
Access to this video is a benefit for members through
Back to Show
Jazz
The Gift
Season 1
Episode 2
As the Roaring Twenties accelerate, Paul Whiteman, a white bandleader, sells millions of records playing a sweet, symphonic jazz. Louis Armstrong comes to New York, adding his improvisational brilliance to the band's new sound - and soon Armstrong is showing the whole world how to swing.
Support Provided By

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:48:32
During the Sixties, jazz is in trouble.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:54:32
Currents of change in American now impact Jazz.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:58:35
The postwar years bring America to a level of prosperity unimaginable a decade before.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:53:09
When America enters World War II, jazz is part of the arsenal.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:39:45
A new sound emerges- pulsing, stomping, suffused with the blues.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:28:38
As the Depression drags on, jazz comes as close as ever to being America's music

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:58:57
Jazz is called upon to lift the spirits of a frightened country.

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:46:40
As the stock market continues to soar, jazz is everywhere in America

Unlock with PBS Passport
1:21:48
JAZZ begins in New Orleans, nineteenth century America's most cosmopolitan city.