Artie Shaw

In the late 1930s, as the Great Depression deepens, jazz thrives. The saxophone emerges as an iconic instrument of the music; this segment introduces two of its masters, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. Young migrates to Kansas City, where a vibrant music scene is prospering with musicians such as trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison and drummers Jo Jones and Chick Webb. Out of this ferment emerges pianist Count Basie, who forms a band that epitomizes...

"Her hair isn't yet platinum and her makeup is still more girlish than glamorous, but Lana Turner is nonetheless "a walking acetylene torch" in her first top billing, playing a dancer planted in a big Midwest college to win a rigged Hollywood contest. The prize: the starring role in a big movie musical. The complications: plenty, especially when the co-ed falls for a crusading college newshound (Richard Carlson) who suspects the contest is as phony...

A collection of short films from the 1940s and 1950s offering a rare opportunity to see as well as hear jazz legends.

Music from the PBS special Jazz, by filmmaker Ken Burns.