X
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Eastworld Entertainment
- 1 h 25 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Eastworld Entertainment
- 1 h 25 m
Summary A revelatory, thrilling and emotional journey behind the scenes of Blue Note Records, the pioneering label that gave voice to some of the finest jazz artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Directed By: Sophie Huber
Written By: Sophie Huber
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Eastworld Entertainment
- 1 h 25 m
- 2019
- Not Rated
- Eastworld Entertainment
- 1 h 25 m
Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes
71
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch
Summary A revelatory, thrilling and emotional journey behind the scenes of Blue Note Records, the pioneering label that gave voice to some of the finest jazz artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Directed By: Sophie Huber
Written By: Sophie Huber
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
71
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 8 Critic Reviews
71
88% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
13% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
One of the charms of “Blue Note” is the stories the artists tell about each other.
This tidy, thoughtful film gets at jazz’s joy and pain.
A lot of jazz labels have mattered, but none has mattered the way Blue Note did — and, thanks to a proudly hip-hop-inflected present, still does. It’s the gold standard of recorded improvisational music. Sophie Huber’s briskly reverential documentary, Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes, lets us see and hear why.
As standard a documentary as it is in presentation, Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes is cleverly assembled and edited, making the most of available archival material to flesh out the stories of Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Art Blakey, Horace Silver et al, and of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, the two German-Jewish immigrants who escaped the war and redefined America’s music culture.
It will probably get the job done for casual jazz fans — after all, it features clips of some of the most incredible, enchanting and inspiring recordings ever made. Those already familiar with the genre may be disappointed to discover that it mostly sticks with the notes they know and very seldom ventures beyond.
The film offers enough astute insights and terrific interviews and performance footage to attract buffs while serving as a superb introduction for neophytes.
While the film will be of acute interest to jazz fans, the film offers up an object lesson in how contemporary documentaries function in the 21st century. Comprised of the requisite talking heads, archival footage, and the shotgun blast of endless photographs of iconic moments, the film delivers a perfunctory tableau that is right at home with the programming on The History Channel (with fewer Nazis, of course).
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Production Company
BBC Music,
Berner Filmfoerderung,
Eagle Rock Entertainment,
Final Cut,
Fondation Ernst Göhner,
Fondation UBS pour la Culture,
Kulturfonds Suissimage,
Media Desk Suisse,
Mira Film,
SRG - SSR,
Stage Pool Focal,
Succés Passage Antenne,
Teleclub AG,
Verein zur Filmförderung in der Schweiz,
Zürcher Filmstiftung,
isotopefilms
Release Date Jun 14, 2019
Duration 1 h 25 m
Rating Not Rated
Genres
Awards
Richmond International Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
SWR Doku Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
• 2 Nominations
