The newly restored Bryn Mawr Film Institute is hosting Jazz’n Film, a daylong excursion into the world of improvisational jazz caught on film.
From 3 to 8 p.m. on October 2, jazz greats like Billy Holiday, Dinah Washington and Lester Young will fill the Institute’s screen in a series of short films and “soundies,” a unique genre of 16 mm music videos from the 1940s.
“You just can’t see these things anywhere else,” said Devin Wachs, the Institute’s coordinator of education. “It will be a wonderful collaboration of sound and image.”
Discussions with authors, professors and musicians will be interspersed throughout the films. Light refreshments are included in the admission price of $20 ($15 for students with a proper ID).
Also at the Institute will be a full screening of Round Midnight, the Oscar-nominated film portraying some of the jazz world’s greatest players as they work out their genius and neurosis in Paris in the 1950s.
“The event is as much a celebration of the stories behind the jazz as it is about the sound and rhythm,” Wachs said. “The musicians all had such amazing personal dramas.”
Jazz’n Film is one of many compelling reasons to frequent the Institute. A recently added café and consistently interesting and eclectic film selections make it a prime destination close to Eastern.
Check www.brynmawrfilm.org for more information.