Icons Among Us complete set now affordable

Back in February, I griped about the fact that the full-length, four-part version of Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense was prohibitively expensive. At $495, it was priced for the educational market, which was once a major cash cow, like the Pentagon.

A shorter (90 min.), less expensive ($18.99) feature-length version has been available since 2009, but I've been dying to see the whole thing, which has aired on cable channels in some markets. So I'm pleased to report that the complete documentary series, plus extras, is now available for $49.95. For a limited time, whatever that means.

The four parts together run 220 min. Two hours of extras include performances by the Donald Harrison Jr. Quartet, Bill Frisell Trio, Matthew Shipp, Danilo Perez, Dafnis Prieto Sextet, The Bad Plus, Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Jacob Fred, Jazz Odyssey, e.s.t, the Roy Hargrove Quintet, and Bugge Weseltoft, along with profiles of jazz advocates including Jazzreach, Earshot Jazz, and the Jazz Foundation of America. The set also includes a study and discussion guide on CD-ROM.

Go here to learn more about the series, view some videos, download a sample of the study guide, and press the BUY NOW button, if you're so inclined.

Icons Among Us: The whole thing, please?

Icons Among Us, the feature-length documentary film about contemporary jazz artists, has been hailed as the answer to Ken Burns's Jazz. (Ben Ratliff called it "a retort...starkly anti-Burnsian.")

I saw it in Minneapolis on October 2, 2009, at the Oak Street Cinema in Minneapolis, where it was part of the 10th annual Sound Unseen films-about-music festival, and thought it was pretty good. Dave King was in the house with his wife and kids; they had probably come expecting to see performance clips and interviews featuring The Bad Plus, of which King is a member. But TBP appeared only in the opening credits (or closing, I can't remember which) of the film, which tells just part of the story.

The 93-minute feature was carved out of a 4-part documentary that has run on cable and satellite TV and at jazz festivals. Having seen the feature film a year and a half ago, I'd love to see the documentary. I would buy the documentary--if I could afford it. Priced for the educational market, it costs $495.