Jazz on Film
June 6–21, 2025
“Jazz on Film” returns with three weekends of screenings that explore the various intersections of jazz and cinema. This year’s series is bookended with two 1960s films scored by Quincy Jones, who passed away in November 2024. Organized by guest curator Peter Lucas, the lineup also features documentaries on drummer Art Blakey and free-jazz visionary Ornette Coleman; the Oscar-nominated Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat connecting jazz with geopolitical history; and a 35th-anniversary screening of Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues.
Guest curator Peter Lucas, founder of “Jazz on Film,” has organized exhibitions, film series, and public programs in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; the Menil Collection; Aurora Picture Show; Seattle International Film Festival; Northwest Film Forum; and the Museum of Pop Culture. He is also a writer and multidisciplinary artist.
Upcoming Events in this Series
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Art Blakey: The Jazz Messenger
Art Blakey formed the Jazz Messengers in the mid-1950s, and the evolving group became a rite of passage for talented young musicians for the next 35 years. This documentary portrait of Blakey captures the legendary drummer, bandleader, and teacher in the 1980s as he leads workshops and performances in London and New York City.
- Friday, June 20, 2025
- 7 p.m.
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The Pawnbroker
Rod Steiger stars as a German-Jewish immigrant who lives a bitter, lonely existence running a pawn shop in Harlem. Quincy Jones’s first Hollywood film score features musicians Dave Grusin, Freddie Hubbard, Elvin Jones, and Oliver Nelson.
- Saturday, June 21, 2025
- 7 p.m.
Generous support has been provided by the Foundation for Independent Media Arts, Gerry Aitken, Richard Levy and Dinah Chetrit, and Anne Tucker and Robert Morris.