Jam Session

1942 Music 3 minutes Directed by Josef Berne

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About Jam Session

Duke Ellington and his orchestra play "C Jam Blues" in a single three-minute performance. Ray Nance, Rex Stewart, Ben Webster, Joe Nanton, Barney Bigard, and Sonny Greer are in the band on screen.

Cast & crew

More about Jam Session

Josef Berne directed and Sam Coslow produced this Soundie for the Panoram film jukebox. It is a 16mm black-and-white short, distributed by the Soundie Distributing Corporation.

Themes

  • One blues performance
  • Ellington's orchestra on a jukebox film
  • C Jam Blues
  • Duke Ellington
  • Soundie
  • Panoram
  • 16mm

Music

Duke Ellington wrote and leads "C Jam Blues." The on-screen band includes Ray Nance, Rex Stewart, Ben Webster, Joe Nanton, Barney Bigard, and Sonny Greer.

Preservation

The short survives. The Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry in 2001.

Notes

  • The tune is Ellington's "C Jam Blues.
  • The Library of Congress added the short to the National Film Registry in 2001.
  • It is on the 2006 DVD Duke Ellington: Early Tracks from the Master of Swing.
  • Soundies were coin-machine loops, not theatrical features.

Awards

  • National Film Registry (2001)

Scenes

  • The orchestra plays "C Jam Blues" straight through for the Panoram reel.

Also available

  • Duke Ellington: Early Tracks from the Master of Swing (DVD, 2006)