The Last of the Blue Devils - The Kansas City Jazz Story
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List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $26.88
Your Save: $ 3.07 ( 10% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Rhapsody Films
Starring: Gene Ramey, Jo Jones (II), Charlie Parker, Jesse Price, Herman Walder
Directed By: Bruce Ricker
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0738329016821
Format: Color
Label: Rhapsody Films
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Rhapsody Films
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2001-08-14
Running Time: 90
Studio: Rhapsody Films
Theatrical Release Date: 1995-12-05
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: WANG DANG DOODLE
Comment: What a great documentary? So, that's what they meant in the song about 'going down to that ole union hall and pitch a wand dang doodle?' Shows so much. And we find out a bit of what it was like in the bad old days. Kids in the business today got it good and don't have to pay hardly any dues. But, it shows 'cause they won't be around like these oldtimers. Can you imagine Kanye West, 50 Cents and Jay Z at sixty years old trying to recreate what they did at twenty. Now. that's a video I'd like to stick around and see. But, since I'm sixty years old now, that means I'll die laughing at 100.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Last of the Blue Devils
Comment: Warm, joyous film blends current day encounters and performances of old jazz comrades with lively footage and anecdotes of Kansas City in prohibition days and just after, when the Pendergast political machine controlled the town. (Later Boss Tom Pendergast would launch a former local haberdasher into politics: Harry S. Truman). Whatever else was happening, jazz was certainly thriving, and a host of musicians like Basie and Turner used the time and place to advance and perfect their individual gifts. This feature will be catnip for any jazz lover.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Blue Devils
Comment: About 1986 or close to it, I saw a portion of "The Last of the Blue Devils" on late night TV, and I have always watched for it to be aired again, but I have not seen it. When I saw this CD listed, I jumped on the opportunity to buy it, hoping to see more of Lester Young than his brief appearance. But all in all, I still enjoyed the CD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Joe Turner and friends - Kansas City Reunion
Comment: As an account of the history of Kansas City jazz "The Last of the Blue Devils" is a bit thin on detail. However this nostalgic record of a gathering of aged musicians is very interesting and at times highly entertaining. For those who are seriously interested in tracing the history and influences of Kansas City Jazz there are plenty of other sources to be explored but Big Joe Turner and friends enjoying themselves is something well worth experiencing - and a bit of the Kansas City jazz story creeps in too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Musical Genius
Comment: The Blue Devils never sounded so good as this. Jay has now completed his 5th Symohony (198 pages) which was written at the age of thirteen. It has been recorded for Sony BMG in the same studios where the Beatles' songs were recorded. This fifth composition was played by the London Symphony Orchestra in England,
He was not your normal twelve year old, not interested in sports. He was bored to distraction in history class. He sees music as a hobby, and not his destiny. He hears the music in his head at the speed of light. He hums what's channeled to him as he walks. He is the musical Einstein.
At the age of ten, he enrolled at Julliard. Now, at the age of fourteen, he is a 3rd year college student. Jay need to question his 'gift' like Beethoven and studies piano lessons. He played cello at the age of three. He had started writing music at the age of two. His mother is Israli and father lost his sight at the age of 36.
At twelve years, he became known as a musical prodigy and declares that "it comes right the first time." He writes the music for each instrument of the orchestra even though he has not played them. He write "when I am inspired;" when one long session is completed, he starts another immediately. I fear he will burn out before he reaches twenty. He writes what he has imagined and when asked "who can really define happiness" he answers "keeping one's mind challenged."
This was a good documentary filmed both in America and Britain as he takes his bows after the performance of his 5th Symphony. He may know music, but I would advise him to change his mind about history, as that is where we come from and is to be the result of our family heritage and genes as to what his future holds for him. He is an inspiration to all.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: WANG DANG DOODLE
Comment: What a great documentary? So, that's what they meant in the song about 'going down to that ole union hall and pitch a wand dang doodle?' Shows so much. And we find out a bit of what it was like in the bad old days. Kids in the business today got it good and don't have to pay hardly any dues. But, it shows 'cause they won't be around like these oldtimers. Can you imagine Kanye West, 50 Cents and Jay Z at sixty years old trying to recreate what they did at twenty. Now. that's a video I'd like to stick around and see. But, since I'm sixty years old now, that means I'll die laughing at 100.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Last of the Blue Devils
Comment: Warm, joyous film blends current day encounters and performances of old jazz comrades with lively footage and anecdotes of Kansas City in prohibition days and just after, when the Pendergast political machine controlled the town. (Later Boss Tom Pendergast would launch a former local haberdasher into politics: Harry S. Truman). Whatever else was happening, jazz was certainly thriving, and a host of musicians like Basie and Turner used the time and place to advance and perfect their individual gifts. This feature will be catnip for any jazz lover.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Blue Devils
Comment: About 1986 or close to it, I saw a portion of "The Last of the Blue Devils" on late night TV, and I have always watched for it to be aired again, but I have not seen it. When I saw this CD listed, I jumped on the opportunity to buy it, hoping to see more of Lester Young than his brief appearance. But all in all, I still enjoyed the CD.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Joe Turner and friends - Kansas City Reunion
Comment: As an account of the history of Kansas City jazz "The Last of the Blue Devils" is a bit thin on detail. However this nostalgic record of a gathering of aged musicians is very interesting and at times highly entertaining. For those who are seriously interested in tracing the history and influences of Kansas City Jazz there are plenty of other sources to be explored but Big Joe Turner and friends enjoying themselves is something well worth experiencing - and a bit of the Kansas City jazz story creeps in too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Musical Genius
Comment: The Blue Devils never sounded so good as this. Jay has now completed his 5th Symohony (198 pages) which was written at the age of thirteen. It has been recorded for Sony BMG in the same studios where the Beatles' songs were recorded. This fifth composition was played by the London Symphony Orchestra in England,
He was not your normal twelve year old, not interested in sports. He was bored to distraction in history class. He sees music as a hobby, and not his destiny. He hears the music in his head at the speed of light. He hums what's channeled to him as he walks. He is the musical Einstein.
At the age of ten, he enrolled at Julliard. Now, at the age of fourteen, he is a 3rd year college student. Jay need to question his 'gift' like Beethoven and studies piano lessons. He played cello at the age of three. He had started writing music at the age of two. His mother is Israli and father lost his sight at the age of 36.
At twelve years, he became known as a musical prodigy and declares that "it comes right the first time." He writes the music for each instrument of the orchestra even though he has not played them. He write "when I am inspired;" when one long session is completed, he starts another immediately. I fear he will burn out before he reaches twenty. He writes what he has imagined and when asked "who can really define happiness" he answers "keeping one's mind challenged."
This was a good documentary filmed both in America and Britain as he takes his bows after the performance of his 5th Symphony. He may know music, but I would advise him to change his mind about history, as that is where we come from and is to be the result of our family heritage and genes as to what his future holds for him. He is an inspiration to all.
Kansas City in the 1930s was a wild, wide-open place. Under political boss Tom Pendergast, the booze flowed freely, prostitution and gambling flourished, and the Depression pretty much passed the city by, making it an ideal spawning ground for some great music. Pianist-bandleader Count Basie, saxophone immortals Lester Young and Charlie Parker, and blues belters Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing were all working there, along with a host of lesser- known but equally formidable musicians, and they all played the blues, Kansas City style. Director Bruce Ricker's 90-minute The Last of the Blue Devils chronicles the 1979 reunion of many of these legendary players, combining interviews, vintage film footage, photos, and some inimitably swinging performances by Basie, Turner, pianist Jay McShann, and many others to create an intimate, good- natured portrait of what one old-timer calls the "cool, relaxed sound" of the city. The camaraderie among these men, all of whom are colorful raconteurs (drummer Ernie Williams's harangues to some bemused local kids are especially entertaining), is palpable. But it's the music, unsurprisingly, that's the main attraction; performances include some familiar tunes, like Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll" and a Basie big band version of "Night Train" (featuring tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest, the tune's composer) that's as greasy as the local barbecue. The Last of the Blue Devils is an absolute delight. --Sam Graham
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