Weekend Video

Bert Stern has been caught in Marilyn Monroe "Last Sitting" mode for so long it's easy to forget what a talented photographer and film-maker he was and is. His film "Jazz on a Summer's Day" captured the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in startling Kodachrome color and with amazing photo-cinematographic compositions. The audience shots are a master class in how to use this material to invigorate rather than distract, while the multiple cameras and sharp edits never seems to make the wrong move. In this clip Dinah Washington gives a swinging performance of "All of Me". but just look at how Stern introduces Washington with just a close-up of the bopping jeweled bow of her dress!