Rising Tones Cross
FilmPals DVD 01
This 2 hour 16 mm film is a documentary composition of new jazz, New York as the city that generates it, and the musicians playing it. The thoughts of the saxophonist CHARLES GAYLE and the bass players WILLIAM PARKER and PETER KOWALD from Germany accompany the film.
It was shown on German and Swiss public television and has been screened at film-and jazz events around the globe ever since....
RISING TONES CROSS is a nostalgia piece for some, a valuable historical document for others... The film is romantic. There is a certain appeal and charme to images of a dirtier, grittier New York. The scene, always the scene, seemed to be more vibrant and the musicians less weighed down. And the music is wonderful, compelling stuff even for people jaded about improvised music. Rising Tones Cross provides some continuity, showing how jazz survived when pop and rap and heavy metal began to fully take over the public consciousness.
Andrey Henkin in All About Jazz - NY>>
featuring
Charles Gayle - tenor saxophone
Marilyn Crispell - piano
Rashied Ali - drums
Peter Kowald - double bass
PETER KOWALD TRIO
Harvest Green
John Betsch - drums
Charles Gayle - tenor saxophone
Peter Kowald - double bass
JOHN ZORN DUO
Sunday Afternoon at Life Cafe
John Zorn - reeds
Wayne Horvitz - keyboards
BILLY BANG'S FORBIDDEN PLANET
Music For The Love Of It
Kim Clarke - bass
Wayne Horvitz - keyboards
Oscar Sanders - guitar
Bobby Previte - drums
Billy Bang - violin
WILLIAM PARKER & PATRICIA NICHOLSON ENSEMBLE
A Thousand Cranes Opera
Wayne Horvitz - piano
Ricardo Strobert - alto sax, flute
Masahiko Kono - trombone
Denis Charles - drums
William Parker - double bass
Lisa Sokolov - voice
Jeanne Lee - voice
Ellen Christi - voice
Patricia Nicholson Parker - dance
Maria Mitchell - dance
Carol Penn Muhammed - dance
Frank Boyer - dance
Keith Dames - dance
A.R. Penck - stage design
CHARLES TYLER QUINTET
Life Can Be Whatsoever
Roy Campbell Jr. - trumpet
Curtis Clark - piano
Wilber Morris - double bass
John Betsch - drums
DON CHERRY & THE SOUND UNITY FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
Kangaroo Hoopie
Don Cherry - conductor, piano
Maria Mitchell - dance
Peter Brötzmann - tenor sax
Rüdiger Carl - tenor sax
Daniel Carter - alto sax
Denis Charles - drums
Ellen Christi - voice
Peter Kowald - double bass
Wilber Morris - double bass
Felice Rosser - electric bass
JEMEEL MOONDOC SEXTET
In Walked Monk
Roy Campbell Jr. - trumpet
Ellen Christi - voice
Rahn Burton - piano
William Parker - double bass
Rashied Ali - drums
Jemeel Moondoc - alto sax
IRÈNE SCHWEIZER DUO
For Julian Beck
Irène Schweizer - piano
Rüdiger Carl - tenor sax
PETER BRÖTZMANN ENSEMBLE
Alarm
Peter Brötzmann - tenor sax
David S. Ware - tenor sax
Frank Wright - tenor sax
Charles Gayle - tenor sax
Jemeel Moondoc - alto sax
Roy Campbell Jr. - trumpet
Masahiko Kono - trombone
Irène Schweizer - piano
Peter Kowald - double bass
William Parker - double bass
Rashied Ali - drums
RISING TONES CROSS was funded by
NRW Filmbüro and DFFB, Berlin 1984
Original Concert Recordings by
Jost Gebers
Production / Cinematography / Director
Ebba Jahn
All rights reserved © 1984/2012 by
Ebba Jahn
Eye of Sound: Perhaps it's difficult to believe, but most of the artists listed above were once striving for recognition in the jazz scene and fighting for sheer survival. Ebba Jahn's Rising Tone Cross captures a moment when these artists were just starting to create a "scene", when their sparkling creativity was not yet comforted by certainty and success. More interestingly, perhaps, the film deals with issues of class and race and with the differences between the social contexts of improvised music in Europe and America. What really distinguishes this from other "jazz films", however, is the visual and narrative focus on New York as the metaphorical force behind the musician's creative burst, portraying it as a dirty, poor, rough and lively city not yet tamed by shinny images of success and bourgeois comfort.
The Wire: Ebba Jahn’s remarkable film Rising Tones Cross, a two hour document of New York jazz, filmed in 1984 but looking so ramshackle and magnificently unreconstructed as to resemble a down at heel scene from a good decade earlier’ – The Wire (reviewing Le Weekend Festival 2008).
Rising Tones Cross is an intelligent documentary illuminating New York's avant-jazz scene in the early-1980's. This jazz film explores complex improvisation through live performances and exclusive interviews. The film features a candid glimpse of John Zorn and Wayne Horvitz performing on a "Sunday Afternoon At Life Cafe". In addition, Charles Gayle discusses the introspective considerations on musical influences, and Peter Kowald analyses personal performance versus the conceptual values of the avant-garde. Discussion is developed on the racial dynamics between black and white musicians in the new music scene. Important conclusions are also reached on how culturally insignificant jazz music is and whether avant-garde music can be a platform for people's consciousness. Rising Tones Cross celebrates it's 20th Anniversary by being re-released on DVD from filmmaker Ebba Jahn.
Duck Baker, Coda Magazine:
...Musically and visually is interest here, but in a way, the best thing of all is the mere fact that it shows contemporary artists in their natural habitat, on the streets, in performance lofts, or in their apartments, speaking their own words and just being themselves. There just hasn't been much documentation of Bohemia as it really is, and this film rings true on that score and on many others.
a Jazz Film by Ebba Jahn
DVD 5 specifications:
NTSC/Pal all-regions (RC 0)
MPEG Audio 4.3 GB
Length: 111 minutes
Extra: Music tracks menue
RISING TONES CROSS
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© Ebba Jahn 2014 info@EbbaJahn.com
Freddy, Moers 2/2010:
Meine Frau und ich haben Deinen Film in Bochum Langendreer gesehen. >
Du warst auch selbst anwesend. Nach 5 Jahren habe ich mir ihn nun gekauft und mir noch mal angesehen. Ich möchte Dir ganz persönlich gratulieren zu diesem Superwerk. Davon abgesehen, dass ich selber Free Jazz Musiker bin und ein großer Fan von Charles Gayle und den in diesem Film vorkommenden Musikern, hat Dein Film soviel Atmosphäre, dass es gut ist, dass Du ihn produziert hast. Vielen Dank. Mit lieben jazzigen Grüßen Freddy
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RISING TONES CROSS
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Charles Gayle in RISING TONES CROSS, 1984
#75 Vera, Österreich 3/2012
Ich halte den Film nicht nur für ein historisches Dokument, sondern finde ihn auch auf Grund seiner Vielschichtigkeit und seines Einlassens auf das Musikalische hoch interessant, spannend, weil er sowohl das Individuelle wie das Soziale, Kunst wie das Soziologische in den Blick nimmt."
#76 Heinz, Köln 3/2012
Ich habe mitte der 80-er „rising tones cross“ im kino gesehen und fand den film superklasse... Nun bin ich bei einer aufräumaktion auf das filmplakat gestoßen, das lange zeit in meinen vergangenen wohnungen gehangen hat... und suchte nun die dvd im www... das (aufgezogene) plakat wird demnächst auch wieder hängen. Als mein sohn es beim aufräumen sah, war er sofort angefixt, werde es ihm bringen, er will es bei sich aufhängen!!
#74 Markus, Heidelberg Umgebung 3/2012
...du hast eine ganze Reihe meiner heiss verehrten Musiker portraitiert!
Selbst spiele ich altsax und bin erst recht zufällig kürzlich auf Jemeel Moondoc gestoßen, über seine neu erschienene 3-CD-Box, jetzt ist er mein großes Idol (auch wenn mir bewusst ist, dass gerade auf dem Gebiet die übliche Fan-Anhängerschaft nicht "funktionieren" kann ...)
keep swingin'.
Farewell 1st Edition DVD Count Down
Buyer's Notes:
#77 Georges, Luxembourg 2-3/2012
...I am watching your film regularly
the musicians speak so naturally, so openly, as if there were no camera
are you filming yourself while they speak to you?
Yes.
die bilder fliessen wie Musik...
they are bubbles charged with emotion, humanity, soul, dedication.
the film gives you calm and energy and joy and makes you feel there are things worth living for and people you should meet and...
