Rating: 
Summary: Woodstock precursor
Review: I agree with almost all of these reviews. The big disappointment comes when one sees the Playlist on the bonus menu on the DVD - and realizes just how many performers were NOT included in this film. I also feel that, with all these performers, less time could have been devoted to Louis Armstrong and Mahalia Jackson, and some other clips/performers used instead - or better yet, add another 20 minutes of performances. I can't rate this for Jazz, as my father, not I, is the Jazz afficionado. I'm sure he'll love this DVD.For all, myself included, who thought the movie WOODSTOCK was innovative and groundbreaking ... well, this movie, released 9 years before the Woodstock concert, so obviously seems to have influenced Michael Wadleigh's "script" and filmwork (other than his use of split/multiple screens) that if Wadleigh had NOT studied JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY I would be most surprised! For this reason alone, this film deserves a wide audience.
Rating: 
Summary: Where Was the Rest of Dinah Washington?
Review: I have always loved this documentary, but there wasn't enough Dinah Washington for my taste. I have the album, "Dinah Washington at Newport '58" and she sings Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues" in a shattering performance. Why they chose "All of Me" over "BB" is beyond me. They probably filmed it, why didn't they include it in this DVD?
Rating:
Summary: Where Was the Rest of Dinah Washington?
Review: I have always loved this documentary, but there wasn't enough Dinah Washington for my taste. I have the album, "Dinah Washington at Newport '58" and she sings Bessie Smith's "Backwater Blues" in a shattering performance. Why they chose "All of Me" over "BB" is beyond me. They probably filmed it, why didn't they include it in this DVD?
Rating:
Summary: jazz on a summers day
Review: I live in Gloucestershire, England and could not find this DVD in UK. Thanks to Amazon and the Web, my copy arrived in (...)days! I first saw this wonderful film many years ago and I remember how it affected me. A passion for jazz AND photography makes this film the perfect vehicle to soak up the atmosphere of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. I would have been 8 years old when it was filmed and even at that early age, I was into Monk, Mulligan and Shearing. George lives just up the road from me and I know him quite well. He would have been 39 in 1958. The film is beautifully shot, focusing on the performances, the music and atmosphere, but without a documentary. It doesn't need one! The way Bert Stern moves from artiste to audience is superb. Cool performers and guys in the audience, young and old all on the "afterbeat". Wonderful to see Monk playing "Blue Monk", Anita O'Day singing "Georgia Brown". Dig that hat!! And Mr Shearing with quintet, performing a late slot - fantastic! The icing on the cake is an interactive journey, narrated by Mr Stern, behind the scenes of the film. He tells you his thinking, his emerging appreciation of jazz and his roots in photography. This is interlinked with specific sequences from his unique film. As the liner notes say "I was just . . . basically a photographer who wanted to make a movie before I was 30 . . . it was a form of a documentary and had a lot to do with photograhy . . . it wasn't something that I had ever seen before and it just intrigued me . . . it's more of of a happening. . . interpretive, happening . . ." The quality of the video and audio is brilliant. If you appreciate photography or jazz, or like me . . . both, this film is a real must. Highly recommended! Regards to all, JON' B.
Rating:
Summary: A Lot Of Fun!
Review: I make no claim to being a jazz listener or jazz expert -- most of the names on this DVD I have never heard of before. I put the DVD and was oh so pleasantly suprised by how much I enjoyed this. You're tapping your foot right away, and my wife and two kids (aged 3 and 5) danced for an hour in front of the TV listening and watching this DVD. We had so much fun! The video was interesting as well. Filmed in 1958 at Newport Rhode Island, it's a time capsule to that era. People, hair-styles, sunglasses, old camera, watches, laquer-coated wooden boats, plenty of 12-meter sailing yachts...it had the feel of watching an 8mm homemovie. Very enjoyable!
Rating: 
Summary: Great music -- decent movie
Review: I purchased this DVD with a bit of trepidation, unsure of whether my image of what could be with the DVD format and what this disk might use would match. From a musical standpoint, this is an outstanding addition to the collection. Theloneus Monk, in particular, stands out. From a movie standpoint, it's o.k. I was fascinated the first time I watched it for about a half an hour. After that, the crowd scenes and the boat races do not add as much to the musical landscape. And while it is interesting movie-making that there is no real narration, letting the sounds come from the artists, the crowd, and an occassional clip, some explanation of who we are seeing or what is going on might be helpful, if only for future reference. Perhaps the only downside to the DVD is that it provides a complete playlist for the festival which reads as a roster of jazz greats, with performances by Ray Charles and Chuck Berry thrown in. Yet the movie only plays a portion of those and I am left to wonder why so many great artists were left out of the final version--the production notes indicate the musicians signed on out of curiosity and does not mention any hold-outs, yet many are forgotten. While this is good, that additional knowledge makes me long for something more, where Miles Davis and others were included in the feature. Still, this is a remarkable musical piece with decent eye candy, making it much more worth the purchase price that the numerous movies that will only be watched once and then forgotten.
Rating: 
Summary: A total disappointment.
Review: I was looking for a video of these artists performing. Instead, this is primarily a video showing scenes of Newport and apparent clips of folk that were attending this event in various parts of town. The music is in the background and there are scenes of artists performing. After paying what I paid for this video, and seeing what was presented, I was totally dissatisfied. This video is like a tourist advertisement for Newport, not a jazz concert.
Rating:
Summary: an ageless classic
Review: I've loved this film since I first saw it in its theatrical release oh so many years ago...with the eye of an artist, Bert Stern crafted a visual masterpiece around some musical treasures, starting with the vastly underrated Jimmy Giuffre, with his trio-mates Bob Brookmeyer and Jim Hall playing "Train and the River". It has many views of Newport, its people, the audience, a regatta...it captures that era of the 50's when we liked Ike and nobody knew smoking was a bad habit.
Among my favorites are Anita O'Day, Gerry Mulligan, the great "Rockin' Chair" duet between Louis Armstrong and Jack Teagarden, the magnificent Mahalia Jackson, and of course, Jimmy Giuffre...I think it's truly one of the best films centered around music ever made.
This tape also includes a mini-documentary by Bert Stern on how he made the film.
Rating:
Summary: The truly first 'woodstock' type film, chronicling the Beats
Review: If you are a student of the Beat Generation, Bert Stern or traditional Jazz, this is a must. Stern was a pioneer in Advertising Photography and explored his ability as a film maker with this film. He photographed the festival as an artistic peer of the musicians performing. One of the best jazz documentaries of the the century, and certainly the best documentary that relates the feelings, attitudes and sensousness of the Beat scene.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic snapshot of a great time in Jazz
Review: If you love Jazz at all, this video is a fantastic snapshot of a great time in Jazz. There's nothing to compare with Dinah Washington's rendition of "All of Me" or Louis Armstrong wailing on the trumpet or Thelonious Monk on the piano... The video is capped off by Mahalia Jackson and her fantastic gospel singing. I can't say enough good things about this video. It's a wonderful treat!
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