Jazz on Film: Jazz Voices: Great Singers on Screen

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents the Jazz on Film screening series.

Organized by guest curator Peter Lucas, Jazz on Film includes classic and rare performance films made from the 1920s-1950s presented by jazz film archivist Mark Cantor; a 60th anniversary screening of Otto Preminger’s classic The Man with the Golden Arm; Shirley Clarke’s gritty Harlem story The Cool World, and the 1970 documentary film Jack Johnson featuring a score by Miles Davis.

Jazz Voices: Great Singers on Screen
Presented by jazz historian and film collector Mark Cantor.

A compendium of the best jazz vocalists on film culled from Cantor’s archives and assembled especially for the MFAH.

Focusing on performances of classics, this lively program highlights an amazing lineup of singers, including Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, June Christy, Joe Williams, Mel Torme, Johnny Mercer, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Mark Cantor was born in Los Angeles and grew listening the great jazz, blues, and pop sounds heard throughout the metropolitan L.A. area. He began collecting jazz records as a teenager, and soon discovered jazz on film. He has concentrated on locating and researching jazz films since the late 1960s, and the Celluloid Improvisations Music Film Archive now contains more than 4,000 individual performances.

Mr. Cantor attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature and history, with a minor in music. He began a teaching career in 1971 and retired from the classroom in 2011. He currently lives in Agoura Hills, California, where he serves as the owner and director of the Celluloid Improvisations Music Film Archive.

Independent curator Peter Lucas has created 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, Northwest Film Forum, Seattle International Film Festival, and Experience Music Project.

Houston Press named him Best Curator in 2012 and 2013. Lucas is also an active artist, with an upcoming gallery show at Art League Houston and a film and installation project being created as part of Rice University’s Space Arts Initiative.