A documentary film on VHS video featuring the Jim Hall Trio (1998: Jim Hall, Scott Colley & Terry Clarke, accompanied by string and brass ensembles). Guest artists: Tom Harrell, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny and Greg Osby. Interviewees: Chico Hamilton, Nat Hentoff and John Lewis. This film by Bruce Ricker benefits from good timing: Mr. Hall is now going through a creative burst. He has suddenly discovered an affinity for writing arrangements, and he has been releasing a slew of albums, showing off his expanded visions, with brass and string sections and guest soloists. The film's contemporary segments center on the recording of Mr. Hall's most recent album, By Arrangement, and because it involves some of Mr. Hall's friends (including saxophonist Joe Lovano, guitarist Pat Metheny and Mr. Osby), it manages to lead some of jazz's more important figures into excited assessments of Mr. Hall's accomplishments. Outside of the recording studio, Mr. Hall narrates his own life, with film footage of him playing with Jimmy Giuffre, Chico Hamilton, Sonny Rollins and other performers, as well as glimpses of Mr. Hall's domestic life with his wife and daughter. As he talks, he's measured in his self-assessment, and wryly funny; he's a reliable guide to his own career, and the film lets him tell most of the story. - Ben Ratliff, The New York Times. 60 minutes.
HL 00320204
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