In the 1950s, dozens of jazz musicians jam night after night in a dilapidated New York loft building, not realizing they are all being captured in sound and pictures by acclaimed LIFE Magazine photographer W. Eugene Smith, who lives in the loft space next door. Thelonious Monk stops by to rehearse; drummer Ronnie Free gets hooked on hard drugs; Smith begins to tape-record his own phone calls; the ’50s give way to the ’60s. In a layering of interviews, vignettes and powerful melodies from famed musicians, director and WNYC producer Sara Fishko (Fishko Files) recreates the vibrant culture of New York’s mid-century jazz era for the modern day viewer, resurrecting the voices captured in each of Smith’s evocative photographs.
