This post’s title riffs on a wonderful satire by the late great Irma Bombeck, and it’s so conveniently apt for the marriage of jazz and the movies.
Both are such fascinating art forms who share very convenient birthdays. There’s never an exact day when jazz dropped or when cinema began. But traces of each can be found in the late 19th century, and before in different forms. As the 20th century began to develop so did these two mediums. And both have evolved into respected arts with their own avant gardes (see the line-up for this year’s Winter Jazzfest for a smattering).
2010's Winter Jazzfest, New York City
However, jazz which reached its crescendo (in terms of popularity) in the mid-50′s to mid-60′s (it’s offshoot, rock-and-roll, took it from there, again, in popularity), has found its place in contemporary culture in the back catalog. Sure there are crossovers like Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux, and (say it isn’t so) Michael Buble. But these aren’t jazz singers in the same sense as Annie Ross, Johnny Hartman, or Betty Carter. (This is not to say that there aren’t groundbreaking jazz vocalists today, they’re just shamefully removed from the mainstream spotlight). And for the the majority of the world, jazz has become this convenient aperitif whenever the mood strikes, or connotations of intellectual behavior need to be made to a credulous date or parent.
This is not so with the movies. Jazz is as much as crowd art form as the movies, perhaps even more so. We can clap, jeer, dance, shout during performances. Whereas, in the cinema we’re accustomed to silence for the most part unless the laughter track is set-up for us. However, with box office revenues surpassing the $10 billion dollar amount in 2009 alone, there’s no comparison in who the real winner is in terms of economics and longevity.
John Cassavettes' Shadows
And yet one of the most interesting aspects of these two mediums is that their avant gardes began breaking into the mainstream at the same, and included one another. Take John Cassavettes. Hailed by many as the Godfather of American Independent Cinema (Maya Deren, the more obscure Goddess), his first feature from 1959, “Shadows” not only had a jazz soundtrack, but was about the love life of jazz musicians, their friends, and siblings. (Two years prior, the darkly satiric “Sweet Smell of Success” hit screens and showcased a brilliant score of jazz, and live performances complementing the film’s pacing and chiaroscuro). These are just two examples of the cross over. Some are more blatant like Clint Eastwood’s biopic, “Bird,” or even one of the earliest talkies (if not the first, as it’s so heralded), “The Jazz Singer.”
Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows
Jazz does make it’s auditory appearance in the movies and when it does, most critics’ ears perk up to make note, as if it were a fluke, a rare, special occurrence (see Sideways or Elevator to the Gallows, or Last Tango in Paris for examples). I think it also adds much more to films when it’s included, and gives any film a degree more intimacy and energy. You also remember the film better. (This can be said of any film with a memorable soundtrack, of course, but on a whole those with jazz soundtracks verses those with standard catalog fare will claim immortality easier).
Chet Baker
Why on earth jazz is not used more often except for the art house picture is beyond me (it can’t be budgetary reasons, of course–think how much cheaper it would be to use an independent quartet verses the likes of James Horner or Hans Zimmer). Not only would this nicely inculcate jazz into our film language and history; a history so paralleled with the movies’ in American culture. But it also would help push jazz back into the popular spotlight it once shared with the movies (good luck try finding any moviegoer in the mid-fifties who didn’t also listen to Chet Baker or Sarah Vaughan). We can thank the likes of Mick Ronson and company for pushing Motown back on to the music charts the past couple years. Now how about a marriage counselor for movies and jazz?
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