The story of America in the 20th century is the story of Jazz.
The major names in the history of Jazz are some of the most fascinating humans who made it through those decades. Names like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Billie Holiday are widely known even today, decades after they’ve passed. They were icons of talent, who re-defined American singing traditions, and among their number, though less known today by non-afficianados, is Carol Sloane.
Her talent, staggering. Widely-held by other performers as one of the great jazz interpreters, Carol Sloane was in the midst of some of the most important moments in the development of American music. Not only was she a contemporary, and friend, of folks like Ella and Carmen McRae, but she was there as the world of rock ‘n roll became the dominant form of popular music.
The documentary Sloane: A Jazz Singer, looks at Carol Sloane’s career as she prepares for a show at Birdland. Now in her 80s, she’s got a show at such a legendary venue and it’s built around the reveal of the power she still possesses in performing for a live recording.
And as powerful a performer as she still is, her personality is even more powerful.
Sloane telling us her story, the ups and downs of several decades, from the heights of the Tonight Show and performing around the world, to working as a legal secretary, she has had a life and knows how to pass her memories to us with clarity. She imparts her triumphs and her failures with the same passion: the passion of the performer. She’s giving us the story, her story, and when things get heavy and darker, she doesn’t shy away, she goes into it, through it. She demonstrates that she is a human who understands the path of time, and what every decision means, and what it meant. She seems to understand her life as a road, and it passed through some unpleasant, and often boring, neighborhoods, but it also gave her grand vistas.
This is a film constructed around interviews, but formed through the use of archive materials. Television performances, hundreds of photos, and perhaps most impressively, audio tapes. The way it plays visually is so impressive, and deeply textured, both in image and sound. This isn't verite, not even slightly, nor is it archive-constructed like Amy, but a hybrid that takes the best of both and runs in the interplay. At times I was brought into the world of the archive doc, but the moment I got the familiar feeling of oversaturation in memorabilia, bam, Carol Sloane of 2019 reappears and takes it all over again.
The incredible stuff is the stuff that is closer to Carol than to the many superstars whose names are still widely celebrated. When we see or hear Carmen McRae or Ella or Dizzy, we recognise them, but we connect with Carol, she engages us so deeply that they become a part of her story, not Carol Sloane being an ornament on their legendary tree. Perhaps nothing makes the point of the power of Carol Sloane more than the fact that when he hits us with that show we've been waiting for, and we're through to the end, I instantly wanted to hear the whole thing.
This is a wonderful documentary, and director Michael Lippert has choreographed a film that is the story of a life and its intersections.
Sadly, Carol Sloane left us in January, but this documentary serves as a stronger, more-lasting memorial than any tombstone ever could.
Sloane: A Jazz Singer shows Monday, August 28th at the Mountain View ICON Theatre.
https://tickets.cinequest.org/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=292610~a12ee803-7eae-437e-8208-1c4d52da2020&epguid=330ab4d6-45cd-4e3a-a87e-02c739b12dbb&
The major names in the history of Jazz are some of the most fascinating humans who made it through those decades. Names like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Billie Holiday are widely known even today, decades after they’ve passed. They were icons of talent, who re-defined American singing traditions, and among their number, though less known today by non-afficianados, is Carol Sloane.
Her talent, staggering. Widely-held by other performers as one of the great jazz interpreters, Carol Sloane was in the midst of some of the most important moments in the development of American music. Not only was she a contemporary, and friend, of folks like Ella and Carmen McRae, but she was there as the world of rock ‘n roll became the dominant form of popular music.
The documentary Sloane: A Jazz Singer, looks at Carol Sloane’s career as she prepares for a show at Birdland. Now in her 80s, she’s got a show at such a legendary venue and it’s built around the reveal of the power she still possesses in performing for a live recording.
And as powerful a performer as she still is, her personality is even more powerful.
Sloane telling us her story, the ups and downs of several decades, from the heights of the Tonight Show and performing around the world, to working as a legal secretary, she has had a life and knows how to pass her memories to us with clarity. She imparts her triumphs and her failures with the same passion: the passion of the performer. She’s giving us the story, her story, and when things get heavy and darker, she doesn’t shy away, she goes into it, through it. She demonstrates that she is a human who understands the path of time, and what every decision means, and what it meant. She seems to understand her life as a road, and it passed through some unpleasant, and often boring, neighborhoods, but it also gave her grand vistas.
This is a film constructed around interviews, but formed through the use of archive materials. Television performances, hundreds of photos, and perhaps most impressively, audio tapes. The way it plays visually is so impressive, and deeply textured, both in image and sound. This isn't verite, not even slightly, nor is it archive-constructed like Amy, but a hybrid that takes the best of both and runs in the interplay. At times I was brought into the world of the archive doc, but the moment I got the familiar feeling of oversaturation in memorabilia, bam, Carol Sloane of 2019 reappears and takes it all over again.
The incredible stuff is the stuff that is closer to Carol than to the many superstars whose names are still widely celebrated. When we see or hear Carmen McRae or Ella or Dizzy, we recognise them, but we connect with Carol, she engages us so deeply that they become a part of her story, not Carol Sloane being an ornament on their legendary tree. Perhaps nothing makes the point of the power of Carol Sloane more than the fact that when he hits us with that show we've been waiting for, and we're through to the end, I instantly wanted to hear the whole thing.
This is a wonderful documentary, and director Michael Lippert has choreographed a film that is the story of a life and its intersections.
Sadly, Carol Sloane left us in January, but this documentary serves as a stronger, more-lasting memorial than any tombstone ever could.
Sloane: A Jazz Singer shows Monday, August 28th at the Mountain View ICON Theatre.
https://tickets.cinequest.org/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=292610~a12ee803-7eae-437e-8208-1c4d52da2020&epguid=330ab4d6-45cd-4e3a-a87e-02c739b12dbb&
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