS LOVED HER FOR HER PERFECT PITCH AND RHYTHMIC SENSE, HER SOPHISTICATED EAR FOR CHORD CHANGES, AND HER ASTONISHING VOICE.

SHE COULD SING EVERYTHING FROM SOPRANO TO BARITONE.

THEY CALLED HER "SAILOR" AT FIRST FOR THE RICHNESS OF HER VOCABULARY AND HER FONDNESS FOR GOOD TIMES.

LATER, SHE BECAME KNOWN AS "SASSY."

"SASSY," DIZZY GILLESPIE ONCE SAID, "CAN SING NOTES OTHER PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN HEAR."

Vaughan: ♪ THE WAY YOU WEAR YOUR HAT ♪ ♪ THE WAY YOU SIP YOUR TEA ♪ ♪ THE MEMORY OF ALL THAT ♪ ♪ NO, NO, THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME ♪ Margo Jefferson: HARMONICALLY, MELODICALLY, THIS WOMAN CAN DO ANYTHING.

SHE WAS ALWAYS AN EXPERIMENTALIST.

Vaughan: ♪ THE WAY YOU HAUNT MY DREAMS ♪ Jefferson: YOU HEAR WHEN SHE'S JUST UTTERLY ENJOYING HERSELF MUSICALLY.

YOU HEAR HER VERY COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP TO LYRICS, THE WAY SHE WILL DISTANCE THEM OFTEN AND PLAY WITH THEM, PARODY THEM, CLAIM TO FORGET THE WORDS, WHICH I'M NOT AT ALL CONVINCED SHE ALWAYS FORGOT, YOU KNOW, AND SUBSTITUTE SCAT.

I THINK ALL OF THAT BESPEAKS A CHAFING AT THE BOUNDARIES OF THE POPULAR SONG AS A JAZZ MUSICIAN.

Vaughan: ♪ ...AWAY FROM ME ♪ ♪ THE WAY YOUR SMILE JUST BEAMS ♪ ♪ THE WAY YOU SING OFF-KEY, KEY, KEY ♪ ♪ THE WAY YOU HAUNT MY DREAMS ♪ ♪ NO, NO, CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME ♪ ♪ CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME ♪ I'M LOOKING FOR A BOY SINGER.

I'D LIKE TO GET A YOUNG SINGER FOR MY BAND, YOU KNOW.

A YOUNG, YOUNG SINGER?

YEAH, A YOUNG SINGER.

I'D LIKE TO.

I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE TO GO ANY FURTHER.

WELL, WHO IS IT?

YOU?

AHH, YOU KILL ME, DADDY!

Giddins: HE DID NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN BEING AN ARTIST AND BEING AN ENTERTAINER.

SINCE YOU, UH, BROUGHT MEMORIES TO MY MEMORY, LOOK HERE, UH... Giddins: HE WAS A GREAT ARTIST, BUT HE WAS THERE TO ENTERTAIN YOU.

HE WASN'T OFFERING HIS ART AS, YOU KNOW, HOMEWORK.

IT WASN'T FOR 4 CREDITS.

IT WAS TO HAVE FUN.

LOOK AT DADDY MITCH.

DRAPE IT ON US THERE, DADDY.

[BAND PLAYING KO KO MO (I LOVE YOU SO)] YEAH.

WE'RE GOING NOW.

♪ TALK TO ME, BABY ♪ ♪ WHISPER IN MY EAR ♪ ♪ TALK TO ME, BABY ♪ ♪ WHISPER IN MY EAR ♪ HE COULD BE ALMOST LIKE A VAUDEVILLIAN AND DO A KIND OF A LOW HUMOR ROUTINE WITH VELMA MIDDLETON.

HE COULD JOKE WITH THE MUSICIANS, WITH THE AUDIENCE.

HE COULD TELL SLIGHTLY OFF-COLOR STORIES.

AND THEN HE COULD PICK UP THE TRUMPET AND PLAY SOMETHING THAT WOULD BRING TEARS TO YOUR EYES.

HE DID NOT DISTINGUISH, AND THIS DROVE A LOT OF PEOPLE NUTS.

A LOT OF PEOPLE WISHED THAT HE HAD JUST, YOU KNOW, NEVER RECORDED POP TUNES.

HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON SOME KIND OF IVORY TOWER, OCCASIONALLY SENDING FORTH A RECORDING OR APPEARING IN CARNEGIE HALL.

THAT'S NOT LOUIS ARMSTRONG.

♪ OH, THERE'S DIMPLES ON HER ELBOWS... ♪ Gerald Early: THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT ARMSTRONG THAT SEEMED TO BE A CERTAIN KIND OF SHADOW OF A CERTAIN KIND OF MINSTRELSY, AND I BELIEVE IT MADE A LOT OF BLACK PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE.

THEN, TOO, HIS MUSIC, HE HAD MADE CERTAIN KIND OF ADAPTATIONS IN HIS MUSIC FOR POPULAR TASTE BUT NOT SIGNIFICANT ADAPTATIONS IN HIS MUSIC FOR BLACK POPULAR TASTE.

[SCATTING] ARMSTRONG JUST REALLY DIDN'T SEEM TO BE SPEAKING TO THAT COMMUNITY ANYMORE... [SCATTING] AND I BELIEVE THAT'S WHY HE HAD SUCH TROUBLE WITH BLACK PEOPLE IN THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES.

♪ YEAH, KOKEY ♪ ♪ KOKEY ♪ ♪ KO KO MO ♪ [SCATTING] ♪ OH, YEAH ♪ ♪ OH, YEAH ♪ [APPLAUSE] HA HA HA!

WHAT HE DID, WHAT HE PLAYED CAME FROM WITHIN.

IT CAME FROM, UH...

IT CAME FROM HIS OWN HEART, FROM HIS MIND, WHERE IT WASN'T ANYTHING CONTRIVED.

IT WAS HIM.

IT WAS LOUIS, WHAT HE WAS, THE ESSENCE OF HIS BEING.

THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE.

HE WAS A COMPLETELY HONEST MAN-- MUSICALLY AND IN EVERY OTHER WAY THAT I KNEW ABOUT.

[AUNT HAGAR'S BLUES PLAYING] Narrator: ON SEPTEMBER 9, 1957, LOUIS ARMSTRONG WAS ABOUT TO GO ONSTAGE IN GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA, WHEN HE SAW ON TELEVISION A CROWD OF WHITES JEERING AT BLACK CHILDREN WHO WERE TRYING TO ENTER CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL IN LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.

ORVAL FAUBUS, THE STATE'S SEGREGATIONIST GOVERNOR, DEFIED THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT AND ORDERED IN ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARDSMEN WITH DRAWN BAYONETS TO KEEP THE STUDENTS OUT.

ARMSTRONG WAS OUTRAGED.

HE HAD JUST BEEN ASKED TO UNDERTAKE A GOODWILL TOUR OF THE SOVIET UNION FOR THE STATE DEPARTMENT.

JAZZ HAD ALWAYS BEEN A SYMBOL OF AMERICAN FREEDOM, AND ARMSTRONG WOULD BE THE FIRST AMERICAN JAZZ ARTIST TO APPEAR BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN.

NOW WITH LITTLE ROCK, HE WAS RELUCTANT TO GO.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO TELL THE RUSSIANS WHEN THEY ASK YOU ABOUT THE LITTLE ROCK INCIDENT?

IT ALL DEPENDS WHAT TIME THEY SEND ME OVER THERE.

I DON'T THINK THEY SHOULD SEND ME NOW UNLESS THEY STRAIGHTEN THAT MESS DOWN SOUTH.

AND FOR GOOD.

I MEAN, NOT JUST TO BLOW OVER.

TO CUT IT OUT, I THINK.

BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN IGNORING THE CONSTITUTION, ALTHOUGH THEY'RE TAUGHT IT IN SCHOOL.

BUT WHEN THEY GO HOME, THEIR PARENTS TELL THEM DIFFERENT, SAY, "YOU DON'T HAVE TO ABIDE BY IT "BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH IT A HUNDRED YEARS, "SO, UH, NOBODY TELLS ON EACH OTHER.

SO DON'T BOTHER WITH IT."

SO IF THEY ASK ME WHAT'S HAPPENING IF I GO NOW, I CAN'T TELL A LIE.

THAT'S ONE THING.

AND I WASN'T LYING, THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT IT.

Narrator: ARMSTRONG CANCELED THE TOUR.

"THE WAY THEY'RE TREATING MY PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH," HE TOLD A REPORTER, "THE GOVERNMENT CAN GO TO HELL.

IT'S GETTING SO BAD, A COLORED MAN HASN'T GOT ANY COUNTRY."

ARMSTRONG'S WHITE ROAD MANAGER WAS APPALLED, AFRAID HE HAD RUINED HIS CAREER.

Shaw: HE SAID, "LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEVER SAID NOTHING LIKE THAT," BECAUSE HE'S THINKING ABOUT THOSE BIG FEES, YOU KNOW?

HE SAID, "LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THAT.

HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT."

LOUIS SAID, "YES, I DID.

"I MEANT IT, AND I'LL STAND BY UNTIL MY DYING DAY.

"ALL I ASK IS THAT THEY TAKE THOSE LITTLE KIDS INTO THE SCHOOL.

WHY CAN'T THEY GO TO SCHOOL?"

Giddins: AND HE HAD SOME VERY DARK WORDS FOR FAUBUS.

HE CALLED HIM AN UNEDUCATED PLOWBOY, AND HE CRITICIZED EISENHOWER FOR NOT GOING DOWN THERE AND TAKING, YOU KNOW, THAT LITTLE BLACK GIRL IN HIS HAND AND MARCHING HER INTO THAT SCHOOL.

WELL...FROM ANY BLACK ENTERTAINER AT THAT TIME, THAT WAS POWERFUL STUFF.

BUT FROM LOUIS ARMSTRONG?

Narrator: NO OTHER JAZZ MUSICIAN SPOKE OUT SO FORCEFULLY.

NOW CRITICS, BOTH BLACK AND WHITE, ATTACKED HIM.

EDITORIALS CALLED FOR A BOYCOTT OF HIS CONCERTS.

LOUIS ARMSTRONG WOULDN'T BACK DOWN.

BUT THE CONTROVERSY-- AND THE KILLING SCHEDULE OF ONE-NIGHTERS ARMSTRONG ALWAYS INSISTED ON KEEPING-- EVENTUALLY TOOK ITS TOLL.

IN THE SUMMER OF 1959, ON TOUR IN ITALY, HE SUDDENLY COLLAPSED WITH WHAT WAS LATER DIAGNOSED AS A HEART ATTACK.

ARMSTRONG TOLD THE PRESS THAT HIS OLD FRIEND BIX BEIDERBECKE HAD TRIED TO ENLIST HIM FOR GABRIEL'S BAND.

Reporter: ABOUT 2 DAYS AGO, THEY PRACTICALLY HAD YOU IN THE CEMETERY.

NO, IT MUST HAVE BEEN LONGER THAN THAT.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN LONGER THAN THAT.

THE TROUBLE WAS THAT SIDNEY BECHET AND BIX TRIED TO GET ME UP THERE TO PLAY FIRST CHAIR, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO.

THEY DIDN'T WANT TO PAY ME NOTHING BUT UNION SCALE, SO... YOU DIDN'T HEAR GABRIEL BLOWING HIS HORN, DID YOU, LOUIS?

WELL, I DIDN'T GET THAT FAR, SEE WHAT I'M SAYING?

Narrator: HE WAS BACK PLAYING AGAIN 2 WEEKS LATER.

[ST. LOUIS BLUESPLAYING] Ossie Davis: LOUIS ARMSTRONG, TO ME, IS A SMILE, A HANDKERCHIEF, AND SWEAT... AND THE CAPACITY TO MOVE ME ABOVE AND BEYOND TEARS.

I WAS WORKING ON A FILM CALLED A MAN CALLED ADAM, WHICH STARRED SAMMY DAVIS JR. LOUIS ARMSTRONG WAS ALSO IN THE PICTURE.

ONE DAY AT LUNCH, EVERYBODY HAD GONE OUT.

THE SET WAS QUIET.

AS I CAME BACK TOWARD THE SET, I LOOKED UP, AND THERE WAS LOUIS ARMSTRONG SITTING IN A CHAIR, THE HANDKERCHIEF TIED AROUND HIS HEAD, LOOKING UP WITH THE SADDEST EXPRESSION I'VE EVER SEEN ON A MAN'S FACE.

I LOOKED, AND I WAS STARTLED, AND THEN I STARTED TO BACK AWAY BECAUSE IT SEEMED SUCH A PRIVATE MOMENT.

BUT HE HEARD ME BACKING AWAY, AND HE BROKE OUT OF IT RIGHT AWAY.

"HEY, POPS, HEY.

"LOOKS LIKE THESE CATS ARE GOING TO STARVE OLD LOUIS TO DEATH.

HEY, MAN, WOW," AND EVERYTHING, YOU KNOW.

I WENT INTO IT WITH HIM, BUT I NEVER FORGOT THAT LOOK.

AND IT CHANGED MY CONCEPT OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG, BECAUSE I, TOO, AS A BOY HAD OBJECTED TO A LOT OF WHAT LOUIS WAS DOING.

I FIGURED ALL THEM TEETH AND ALL THAT HANDKERCHIEF-- WE CALLED IT "OOFTAH," BY THAT WHICH WE MEANT, YOU DO THAT TO PLEASE THE WHITE FOLKS, DON'T YOU?

YOU MAKE THEM HAPPY AND ALL THAT STUFF.

YOU MAKE US LOOK LIKE FOOLS.

BUT IT WAS ONLY THEN I BEGAN TO UNDERSTAND SOMETHING ABOUT LOUIS.

HE COULD PUT ON THAT SHOW, HE COULD DO THAT WHOLE THING, BECAUSE IN THAT HORN OF HIS, YOU KNOW, HE HAD THE POWER TO KILL.

THAT HORN COULD KILL A MAN.

SO THERE WAS WHERE THE TRUTH OF LOUIS ARMSTRONG RESIDED.

WHATEVER HE WAS...

THE MOMENT HE PUT THE TRUMPET TO HIS LIPS, A NEW TRUTH EMERGED, A NEW MAN EMERGED, A NEW POWER EMERGED.

AND I LOOKED ON LOUIS FOR WHAT HE TRULY WAS AFTER THAT.

HE BECAME AN ANGELIC PRESENCE TO ME AFTER THAT MOMENT.

Boy: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SOMETHING SPECIAL DOWN HERE AT BIRDLAND THIS EVENING-- A RECORDING FOR BLUE NOTE RECORDS.

LET'S GET TOGETHER AND BRING ART BLAKEY TO THE BANDSTAND WITH A GREAT BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE.

HOW ABOUT A BIG HAND THERE FOR ART BLAKEY!

THANK YOU!

[PLAYING BU'S DELIGHT] Jackie McLean: YOU COULD FEEL THE RHYTHM ANYWHERE YOU STOOD ON ART BLAKEY'S BANDSTAND, BECAUSE ART WAS SO STRONG, AND HIS STYLE WAS ABOUT ENERGY AND THUNDER, YOU KNOW.

AN ART BLAKEY THUNDER.

Wynton Marsalis: ART BLAKEY, LIKE ALL THE JAZZ MUSICIANS, IS THAT COMBINATION OF SOUL, INTELLIGENCE, AND SPIRITUALITY.

HE COULD JUST DO THINGS NOBODY ELSE COULD DO AND COULD GET BY WITH IT.

AND YOU TALK ABOUT, LIKE, DISSIPATION, GETTING HIGH, LYING, HANGING OUT LATE, ANY OF THAT, BUT YOU STILL HAD TO LOVE HIM.

Narrator: THE DRUMMER ART BLAKEY MADE IT HIS LIFE'S WORK TO BRING BACK TO JAZZ THE AUDIENCE IT HAD LOST TO RHYTHM AND BLUES.

HE HAD LAUNCHED HIS OWN BIG BAND AT 15 AND DEVELOPED HIS THUNDEROUS STYLE WHILE PLAYING WITH FLETCHER HENDERSON AND BILLY ECKSTINE.

HE TWICE VISITED WEST AFRICA, FASCINATED BY ITS RHYTHMS, AND HE ADOPTED ISLAM AND SOMETIMES CALLED HIMSELF ABDULLAH IBN BUHAINA.

BUT JAZZ, HE ONCE SAID, "DOESN'T HAVE A DAMN THING TO DO WITH AFRICA."

IT WAS AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CREATION, HE INSISTED.

"IT COULDN'T HAVE COME FROM ANYONE BUT US."

[APPLAUSE] [DOODLIN'PLAYING] Narrator: IN 1955, BLAKEY AND A YOUNG PIANIST AND COMPOSER NAMED HORACE SILVER ESTABLISHED A QUINTET THEY CALLED THE JAZZ MESSENGERS.

Michael Cuscuna: THEY BROUGHT IN GOSPEL INFLUENCES, BLUES INFLUENCES, THINGS THAT PEOPLE COULD RELATE TO WHO WERE NOT DEEPLY INTO MODERN JAZZ, AND IT CAUGHT ON VERY QUICKLY.

THE MESSAGE OF THE GROUP WAS "WE SWING, WE'RE EARTHY, WE PLAY THE BLUES.

"YOU CAN WALK AWAY HUMMING IT, BUT WE'RE NOT GOING TO CHEAT ON THE QUALITY OF THE MUSIC OR THE CREATIVITY."

AND THEY FOUND A WAY TO DO EVERYTHING.

Narrator: THE RECORDS THEY MADE FOR BLUE NOTE INCORPORATED THE SOUNDS OF GOSPEL AND RHYTHM AND BLUES AND WERE MEANT TO PROVIDE A SWINGING, EARTHY ALTERNATIVE TO THE COOL, POPULAR SOUNDS OF WEST COAST JAZZ.

CRITICS LABELED THE MUSIC BLAKEY HAD BEGUN TO PLAY "HARD BOP."

TUNES BY THE MESSENGERS, THE SOULFUL ELECTRIC ORGAN PLAYER JIMMY SMITH, AND A HOST OF OTHERS STARTED TURNING UP ON JUKEBOXES IN BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS ACROSS THE COUNTRY-- CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE, CENTRAL AVENUE IN LOS ANGELES, 125th STREET IN HARLEM.

EVEN THEIR TITLES CELEBRATED THE CULTURE FROM WHICH THEY CAME-- HOME COOKIN', CORNBREAD, GRITS 'N GRAVY, THE PREACHER, BACK AT THE CHICKEN SHACK.

Early: WHAT YOU GOT WAS BLACK MUSICIANS WHO WERE SAYING, "WE'RE GOING TO INVENT A MUSICAL STYLE AND FORM "THAT WHITE PEOPLE CAN'T COPY.

"IT'S GOING TO BE TECHNICALLY SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN'T COPY.

"IT'S GOING TO HAVE A CERTAIN KIND OF SWING "OR CERTAIN KIND OF RHYTHM THAT THEY CAN'T COPY, "CERTAIN KIND OF WAY OF PLAYING.

"BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO BE SO ETHNICIZED "THAT THEY REALLY CAN'T COPY IT "WITHOUT ABSOLUTELY LOOKING LIKE A MINSTREL SHOW.

I MEAN, SO THEY CAN'T DO IT."

Narrator: ART BLAKEY'S MUSIC WAS ALWAYS FILLED WITH JOY.

"WHEN WE'RE ON THE STAND," HE SAID, "AND WE SEE THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE "WHO AREN'T PATTING THEIR FEET "AND WHO AREN'T NODDING THEIR HEADS TO OUR MUSIC, "WE KNOW WE'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

"BECAUSE WHEN WE DO GET OUR MESSAGE ACROSS, THOSE HEADS AND FEET DO MOVE."

HORACE SILVER EVENTUALLY WENT ON TO FORM GROUPS OF HIS OWN, BUT ART BLAKEY KEPT THE NAME THE JAZZ MESSENGERS, AND FOR 45 YEARS, TRAVELED THE WORLD SPREADING HIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE WILLING TO LISTEN.

Cuscuna: WE USED TO CALL HIM THE GREATEST JAZZ UNIVERSITY AROUND.

HE USED TO ASK PLAYERS THAT ANOTHER LEADER MIGHT FIND VALUABLE, INDISPENSABLE, AND WANT TO HOLD ON TO, HE USED TO TELL MUSICIANS, "WELL, YOU'RE READY NOW.

"YOU'VE GOT THE TUNES.

YOU'VE GOT THE EXPERIENCE.

"IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO LEAD A BAND, GET 5 YOUNG CATS AND FEED THE TRIBUTARY OF JAZZ THAT WAY."

WELL, HE'S THE GREATEST BANDLEADER THAT I EVER WORKED WITH.

I NOT ONLY LEARNED SO MUCH ABOUT HOW TO LEAD A BAND FROM ART, BUT I ALSO LEARNED HOW TO GROW UP AND BE A MAN FROM ART.

Narrator: GENERATION AFTER GENERATION OF FUTURE STARS WOULD GET THEIR START OR HONE THEIR SKILLS WITH BLAKEY.

JACKIE McLEAN, HANK MOBLEY, DONALD BYRD, BOBBY TIMMONS, BENNY GOLSON, WOODY SHAW, LEE MORGAN, FREDDIE HUBBARD, KEITH JARRETT, JOANNE BRACKEEN, WAYNE SHORTER, WYNTON MARSALIS.

YEAH, THE MESSENGERS WERE THE TRAINING GROUND FOR A LOT OF GREAT MUSICIANS BECAUSE HE GAVE YOU A CHANCE TO PLAY AND TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY.

HE WOULD PUT HIS SWING UP UNDERNEATH YOU SO THAT YOU COULD LEARN HOW TO PLAY, AND HE WOULD TELL YOU YOU WERE SAD.

AND WHEN I FIRST SAT IN WITH HIM, I KNEW I WASN'T PLAYING NOTHING.

HE SAID, "MAN, YOU SAD, BUT THAT'S ALL RIGHT."

AND WHEN YOU WERE AROUND HIM, YOU WERE AROUND THE ESSENCE OF JAZZ MUSIC.

SO HE PUT THAT IN US.

IF YOU WANT TO PLAY THIS MUSIC, YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT WITH SOUL, WITH INTENSITY, AND EVERY TIME YOU TOUCH YOUR HORN, YOU PLAY YOUR HORN.

THIS IS NOT A GAME.

McLean: EVERYBODY HAD TO DO THEIR JOB, OR YOU WERE REPLACED.

AND IN EVERY CITY THAT WE WENT TO, IF THERE WAS A STAR ALTO PLAYER THERE, HE WOULD INVITE HIM TO COME AND PLAY WITH THE BAND.

AND THAT WAS ALWAYS TO KEEP ME ON NOTICE THAT THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMEBODY WAITING IN THE WINGS.

[BLUES MARCHPLAYING] Narrator: ON THE ROAD, BLAKEY WAS INDEFATIGABLE, PLAYING GIG AFTER GIG AND OUTPLAYING MUSICIANS HALF HIS AGE.

AND HE WAS UTTERLY FEARLESS.

Wynton Marsalis: THE DRUMMER ART TAYLOR TOLD ME ONE TIME THAT SOME SOME GANGSTERS IN BROOKLYN TOOK HIS DRUMS BECAUSE HE OWED THEM SOME MONEY.

HE SAYS-- SO ART BLAKEY SAYS-- AFTER A GIG, IT WAS, LIKE, 3:30 IN THE MORNING, ART BLAKEY SAID, "LET'S GO TO THEIR HOUSE."

THEY KNEW WHO THESE PEOPLE WERE.

"LET'S GO TO THEIR HOUSE AND GET YOUR DRUMS."

SO THEY WENT UP THERE.

3:30, 4:00 IN THE MORNING, ART BLAKEY KNOCKS ON THE DOOR, AND A GUY ANSWERS THE DOOR WITH HIS GUN IN HAND.

AND ART BLAKEY GOES, "THIS MAN IS A MUSICIAN, "AND YOU'VE TAKEN HIS DRUMS.

"NOW, UH, HE OWES YOU SOME MONEY, "BUT THERE'S NO WAY FOR HIM TO MAKE THE MONEY "IF YOU DEPRIVE HIM OF A MEANS "OF MAKING A LIVING.

HE'S A MUSICIAN.

HE'S NOT A CRIMINAL."

SO WHEN ART BLAKEY GOT FINISHED TALKING, THE GUYS WENT AND GOT HIS DRUMS AND GAVE THEM TO HIM.

AND THAT'S HOW HE WAS.

HE COULD JUST DO THINGS THAT OTHER PEOPLE COULD NOT DO BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN IT SO MUCH.

YOU KNOW, AND WHEN HE TOLD ME THE STORY, I COULD SEE ART BLAKEY DOING THAT BECAUSE HE COULD JUST TALK TO YOU A CERTAIN WAY, AND IT WOULD MAKE YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU COULD DO SOMETHING.

HE HAD THAT BELIEF IN HIM.

Narrator: "FIRE-- THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE WANT," HE TOLD HIS YOUNG MUSICIANS AGAIN AND AGAIN.

"JAZZ," ART BLAKEY SAID, "WASHES AWAY THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE."

[DICKIE'S DREAMPLAYING] ON DECEMBER 6, 1957, 2 JAZZ WRITERS--WHITNEY BALLIETT AND NAT HENTOFF-- HELPED GATHER AN EXTRAORDINARY GROUP OF MUSICIANS FOR A ONE-TIME-ONLY LIVE PROGRAM ON CBS CALLED THE SOUND OF JAZZ.

NOTHING LIKE IT HAD EVER BEEN TRIED BEFORE ON AMERICAN TELEVISION.

IT WAS AN ALL-STAR ASSEMBLAGE-- JO JONES AND COUNT BASIE, THELONIOUS MONK AND COLEMAN HAWKINS, GERRY MULLIGAN AND BEN WEBSTER, LESTER YOUNG... AND BILLIE HOLIDAY.

Hentoff: LESTER AND BILLIE HAD BEEN VERY CLOSE FOR YEARS.

BUT FOR SOME REASON-- AND NOBODY COULD TELL ME WHY-- THEY HAD GONE WAY APART IN PRECEDING YEARS, AND WHEN WE WERE THERE FOR THE BLOCKING AND THE SOUND CHECK, THEY VERY CAREFULLY WERE ON DIFFERENT SIDES OF THE STUDIO.

LESTER WAS NOT WELL.

HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE BIG BAND SECTION, IN ANOTHER SECTION, AND I SAID, "LOOK, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DO THE THING WITH BILLIE?

AND YOU CAN SIT DOWN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAND."

AND THE THING WITH BILLIE WAS A SMALL GROUP-- ROY ELDRIDGE, LESTER-- AND BILLIE WAS SINGING ONE OF THE VERY FEW BLUES SHE EVER DID-- FINE AND MELLOW, WHICH SHE WROTE.

[PLAYING FINE AND MELLOW] ♪ MY MAN DON'T LOVE ME ♪ ♪ HE TREATS ME, OH, SO MEAN ♪ ♪ MY MAN ♪ ♪ HE DON'T LOVE ME ♪ ♪ HE TREATS ME AWFUL MEAN ♪ ♪ HE'S THE LOWEST MAN ♪ ♪ THAT I'VE EVER SEEN ♪ Narrator: BEN WEBSTER PLAYED THE FIRST SOLO.

Hentoff: LESTER GOT UP, AND HE PLAYED THE PUREST BLUES I HAVE EVER HEARD.

AND THEIR EYES WERE SORT OF INTERLOCKED, AND SHE WAS SORT OF NODDING AND HALF-SMILING.

IT WAS AS IF THEY WERE BOTH REMEMBERING WHAT HAD BEEN, WHATEVER THAT WAS.

Holiday: ♪ TREAT ME RIGHT, BABY ♪ ♪ AND I'LL STAY HOME EVERY DAY ♪ Hentoff: AND IN THE CONTROL ROOM, WE WERE ALL CRYING.

Holiday: ♪ JUST TREAT ME RIGHT, BABY ♪ ♪ AND I'LL STAY HOME NIGHT AND DAY ♪ ♪ BUT YOU'RE SO MEAN TO ME, BABY ♪ ♪ I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA DRIVE ME AWAY ♪ ♪ LOVE IS JUST LIKE A FAUCET ♪ ♪ IT TURNS OFF AND ON ♪ ♪ LOVE IS LIKE A FAUCET ♪ ♪ IT TURNS OFF AND ON ♪ ♪ SOMETIMES WHEN YOU THINK IT'S ON, BABY ♪ ♪ IT HAS TURNED OFF AND GONE ♪ Narrator: WHEN THE SHOW WAS OVER, THEY WENT THEIR SEPARATE WAYS.

[IT'S THE TALK OF THE TOWN PLAYING] LESTER YOUNG WAS NOW LIVING IN THE ALVIN HOTEL ON 52nd STREET.

HE HAD MOVED THERE FROM LONG ISLAND, TELLING HIS WIFE THAT HE COULD NOT BEAR TO BE SO FAR FROM THE WORLD OF JAZZ THAT HAD ALWAYS BEEN HIS REAL HOME.

ALCOHOL HAD DESTROYED HIS HEALTH.

McLean: AND I'D COME IN AND CALL PREZ'S ROOM, SEE IF HE WANTED ME TO GO TO THE STORE OR ANYTHING FOR HIM.

EVEN WHEN I WAS 19, 20 YEARS OLD, YOU KNOW, I LOVED LESTER YOUNG SO MUCH, YOU KNOW, I WOULD SPEND ANY MOMENT I COULD.

SOMETIMES HE WOULD SAY, "YEAH, COME ON UP," AND I'D GO UP TO HIS ROOM AND GO BUY HIM SOME CIGARETTES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

IT WAS KIND OF SAD.

HE USED TO SIT AT THE WINDOW AND LOOK ACROSS AT BIRDLAND AT THE PEOPLE COMING AND GOING.

Narrator: HE STILL PLAYED FROM TIME TO TIME BUT SPENT HIS LAST DAYS MOVING FROM MOVIE HOUSE TO MOVIE HOUSE ON 42nd STREET OR LISTENING TO HIS RECORD PLAYER-- OTHER PEOPLE'S MUSIC-- FRANK SINATRA, BILLIE HOLIDAY-- NEVER HIS OWN.

LESTER YOUNG DIED IN HIS ROOM AT THE ALVIN HOTEL ON MARCH 15, 1959.

HIS INFLUENCE WAS EVERYWHERE.

"ANYONE WHO DOESN'T PLAY LIKE LESTER," ONE MUSICIAN SAID, "IS WRONG."

[GOD BLESS THE CHILD PLAYING] Holiday: ♪ THEM THAT'S GOT SHALL HAVE ♪ ♪ THEM THAT'S NOT SHALL LOSE ♪ ♪ SO THE BIBLE SAID ♪ ♪AND IT STILL IS NEWS ♪ ♪ MAMA MAY HAVE ♪ ♪ PAPA MAY HAVE ♪ ♪ BUT GOD BLESS THE CHILD THAT'S GOT HIS OWN ♪ ♪ THAT'S GOT HIS OWN ♪ Rowles: I KNEW SHE WAS BAD OFF.

BEN WEBSTER USED TO SAY, "OH, ME, THAT POOR GIRL."

WE DID HER LAST RECORD DATE FOR NORMAN GRANZ OUT HERE AT CAPITOL RECORDS.

AND SHE WAS VERY WASTED.

AND I HAVE A PICTURE THAT WAS TAKEN OF RED MITCHELL AND ME AT THE PIANO AND HER, AND SHE LOOKS VERY, VERY WEAK AND FRAIL.

DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE LADY DAY THAT I FIRST MET... BECAUSE SHE HAD BEEN INTO SOME AWFUL DEEP STUFF.

Holiday: ♪ MONEY ♪ ♪ YOU'VE GOT LOTS OF FRIENDS ♪ Narrator: BY THE TIME LESTER YOUNG DIED, HIS OLD FRIEND BILLIE HOLIDAY WAS ALMOST UNRECOGNIZABLE.

Holiday: ♪ BUT WHEN YOU'RE GONE ♪ Narrator: SOME EVENINGS SHE COULD NOT REMEMBER THE LYRICS OF SONGS SHE HAD BEEN SINGING NEARLY EVERY NIGHT FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES.

Holiday: ♪ RICH RELATIONS GIVE ♪ Narrator: IN MAY OF 1959, 2 MONTHS AFTER LESTER YOUNG'S DEATH, SHE COLLAPSED AND WAS RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL.

SOMEHOW, SOMEONE MANAGED TO SMUGGLE HEROIN INTO HER ROOM.

A NURSE DISCOVERED IT.

HOLIDAY WAS PLACED UNDER ARREST.

POLICE WERE STATIONED AT THE DOOR OF HER ROOM.

Holiday: ♪ THAT'S GOT HIS OWN ♪ ♪ THAT'S GOT HIS OWN ♪ Narrator: BILLIE HOLIDAY, PERHAPS THE GREATEST OF ALL JAZZ SINGERS, DIED AT 3:10 A.M., JULY 17, 1959.

SHE WAS 44 YEARS OLD.

Holiday: ♪ RICH RELATIONS GIVE ♪ Narrator: THE OFFICIAL CAUSE WAS CARDIAC FAILURE.

THE REAL CAUSE, SAID HER MANAGER JOE GLASER, WAS "A CONCOCTION OF EVERYTHING SHE HAD DONE IN THE LAST 20 YEARS."

Holiday: ♪ MAMA MAY HAVE ♪ ♪ PAPA MAY HAVE ♪ Rowles: I GOT THE WORD FROM NEW YORK THAT SHE DIED.

AND IT WAS-- IT WAS JUST A TRAGEDY, BUT I SURE HOPE THAT SHE'S RESTING COMFORTABLY.

Ossie Davis: I CAN'T THINK OF BILLIE HOLIDAY WITHOUT TEARS COMING TO MY EYE.

THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING OF PAIN, ALWAYS SOMETHING... THAT WAS HEARTBREAKING IN HER RENDITION.

AND SHE WASN'T ONLY TALKING ABOUT HER OWN HEARTBREAK.

SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOURS, TOO.

UH, THE THING THAT JOINED US, YOU KNOW, WAS THE COMMON CONCEPT THAT THE MISERY SHE WAS SINGING, YOU KNOW, WAS ONE THAT INCLUDED US AND EMBRACED US ALL.

SHE COULD, LIKE A MOTHER WITH A BIG, WARM BOSOM, REACH OUT AND EMBRACE AND HOLD CLOSE-- NOT IN THE GOSPEL SENSE, BUT IN THE SENSE, YOU KNOW, "GOD BLESS THE CHILD THAT'S GOT HIS OWN."

Holiday: ♪ HE JUST DON'T WORRY 'BOUT NOTHIN' ♪ ♪ 'CAUSE HE'S GOT HIS OWN ♪ ♪ YES, HE'S GOT HIS OWN ♪ [NEW RHUMBAPLAYING] Narrator: IN 1956, MILES DAVIS FOUND STILL ANOTHER WAY TO EXPRESS HIS GENIUS... AND HE DID IT WITH HIS OLD FRIEND, THE ARRANGER GIL EVANS.

Giddins: AND WHEN MILES REALLY BECAME IMPORTANT AND WAS SIGNED WITH COLUMBIA RECORDS IN 1956, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS HE DID WAS TO SIGN UP GIL EVANS TO WRITE AN ALBUM THAT BECAME KNOWN AS MILES AHEAD.

AND THIS WAS THE FIRST OF THE 3 MAJOR WORKS THEY DID TOGETHER, AND THEY ARE AMONG THE MOST EXQUISITELY BEAUTIFUL AND SATISFYINGLY REALIZED LPs OF THAT WHOLE ERA.

Narrator: MILES AHEAD, PORGY AND BESS, AND SKETCHES OF SPAIN ARE 3 OF THE BEST-LOVED JAZZ ALBUMS EVER MADE.

ALL OF THEM FEATURED DAVIS IN LUSH ORCHESTRAL SETTINGS.

[CONCIERTO DE ARANJUEZ PLAYING] Giddins: GIL ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE SOUNDS THAT MILES MADE IN THOSE YEARS WERE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT FOR HIM.

THEY WERE PAINFUL PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY.

I MEAN, IN A WAY, HE WAS A KIND OF, YOU KNOW, MARLON BRANDO OF THE TRUMPET.

HE WAS REALLY CHANGING THE SOUND OF THE INSTRUMENT.

AND GIL WAS ABLE TO FIND, YOU KNOW, RICH, ORIGINAL ORCHESTRATIONS THAT JUST SEEMED TO WRAP THEMSELVES AROUND MILES.

GIL WOULD JUST CREATE A CHORD, AND THEN HE WOULD THROW, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OF MINUTES OF OPEN SPACE FOR MILES TO FILL IT IN.

AND THE CHORD WOULD ANTICIPATE WHAT MILES WOULD PLAY, AND THEN THE FOLLOWING CHORD WOULD PICK UP ON WHAT MILES HAD PLAYED.

THEY REALLY THOUGHT TOGETHER AS ONE.

THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF RECORDS, ESPECIALLY SKETCHES OF SPAIN AND PORGY AND BESS, THAT I REMEMBER A LOT OF WOMEN WOULD HAVE IN RECORD COLLECTIONS THAT WERE OTHERWISE ROCK AND ROLL AND A COUPLE OF CLASSICAL, AND THERE WOULD BE ONE JAZZ RECORD, AND IT WOULD BE THAT BECAUSE IT WAS SO SOPHISTICATED AND WORLDLY AND IT WOULD SET A MOOD AND IT WAS SEXY AND EROTIC, AND IF YOU WANTED TO IMPRESS SOMEBODY ON THE FIRST DATE, THAT WAS ALWAYS THE RECORD THAT WOULD GO ON THE TURNTABLE.

[TEOPLAYING] Narrator: MILES DAVIS WAS NOW THE HIGHEST PAID MUSICIAN IN JAZZ, BLACK OR WHITE, AND HE HAD BECOME A DEFIANT SYMBOL OF SUCCESS FOR A NEW GENERATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.

HE WAS FOND OF FINE CLOTHES, FAST CARS, AND BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, "A BLACK MAN," A FELLOW MUSICIAN SAID, "WHO LIVES LIKE A WHITE MAN."

DAVIS CULTIVATED A COOL, TOUGH, ANGRY DEMEANOR, AND HIS RUDENESS--TO FANS AND TO OTHER MUSICIANS-- WAS LEGENDARY.

MILES DAVIS DID NOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM ANYBODY.

HE WAS ALSO POWERFUL ENOUGH TO HAVE HIS WAY WITH WHITE MANAGEMENT.

IT BOTHERED DAVIS THAT COLUMBIA HAD PUT A PRETTY BLONDE ON THE COVER OF MILES AHEAD, AND WHEN HE RELEASED SOMEDAY MY PRINCE WILL COME, HE INSISTED IT FEATURE HIS SECOND WIFE, FRANCES.

Frances Davis: MILES HAD STYLE.

HE HAD SOMETHING THAT WAS ELECTRIC TO EVERYBODY.

LADIES JUST--YOU KNOW, THEY WENT CRAZY OVER HIM.

HE WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

THE EXHILARATION OF JUST MILES WALKING ON A STAGE-- IT WAS A TURN-ON FOR EVERYBODY.

HIS LOOK, HIS APPEAL TO THE MASSES WAS INCREDIBLE, LIKE NO OTHER MUSICIAN I'VE EVER SEEN.

Lovano: HIS PERSONALITY, HIS WHOLE PRESENCE WAS AMAZING.

HIS WHOLE-- I DON'T KNOW-- THE VIBRATIONS IN THE ROOM CHANGED WHEN HE WALKED IN THE ROOM.

EVERYBODY'S EYES FOCUSED ON HIM.

IT WAS, LIKE, HE HAD SOME MAGICAL, MYSTICAL THINGS THAT WAS HAPPENING, UH, IN HIS PERSONA.

Troupe: WE ALL USED TO ACT LIKE MILES.

I USED TO TALK TO GIRLS LIKE I THOUGHT THAT MILES WOULD TALK TO GIRLS.

YOU KNOW, WE HEARD HE HAD THIS HOARSE WHISPER, SO I'D STAND UP AND TALK TO WOMEN--GIRLS, LIKE-- WELL, GIRLS AT THAT TIME, [HOARSELY] "HEY, BABY, WHAT'S HAPPENING?

WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Early: BUT HE WAS THE PERSON WHO WAS TALKED ABOUT, REALLY AS A PERSONALITY, MORE SO THAN ELLINGTON OR MORE SO THAN ANY OF THE OTHER PEOPLE.

MILES.

I MEAN, HE WAS KNOWN FIRST NAME.

MILES.

MILES THIS, MILES THAT, MILES WITH THE SUITS, MILES WITH THE WOMEN.

HE WAS THE JAZZ HERO FOR MY GENERATION, AND THIS CAME ALONG AT THE TIME OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA, WHEN MY GENERATION WAS SORT OF REJECTING LOUIS ARMSTRONG, WAS SORT OF REJECTING THE WHOLE IDEA OF A BLACK PERSON AS AN ENTERTAINER, AND THAT WAS VERY POWERFUL FOR US.

HIS COOL, THE WAY HE WENT ABOUT HIS BUSINESS...

THE, UH, SORT OF INSIDE/OUTSIDE WAY WITH MILES.

BECAUSE ON ONE LEVEL, MILES WAS MR. OUTSIDE IN SORT OF HIS STANCE ABOUT RACE OR HIS STANCE ABOUT MUSIC OR HIS SORT OF F-YOU STANCE ABOUT LIFE.

BUT HE WAS ALSO MR.

INSIDE.

HE WAS POPULAR.

HE WAS RESPECTED.

WHITES AND BLACKS LIKED HIS MUSIC.

I MEAN, THERE WERE LOTS OF THINGS ABOUT MILES THAT MADE HIM VERY ATTRACTIVE THAT WAY.

[MOODPLAYING] Narrator: BUT FOR ALL HIS GROWING FAME, FOR ALL HIS SUCCESS, DAVIS COULD NEVER COMPLETELY MASK HIS DEEP INSECURITY... OR CONTROL THE ANGER THAT WAS SO MUCH A PART OF HIS PERSONALITY.

NO AMOUNT OF TOUGHNESS COULD CHANGE THE FACT THAT HE WAS STILL A BLACK MAN IN A WHITE WORLD.

HE WOULD BE AFRAID TO GO IN TO THE HOTELS HIMSELF TO CHECK ON OUR RESERVATIONS, THINKING BECAUSE HE IS A BLACK MAN, THEY'RE GOING TO SAY, "NO, WE DON'T HAVE YOUR RESERVATION."

HE WOULD SEND ME IN TO TAKE CARE OF THAT PART OF IT.

I MEAN, HE REALLY, UM...

FEARED THE PREJUDICE THAT DID HAPPEN IN THIS COUNTRY THEN.

Narrator: ONE EVENING, DAVIS WAS TAKING A BREAK OUTSIDE BIRDLAND WHEN A WHITE POLICEMAN TOLD HIM TO MOVE ON.

DAVIS REFUSED.

"I'M WORKING HERE," HE SAID.

THE OFFICER BEAT HIM BLOODY WITH HIS BILLY CLUB.

THAT INCIDENT AND OTHER INDIGNITIES ONLY FUELED DAVIS' ALIENATION AND RAGE.

HE HAD FISTFIGHTS WITH CLUB OWNERS, SWORE AT FANS WHO DARED SPEAK TO HIM.

HIS PRIVATE LIFE WAS JUST AS COMPLICATED... AND VIOLENT.

Frances Davis: MILES WAS VERY POSSESSIVE.

I WAS HIS POSSESSION.

HERE I AM, THIS BALLERINA WHO'D PERFORMED ALL OVER THE WORLD, ON BROADWAY NOW, AND HE COMES TO THE THEATER ONE EVENING IN HIS FERRARI AND SAYS TO ME, "FRANCES, A WOMAN SHOULD BE WITH HER MAN.

I WANT YOU OUT OF WEST SIDE STORY."

I COULDN'T EVEN MENTION ANOTHER MAN.

WHEN I MENTIONED THAT QUINCY JONES WAS HANDSOME, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, I WAS DOWN FOR THE COUNT.

I HAD TO CALL THE POLICE BECAUSE I THOUGHT, "THIS IS GOING TO BE THE END OF ME."

IT WAS HARD, BUT I WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM, SO I TOOK IT ALL.

Wein: I DIDN'T LOVE MILES DAVIS.

I LOVED DIZZY GILLESPIE.

I LOVED DUKE ELLINGTON.

I LOVED COUNT BASIE.

I REALLY LOVED THOSE PEOPLE.

I NEVER LOVED MILES DAVIS.

PEOPLELOVED MILES DAVIS, BUT IT WAS A SORT OF A MASOCHISM.

MILES TREATED EVERYBODY IN VERY WEIRD WAYS.

THERE ARE MUSICIANS OUT THERE NOW THAT WORKED WITH MILES THAT ARE STILL BEING PAINS IN THE ASSES BECAUSE THEY LEARNED HOW TO BE A PAIN IN THE ASS FROM MILES DAVIS, AND THEY TRY TO MIMIC HIM AND IMITATE HIM.

AND MILES-- IT WORKED FOR MILES.

I WAS PROUD OF WORKING WITH MILES.

I DIDN'T LOVE HIM.

[ALL BLUESPLAYING] Narrator: DESPITE THE TURMOIL IN HIS PRIVATE LIFE, MILES DAVIS ASTONISHED THE JAZZ WORLD ONCE AGAIN IN 1959.

HE HAD BROUGHT HIS SEXTET INTO THE COLUMBIA STUDIOS TO MAKE ANOTHER ALBUM-- 5 ORIGINAL TUNES BUILT ON SIMPLE SCALES, OR "MODES," RATHER THAN THE COMPLICATED CHORD PROGRESSIONS THAT HAD CHARACTERIZED BEBOP.

THIS OPENED UP THE WORLD FOR IMPROVISERS BECAUSE THEY COULD GET AWAY FROM THE-- ALMOST THE GYMNASTICS OF POPPING THROUGH ALL OF THESE COMPLICATED HARMONIC LABYRINTHS AND JUST CONCENTRATE ON INVENTING MELODY, BECAUSE THE HARMONY DIDN'T CHANGE.

THE GUYS WHO HAD BEEN BEBOPPING THROUGH ALL THOSE CHORDS FOR ALL THOSE YEARS WERE NATURALLY FALLING INTO CERTAIN CLICHES, CERTAIN EASY KINDS OF PHRASES.

MILES FORCED THEM OUT OF IT.

Narrator: DAVIS WAS COMMITTED TO GETTING SOMETHING SPONTANEOUS OUT OF HIS MUSICIANS.

NONE OF HIS MEN EVER SAW ANY OF HIS NEW TUNES BEFORE THEY GOT TO THE RECORDING SESSION.

Troupe: WHEN MILES CAME IN, HE COMES UP WITH LITTLE SCRAPS OF PAPER-- LITTLE BITTY PIECES OF PAPER--AND SAYS, "THERE'S YOUR PART.

THERE'S YOUR PART.

THERE'S YOUR PART.

THERE'S YOUR PART."

BUT HE WANTED THAT TENSION, AND HE KNEW THAT THEY WERE GREAT MUSICIANS.

HE TOLD ME THE TRICK WAS TO PICK GREAT MUSICIANS WHEN YOU DO THAT BECAUSE HE HAD LEARNED THAT KIND OF TECHNIQUE FROM BIRD.

SO YOU PUT THEM IN THAT SPOT, YOU GIVE THEM A LITTLE BIT OF SOMETHING, AND THEN IF IT'S A GREAT MUSICIAN, THEN THEY KIND OF PLAY BEYOND THEMSELVES.

Narrator: THE GREAT MUSICIANS WHO ROSE TO THEIR LEADER'S CHALLENGE INCLUDED TENOR SAXOPHONE STAR JOHN COLTRANE, ALTO SAXOPHONIST JULIAN "CANNONBALL" ADDERLEY, BASSIST PAUL CHAMBERS, JIMMY COBB ON DRUMS, AND A NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN PIANIST, BILL EVANS.

Hentoff: AND THIS WAS A TIME WHEN THERE WAS A GREAT DEAL OF FIERCE REJECTION AMONG SOME YOUNGER BLACK MUSICIANS OF THE IDEA "A," THAT WHITES COULD PLAY THE MUSIC, BUT, MORE TO THE POINT, THAT WHITES SHOULDN'T BE TAKING AWAY JOBS FROM JAZZ MUSICIANS.

AND THIS COINCIDED WITH THE GREAT POPULAR-- GREAT FOR JAZZ--POPULAR INTEREST IN SO-CALLED WEST COAST JAZZ, WHICH WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY WHITE, WAS PRETTY BLAND, AND THOSE PEOPLE WERE MAKING A LOT OF MONEY.

SO HERE HE HIRES BILL EVANS.

Narrator: WHEN IT CAME TO MUSIC, COLOR DIDN'T MATTER TO MILES DAVIS.

EVANS' PLAYING, HE SAID, ADDED A "QUIET FIRE" TO HIS GROUP.

IT REMINDED HIM OF "SPARKLING WATER CASCADING DOWN FROM SOME CLEAR WATERFALL."

THE ALBUM DAVIS AND EVANS AND THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SEXTET PRODUCED TOGETHER, KIND OF BLUE, IS THE BEST-SELLING JAZZ ALBUM OF ALL TIME.

[BLUE TRAINPLAYING] Glaser: MUSIC IS ONE OF THE FEW THINGS THAT INVOLVES YOUR BODY, YOUR EMOTIONS, YOUR MIND, AND YOUR SPIRIT, ALL OPERATING SIMULTANEOUSLY.

YOU'RE PLAYING.

YOUR BODY IS INVOLVED.

YOU'RE FEELING EMOTIONS, YOU WANT TO EXPRESS SOMETHING EMOTIONALLY.

YOUR MIND IS ACTIVE.

IT'S CONSTRUCTING STRUCTURES OVER THE CHORD CHANGES OF THIS PARTICULAR TUNE.

AND YOUR SPIRIT.

IF YOU'RE--IT'S A PRAYERFUL KIND OF THING, SO IN THAT SENSE, IT'S A VERY RARE GIFT TO BE A MUSICIAN, TO BE ABLE TO SPONTANEOUSLY, AS A JAZZ MUSICIAN, HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER PEOPLE IN WHICH ALL OF THE PARTS OF THEMSELVES ARE EMBODIED AND HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME.

Wynton Marsalis: JAZZ MUSIC IS EXISTENCE MUSIC.

IT DOESN'T TAKE YOU OUT OF THE WORLD.

IT PUTS YOU INTHE WORLD AND MAKES YOU DEAL WITH IT.

IT'S NOT THE KIND OF THING OF A RELIGIOSITY OF, YOU KNOW, "THOU MUST."

IT'S NOT.

IT SAYS, "THIS IS..." AND THAT'S IT.

"THIS IS."

IT DEALS WITH THE PRESENT.

YES.

ALL OF THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS.

THERE'S A GUY--SOMEBODY WAS LAYING OUT DRUNK IN THE STREET.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE CAT WHO'S PLAYING.

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHARLIE PARKER.

BUT THAT FACT DOESN'T ALTER THE POWER-- THAT IS THE POWER OF WHAT HE'S SAYING.

"YES, I DID THAT, AND I ALSO DO THIS."

IT'S THE RANGE OF HUMANITY THAT'S IN THIS MUSIC.

Narrator: JOHN WILLIAM COLTRANE, LIKE ALL GREAT JAZZ INNOVATORS, SOUGHT TO TAKE THE MUSIC TO PLACES IT HAD NEVER BEEN AND BECAME IN THE PROCESS-- TO SOME OF HIS ADMIRERS-- SOMETHING LIKE A SAVIOR AND AN INSPIRATION TO A WHOLE GENERATION OF YOUNG MUSICIANS.

Bowie: COLTRANE IS LIKE THE FATHER.

HE IS ONE OF THE ONES THAT REALLY LED US INTO THIS SPIRITUAL QUEST, WHO REALLY MADE PEOPLE AWARE OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF JAZZ.

THIS HAD EXISTED FOR YEARS BEFORE, BUT COLTRANE WAS PUTTING IT ON ANOTHER LEVEL.

HE WAS BRINGING IT TO THE FOREFRONT.

[MATING CALLPLAYING] Narrator: HE WAS BORN IN 1926 IN A LITTLE NORTH CAROLINA TOWN CALLED HAMLET, GREW UP IN HIGH POINT, AND MOVED TO PHILADELPHIA AS A TEENAGER.

THERE, HE STUDIED SAXOPHONE AT 2 DIFFERENT CONSERVATORIES, PLAYED RHYTHM AND BLUES, LISTENED TO LESTER YOUNG, THEN GOT A JOB WITH A BIG BAND LED BY DIZZY GILLESPIE.

HE FIRST WON FAME PLAYING WITH MILES DAVIS, BUT DAVIS LET HIM GO FOR A TIME BECAUSE HE HAD BECOME ADDICTED TO HEROIN.

IN 1957, WHILE PLAYING WITH THELONIOUS MONK, COLTRANE UNDERWENT WHAT HE CALLED A "SPIRITUAL AWAKENING."

HE GAVE UP DRUGS, LIQUOR, CIGARETTES, BEGAN TO STUDY EASTERN RELIGIONS AND EASTERN AND AFRICAN MUSIC, INITIATING A RELENTLESS SEARCH FOR MEANING THAT HE NEVER ABANDONED.

FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE, JOHN COLTRANE SEEMED DETERMINED TO FILL HIS MUSIC WITH MORE OF EVERYTHING-- MORE NOTES, MORE IDEAS, MORE ENERGY.

Redman: JOHN COLTRANE NEVER RESTED.

HE ALWAYS NEEDED TO MOVE.

ONCE HE DISCOVERED ONE THING, HE REALIZED 10, 20 MORE THINGS THAT THERE WERE TO DISCOVER.

HE KEPT ON PUSHING HIMSELF, AND HE NEVER ALLOWED HIS ART TO EITHER STAGNATE OR TO EVEN REST.

IT WAS CONSTANTLY MOVING.

JOHN COLTRANE RAISED THE STANDARDS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A DEDICATED MUSICIAN.

Narrator: LIKE HIS FRIEND SONNY ROLLINS, HE SEEMED UNABLE TO PUT HIS MUSIC ASIDE EVEN FOR A MOMENT.

HE AND ROLLINS ROUTINELY PHONED ONE ANOTHER, PLAYED A PHRASE OR TWO INTO THE RECEIVER, THEN HUNG UP AND WAITED FOR THE OTHER TO CALL BACK WITH A MUSICAL ANSWER OF HIS OWN.

[CHASIN' THE TRAIN PLAYING] I CONSIDER ONE OF THE REALLY DEFINING RECORDINGS OF COLTRANE TO BE CHASIN' THE TRAIN, WHICH HE MADE IN 1961.

HE RECORDED IT LIVE AT THE VILLAGE VANGUARD.

IT WAS A 16-MINUTE SOLO ON ONE SIDE OF A RECORD.

HE PLAYS ABOUT 80 CHORUSES.

I ONCE TRIED TO COUNT.

IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO GET LOST, BECAUSE HE KEEPS TRYING TO BREAK THROUGH THE BOUNDARIES OF THE BLUES, AND THE RHYTHM SECTION KEEPS HOLDING HIM BACK A LITTLE BIT, BUT YOU CAN JUST FEEL HIM CHAMPING AT THE BIT.

NOW, OF COURSE, TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, THEY COULDN'T GET IT, BECAUSE IT SEEMED REPETITIOUS OR MONOTONOUS.

THE IDEA HERE, THOUGH, WAS THE EFFUSIVENESS.

THAT WAS WHAT WAS--IT WASN'T ABOUT DETAIL ANYMORE.

IT WASN'T ABOUT, "GEE, THAT'S A PERFECT 12-BAR LOUIS ARMSTRONG SOLO WHERE EVERY NOTE COUNTS AS IF IN A POEM."

THIS WASN'T A POEM.

THIS WAS A VERY LONG NOVEL.

AND, LIKE IN TOLSTOY, IT'S NOT ABOUT EVERY WORD BEING RIGHT.

IT'S THE OVERWHELMING EFFECT.

AND IT JUST PINNED YOUR EARS BACK, AND YOU KNEW THAT YOU WERE IN A NEW WORLD, A BRAVE NEW LAND FOR JAZZ.

[APPLAUSE] [PLAYING MY FAVORITE THINGS] Narrator: IN 1961, COLTRANE FORMED A NEW QUARTET-- McCOY TYNER AT THE PIANO, JIMMY GARRISON ON BASS, AND ELVIN JONES, A MASTER OF COMPLEX RHYTHMS, ON DRUMS.

COLTRANE HIMSELF NOW OFTEN PLAYED THE SOPRANO SAXOPHONE, THE INSTRUMENT THE NEW ORLEANS MASTER SIDNEY BECHET HAD INTRODUCED TO JAZZ.

THEIR STUNNING TRANSFORMATION OF THE SENTIMENTAL HIT FROM THE SOUND OF MUSIC-- MY FAVORITE THINGS-- BECAME THE FIRST JAZZ CUT SINCE DAVE BRUBECK'S TAKE FIVE TO RECEIVE WIDE PLAY ON THE RADIO.

SOON, JOHN COLTRANE WAS MAKING MORE MONEY THAN ANY OTHER JAZZ MUSICIAN EXCEPT MILES DAVIS.

BUT COLTRANE BARELY NOTICED.

THE MUSIC WAS ALL THAT SEEMED TO MATTER TO HIM, AND THE MEN WITH WHOM HE PLAYED SHARED HIS ALMOST MYSTICAL BELIEF IN THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT THEY WERE DOING TOGETHER.

Cuscuna: THE ENERGY, THE POWER THAT CAME OUT OF THAT GROUP WAS JUST ASTONISHING.

I GUESS MY MOST VIVID MEMORIES OF BIRDLAND ARE SEEING COLTRANE.

IN THE PEANUT GALLERY, THE TABLES WERE VERY NICELY SPACED, AND I REMEMBER WE USED TO JUST GET UP AND DANCE TO JOHN COLTRANE.

IT WAS AS CLOSE TO HAVING A RELIGION AS I EVER GOT.

[EVENTUALLYPLAYING] Narrator: LOUIS ARMSTRONG AND DUKE ELLINGTON, CHARLIE PARKER AND DIZZY GILLESPIE, SONNY ROLLINS AND MILES DAVIS AND JOHN COLTRANE HAD MADE THEIR INDIVIDUAL STATEMENTS WHILE WORKING WITHIN ESTABLISHED RHYTHM AND HARMONY AND SEQUENCES OF CHORDS.

ONE MAN REJECTED ALL OF THAT.

JAZZ, HE SAID, MUST BE "FREE."

HIS NAME WAS ORNETTE COLEMAN.

"THE THEME YOU PLAY AT THE START OF A NUMBER IS THE TERRITORY," HE SAID, "AND WHAT COMES AFTER, WHICH MAY HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH IT, IS THE ADVENTURE."

Giddins: AT SOME POINT, IF YOU GO FAR ENOUGH OUT OF THE CHORDS, THE QUESTION ARISES, "WHY USE THE CHORDS AT ALL?

"WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE GET RID OF THE CHORDS, "AND WE DON'T HAVE A HARMONIC CONTOUR?

WHAT IF WE JUST IMPROVISE MELODICALLY?"

OK. ANOTHER QUESTION IS, "WHY DO WE HAVE TO PLAY 4/4 TIME ALL THE TIME?

"I MEAN, WHERE IS THAT WRITTEN?

"WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE DON'T?

"WHAT IF THE DRUMMER COULD IMPROVISE A KIND OF TIME "THAT RESPONDS MOMENT TO MOMENT TO WHATEVER THE SOLOIST "OR WHATEVER THE ENSEMBLE IS PLAYING?

"AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE CHORDS AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE STANDARD TIME, "WHAT DOES THE BASS PLAYER DO?

"HOW DOES HE FIND HIS PLACE?

AND ORNETTE COLEMAN PUT TOGETHER A QUARTET THAT DID THAT.

IT PLAYED A FREE MUSIC.

[FAITHFULPLAYING] Narrator: IN A LOS ANGELES GARAGE, ORNETTE COLEMAN BROUGHT TOGETHER A GROUP OF LIKE-MINDED BUT MUCH YOUNGER MUSICIANS-- THE TRUMPET PLAYER DON CHERRY, THE DRUMMER BILLY HIGGINS, AND A 22-YEAR-OLD BASS PLAYER FROM THE OZARKS WHO HAD ONCE PLAYED ON THE STAGE OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY, CHARLIE HADEN.

HE INVITED ME OVER TO HIS APARTMENT, AND WE ARRIVED.

HE OPENED THE DOOR.

MUSIC WAS EVERYWHERE-- ON THE RUG, ON THE BED, ON THE TABLES.

I UNCOVERED MY BASS.

HE REACHED DOWN, AND HE PICKED UP A MANUSCRIPT, AND HE SAID, "LET'S PLAY THIS."

I SAID, "OK." I WAS REAL SCARED, YOU KNOW.

HE SAYS, "NOW, I'VE WRITTEN THE MELODY HERE.

"UNDERNEATH IT ARE THE CHORD CHANGES.

"THOSE ARE THE CHORD CHANGES I HEARD WHEN I WROTE THIS MELODY, "BUT WHEN WE START TO PLAY, "AFTER I PLAY THE MELODY AND I START TO IMPROVISE, "YOU PLAY THE CHANGES.

YOU MAKE UP NEW CHANGES THAT YOU'RE HEARING FROM WHAT I'M PLAYING AND FROM THE TUNE."

AND I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, "SOMEBODY'S FINALLY GIVING ME PERMISSION TO DO SOMETHING THAT I'VE--WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING ALL THIS TIME."

AND WE STARTED TO PLAY, AND A WHOLE NEW WORLD OPENED UP FOR ME.

IT WAS LIKE, UH, BEING BORN AGAIN.

I WAS HEARING MUSIC SO MUCH MORE DEEPLY THAN I'D EVER HEARD.

IT'S LIKE A DESPERATE URGENCY TO IMPROVISE COMPLETELY NEW.

WE USED TO TALK ABOUT IT AS IF-- PLAYING MUSIC AS IF YOU'VE NEVER HEARD MUSIC BEFORE.

AND WE PLAYED ALL NIGHT, ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT, ALL DAY.

I THINK WE TOOK A BREAK TO GO GET SOME FOOD, AND WE PLAYED FOR ABOUT 2 DAYS.

THAT WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE PLAYING WITH ORNETTE.

Narrator: COLEMAN MANAGED TO FIND A SMALL LABEL WILLING TO BACK HIM, AND HE MADE 2 ALBUMS.

SLOWLY, HIS REPUTATION BEGAN TO GROW.

IN NOVEMBER OF 1959, ORNETTE COLEMAN BROUGHT HIS NEW SOUND TO THE CENTER OF THE JAZZ WORLD-- NEW YORK CITY.

THE FIVE SPOT, IN MANHATTAN'S EAST VILLAGE, WAS A FAVORITE HANGOUT FOR THE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST PAINTERS-- FRANZ KLINE, WILLEM DE KOONING, JACKSON POLLOCK.

ITS MANAGEMENT PRIDED ITSELF ON FEATURING THE MOST ADVENTUROUS MUSICIANS IN TOWN, AND NOTHING WAS MORE ANTICIPATED THAN THE ARRIVAL OF THE ORNETTE COLEMAN QUARTET.

[FOCUS ON SANITY PLAYING] Haden: THE FIRST NIGHT I PLAYED AT THE FIVE SPOT, I WAS UNCOVERING MY BASS, BILLY WAS PUTTING UP HIS DRUMS, AND CHERRY WAS GETTING HIS HORN, ORNETTE WAS GETTING HIS HORN OUT, AND I LOOKED UP AT THE BAR, WHICH WAS FACING THE STAGE, AND STANDING ALONG THE BAR WAS WILBUR WARE, UH... CHARLIE MINGUS, PAUL CHAMBERS, PERCY HEATH.

EVERY GREAT BASS PLAYER IN NEW YORK CITY WAS STANDING THERE, STARING ME RIGHT IN THE FACE.

AND I SAID, FROM THAT MOMENT ON, I CLOSE MY EYES.

I THINK WE PLAYED THERE FOR 4 MONTHS, 6 NIGHTS A WEEK, AND EVERY NIGHT, THE PLACE WAS PACKED.

ONE NIGHT I WAS PLAYING WITH MY EYES CLOSED AGAIN, AND I'M PLAYING, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, I OPEN MY EYES, AND SOMEBODY'S UP ON THE STAGE WITH HIS EAR TO THE "F" HOLE OF MY BASS.

AND I LOOKED OVER AT ORNETTE, AND I SAID, I SAID, "COLEMAN, WHO IS THIS?

MAN, GET HIM OFF THIS BANDSTAND."

HE SAYS, "THAT'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN."

Narrator: BERNSTEIN PRONOUNCED ORNETTE COLEMAN A GENIUS, AND LIONEL HAMPTON ASKED TO SIT IN.

BUT TRUMPETER ROY ELDRIDGE SAID HE'D LISTENED TO HIM DRUNK AND HE'D LISTENED TO HIM SOBER AND HE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND HIM EITHER WAY.

MILES DAVIS DECLARED HIM "ALL SCREWED-UP INSIDE," BUT JOHN COLTRANE CAME TO PLAY WITH HIM BETWEEN SETS.

COLEMAN SAW HIMSELF AS SOLIDLY IN THE JAZZ TRADITION.

"BIRD WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD US," HE SAID.

"HE WOULD HAVE APPROVED OF OUR ASPIRING TO SOMETHING BEYOND WHAT WE INHERITED."

McLean: A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE MID-FIFTIES WERE ALREADY PLAYING MUSIC THAT HAD AN OPEN CONCEPT, WHAT I CALL THE "BIG ROOM," A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD CROSS A THRESHOLD AND HAVE NO BARRIERS, YOU KNOW, NO KEY SIGNATURES, NO CHORD PROGRESSIONS, NO PARTICULAR FORM, YOU KNOW, AND LATER ON, ORNETTE CAME TO NEW YORK WITH HIS QUARTET AND STOOD HIS GROUND AND MADE THIS MUSIC REALLY SINK IN AND WORK, YOU KNOW.

AND THAT'S THE THING THAT I ADMIRE ABOUT ORNETTE, NOT ONLY HIS WRITING AND PLAYING, BUT THE FACT THAT HE STOOD HIS GROUND AND STOOD BY HIS MUSIC AND TOOK THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF ALL THE CRITICISM THAT CAME TOWARDS HIM, BECAUSE A LOT OF MUSICIANS FROM THE BEBOP SCHOOL THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE JUST PLAYING ANY OLD THING.

[FREE JAZZPLAYING] Narrator: IN 1961, ORNETTE COLEMAN ISSUED A RECORD CALLED FREE JAZZ.

THE COVER ART INCLUDED A PAINTING BY JACKSON POLLOCK.

JUST ONE PIECE FILLED BOTH SIDES OF THE RECORD.

IT WOULD HELP PROVOKE A DEBATE ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF JAZZ THAT HAS NEVER ENDED.

Albert Murray: ORNETTE COLEMAN CAME UP AND SAYS, "THIS IS FREE JAZZ."

BUT WHAT IS FREER THAN JAZZ?

AS SOON AS YOU SAY JAZZ, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT FREEDOM OF IMPROVISATION.

THE WHOLE THING IS ABOUT FREEDOM, ABOUT AMERICAN FREEDOM.

SO WHY ANYBODY WOULD WANT TO FREE IT BECAUSE THE WHOLE IDEA OF ART IS TO CREATE A FORM THAT IS A BULWARK AGAINST ENTROPY, OR CHAOS.

YOU SEE, THAT'S THE FUNCTION OF JAZZ.

IT'S NOT TO BE FORMLESS AND ABSOLUTELY SELF-INDULGENT.

"I WANT TO GO THIS WAY, I'LL GO THIS WAY, I'LL GO THAT WAY."

THAT'S LIKE EMBRACING THE WAVES IN THE SEA, YOU KNOW?

AND SO IT'S LIKE, YOU CANNOT EMBRACE ENTROPY.

YOU CANNOT EMBRACE CHAOS.

WE WANTED PEOPLE TO LIKE OUR MUSIC.

WE REALLY DID.

BUT I REALLY BELIEVE THAT MOST GREAT MUSICIANS ARE FREE MUSICIANS.

IF YOU LISTEN TO COLEMAN HAWKINS PLAY, TO IMPROVISE, IF YOU LISTEN TO THELONIOUS MONK IMPROVISE, IF YOU LISTEN TO BUD POWELL, THEY IMPROVISED ON A LEVEL THAT I CALL BEYOND CATEGORY, PLAYING SO FREE AND SO DEEPLY AT A LEVEL OF, YOU KNOW, I CALL IT "WITH YOUR LIFE INVOLVED."

AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID.

BEING WILLING TO GIVE YOUR LIFE-- TO GIVE UPYOUR LIFE, RISKING YOUR LIFE, IT'S ALMOST LIKE BEING ON THE FRONT LINE IN A BATTLE.

BEING ABLE...

WANTING TO GIVE YOUR LIFE FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

Narrator: FOR THE NEXT 40 YEARS, THE AVANT-GARDE MUSIC THAT ORNETTE COLEMAN AND MANY OTHERS PLAYED WOULD CONTINUE TO INSPIRE AND TO DIVIDE THE WORLD OF JAZZ.

[SO WHATPLAYING] CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY GENERAL MOTORS CAPTIONED BY THE NATIONAL CAPTIONING INSTITUTE --www.ncicap.org-- THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES ON-LINE.

VISIT THE JAZZWEB SITE AT pbs.org OR AMERICA ONLINE KEYWORD: PBS, WHERE YOU'LL FIND MUSIC AND VIDEO CLIPS, TIMELINES, BIOGRAPHIES, ACTIVITIES, AND MORE.

THE ENTIRE 10-PART JAZZSERIES IS AVAILABLE ON VIDEOCASSETTE OR, WITH EXTRA FEATURES, ON DVD.

A 5-CD MUSIC COLLECTION WITH NEARLY 100 INFLUENTIAL JAZZ RECORDINGS IS ALSO AVAILABLE.

YOU CAN ALSO ORDER THE COMPANION BOOK WITH OVER 500 PHOTOGRAPHS SPANNING 100 YEARS OF AMERICA'S MUSIC.

TO ORDER, CALL PBS HOME VIDEO AT 1-800-PLAY-PBS.

CORPORATE FUNDING FOR TH >> FOR OVER A DECADE, GENERAL MOTORS HAS BEEN THE SOLE CORPORATE SPONSOR OF THE FILMS OF KEN BURNS.

WE'RE PROUD OF OUR ASSOCIATION WITH KEN BURNS AND PBS.

IT'S ALL PART OF GM's COMMITMENT TO SHARE THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE THROUGH QUALITY TELEVISION PROGRAMMING.

MAJOR SUPPORT WAS ALSO PROVIDED BY THE PARK FOUNDATION, DEDICATED TO EDUCATION AND QUALITY TELEVISION.

SUPPORTING PERFORMING ARTISTS WITH THE CREATION AND PUBLIC PERFORMANCE OF THEIR WORK.

LOUISIANA, HOME OF THE SOUNDS OF ZYDECO, CAJUN, GOSPEL, AND, OF COURSE, JAZZ.

EXPANDING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD.

A FAMILY FOUNDATION.

AND BY THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO YOUR PBS STATION FROM... Ken Burns: WE HAVE, IN OUR 10-EPISODE, NEARLY 19-HOUR FILM, 497 SEPARATE PIECES OF MUSIC.

WE'VE GOT 2,000 ARCHIVAL FILM FOOTAGE BITS AND MORE THAN THAT IN STILL PICTURES, BUT AT THE HEART OF IT IS THIS MUSIC-- FROM THE VERY, VERY BEGINNINGS AS RAGTIME AND THE OTHER MUSIC IN NEW ORLEANS BEGAN TO TRANSFORM AND METAMORPHOSIZE INTO THIS MUSIC WE CALL JAZZ, THROUGH ALL ITS CHANGES AND ALL ITS MUTATIONS AND PERMUTATIONS UP TO THE PRESENT MOMENT.

I MEAN, AS A FILMMAKER, IT POSED THE MOST DIFFICULT CHALLENGE BECAUSE MOST OF THE TIME MUSIC IS BACKGROUND.

HERE WE HAD TO MOVE THAT TO THE FOREGROUND, AND IT HAD TO WORK IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.

SOMETIMES WE'D STOP AND JUST PLAY A WHOLE TUNE BY ITSELF.

OTHER TIMES WE WERE TALKING ABOUT A SPECIFIC TUNE BUT TALKING IN AND AMONG IT IN THE PAUSES WHERE WE THINK WE CAN GET AWAY WITH SOME CHATTER.

OTHER TIMES WE'RE SPEAKING ABOUT A KIND OF MUSIC, AND YOU'RE HEARING IT IN THE BACKGROUND, AND OTHER TIMES, THE MUSIC IS JUST BACKGROUND MUSIC THE WAY IT ALWAYS IS.

AND AS DIFFICULT AS THE PROBLEMS WERE, THIS WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, HEAVEN.