Last weekend we posted "Free Speech and Free Jazz," Kurt Loder's appreciation of Nat Hentoff's dual career as a civil libertarian and a music critic. At one point in the story, Loder mentions that Hentoff "helped produce The Sound of Jazz—a 1957 CBS TV special that brought together Lester Young, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and the inimitable Monk, among many others—which was a landmark of televised jazz that has never been surpassed."
The Sound of Jazz, which aired as part of the documentary series The Seven Lively Arts, really is a fine hour of television. And thanks to YouTube, you can watch it right now:
Hentoff has written for Reason a few times; you can see those articles here. To see him writing about a musician who isn't usually thought of as a jazzman, go here. For past editions of the Friday A/V Club, go here.
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