Filmed in Chicago, finished in 1959, the Cry of Jazz is filmmaker, composer and arranger Edward O. Bland's polemical essay on the politics of music and race, a forcast of what he called "the death of jazz."
A landmark moment in black film, forseeing the civil unrest of subsequent decades, it also features the only known footage of visionary pianist Sun Ra from his beloved Chicago period. Ample images of tenor saxophonist John Gilmore and the rest of Ra's Arkestra in Windy City nightclubs, all shot in glorious black & white.
Rarely seen in cinemas, this is the first commercial release of the Cry of Jazz, transferred from a pristine print and featuring an otherwise unreleased Arkestral soundtrack. Special features include a photo gallery of stills from the film & the UMS catalog.