Bert Stern’s acclaimed film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival is newly restored for its 60th Anniversary. The special edition comes housed in a lavish, blue-foil blocked fully-illustrated 40-page hardback book complete with new, definitive sleeve notes by Mojo’s Fred Dellar, including artist and track-by-track details. Conceived by stills photographer Bert Stern (Vogue magazine, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn) and brilliantly filmed over three days in August 1958, Jazz On A Summer’s Day provided the template for future concert documentaries such as Monterey and Woodstock. Although the festival featured a glittering array of jazz giants such as Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Anita O’Day, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, and Gerry Mulligan, the event encompassed far more. In 1999, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. DVD extras include an interview with Bert Stern, an introduction to Jazz on a Summer’s Day, artist biographies and photo gallery. “An audio-visual treat, a moment to savour from the Indian summer of Jazz” The Guardian
