Jazz was still popular music in July 1958, when directors Aram Avakian and Bert Stern filmed Jazz on a Summer’s Day at the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, R.I. Jazz on a Summer’s Day is celebrated today for preserving performances by singers Anita O’Day and Dinah Washington, who share the stage with the likes of Thelonious Monk, saxophonist Sonny Stitt and drummer Max Roach. In particular, O’Day — who is resplendent in white gloves and feathered hat — sings in a scatting style that has largely disappeared, while Washington delivers the jazz standard “All of Me” in exemplary fashion. The film also features progressive jazz as it was practiced in 1958, with great music from saxophonist Jimmy Giuffre and drummer Chico Hamilton’s quintet. Jazz on a Summer’s Day catches jazz just as it begins to slide toward Ornette Coleman’s avant-garde version of the music, and you can see the young Eric Dolphy playing flute with Hamilton. Rock ’n’ roll fans will note how the great jazz drummer Jo Jones drags the beat behind Chuck Berry, who gets through “Sweet Little Sixteen” without any support from the bemused rhythm section. In 1958, rock ’n’ roll, as exemplified by Berry’s electric guitar, was the real musical avant-garde, but no one knew that yet.
2 & 8 p.m. at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
