When “The Cry of Jazz” was first made in 1959, it was considered both radical and amateurish, and sat underappreciated for decades. Then in 2010, the short documentary was chosen for preservation by the National Film Registry.
That film will be shown May 9 at 4 p.m. at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University in New Haven.
Ed Bland, a composer who made only one film, made “The Cry of Jazz” to draw a parallel between the musical genre and the black experience in America. The 39-minute movie, presented in seven parts, goes back and forth between performing musicians including Sun Ra, jazz fans discussing the genre, segments on the history of jazz and segments on daily life in Chicago.
Admission is free to the screening. facebook.com/events/917999731924477.
Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.
