Jam Session

Duke Ellington and his band play the title song at a Harlem restaurant while men and women enter the locale.

It's one of more than two thousand "soundies" produced between 1939 and 1947, meant to be played on a device called a Mills Panoram. For seven years they could be found in bars, night clubs, and other places where people would gather. Think of them as music videos, available for viewing at a dime a song.

By the time this came out, it was considered worthwhile to identify all the members of the band with a big subtitle to tell you who was playing. Some, like Ben Webster, are still well known, but they all are worth knowing.

This is one of the most popular soundies online with more than two and a half million views. If you want to see for yourself -- and hear! -- check under the title "C Jam Blues"

"Jam Session" is a short film that is a 'Soundie'...an early sort of music video that was played on specially built jukeboxes from 1940-1947. These jukeboxers were unusual because they not only played music but video...like music videos of the modern era. And, if you are curious about this an other soundies, you might want to buy yourself a copy of "Soundies the Ultimate Collection"...a 4 disc set of about 200 of these films.

"Jam Session" features Duke Ellington and his orchestra playing something called "C Jam Blues". Unfortunately, like many of these Soundies, the picture quality, even after restoration, isn't particularly good. They are playing in a place made up like a restaurant and patrons keep popping in as he and his band plays.

Like all the Soundies, it's rather difficult to rate them. After all, they are pretty unique, though in some ways they are reminscent of the 1920s-30s Vitaphone shorts. But for historians, film and music buffs, they are gold and are well worth seeing and hearing.

Duke Ellington and Orchestra perform 'C Jam Blues'...

Although I know very little about jazz, I know that Duke Ellington was about as big a name as there ever was in the genre. And of what I know about film, it was rare for black people to be in a movie in the 1940s unless they were a servant or comic relief. So I see this short film as being doubly important: it captured black people performing and enjoying music in the 1940s, which is not common on film. And it captured one of the all-time greatest musicians performing. Are there many jazz films? I don't know. Are there many films of Ellington? I don't know. But I feel like even in these few minutes, we really capture the essence of the music.

This is a three minute short of Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performing 'C Jam Blues'. It is kind of like an early music video. I really like the listing of each band members' names. Most of the times, they are just nameless musicians in the background. This is basically the guys playing in a bar-like room with a few babes walking down the stairs and enjoying their music. All the elements are there for a modern music video except for the quick sharp edits. The problem is I don't know where they would show this. It has to be group together with other shorts in and around the theatrical features.