My iz dzhaza aka We Are From Jazz

MOSFILM

Art for People!

Is he the one who played during recess yesterday?

Stand up, defendant.

Come closer.

I now give the floor to comrade Bukin,

a student of the composition department.

I present two charges against student Ivanov:

first, decadence,

and, second, he is popularizing

a monstrous product

of bourgeois culture,

namely, jazz.

Can you say something in your defence?

I can.

Did you know that the sociaI roots ofjazz

go deep into Negro folk songs, the blues?

And that the Negroes are the most disinherited

and oppressed people in the United States?

Their music cannot, therefore, be called bourgeois.

It's progressive and revolutionary!

Enough oration! Answer the charges.

You have proletarian roots and have sunk...

...to being an agent of world imperialism!

- Gone too far! - No!

He should be expelled from our music schooI.

Instead of expelling Ivanov

I think we ought to reprimand him

and forbid him to play

- Jazz! - ... jazz!

I want to say this:

I won't give up jazz!

Musicians Wanted for the Republic's First Jazz Band

WE ARE JAZZMEN

Script: Alexander Borodinsky Karen Shakhnazarov

Direction: Karen Shakhnazarov

Camera: Vladimir Shevtsik

Sets: Konstantin Forostenko

Music: Anatoly Kroll

Sound: E.Zelentsova

The Sovremennik Band under the direction of Anatoly Kroll

Featuring: Igor Sklyar as Kostya

Alexander Pankratov-Chorny as Stepan

Nikolai Averiushkin as Zhora Pyotr Shcherbakov as Bavurin

With: Evgeny Evstigneyev

Leonid Kuravlyov Bronislav Brondukov

Elena Tsiplakova, Larissa Dolina Yuri Vasilyev

Songs: 'Thank You, Music' 'My Old Piano'

by M.Minkov (music) and D.Ivanov (Iyrics)

Performed by: O.Pirags L.Dolina, I.Sklyar, V.Shevtsik

Music of the 1920's is used in this film

Esteemed citizens of Odessa!

You'll now see and hear

the popular stage duet, en route to Monte Carlo,

Harry Soldy and Billy Moldy!

Count Tolstoy once said that man's life

is a straight railroad line.

My suitcase stands by the window.

Well, pick it up, and fast!

I won't pick it up!

Esteemed citizens of Odessa, we'll be gratefuI

for every token of your appreciation!

Many thanks!

Same to you.

Play it right or I'll slug you!

I'm touched, friends.

Thank you, madam.

Stop. The show's over.

Is Chamberlain going to attack us?

- He won't dare. - But what if he does?

Just let him try.

We'll work him so bad his own mother won't know him.

There's Katya.

Why, if it isn't

Stepan and Zhora!

I heard...

...you both died of typhus.

We've been out of work for 3 months. What about you?

I'm in the Higiene Choir.

What kind of outfit is that?

It's from education department.

- How much do they pay? - Not a kopek.

But I get free meals plus free soap once a month.

Could you get Zhora and me into it?

No, it's a women's choir.

Well, I gotta see a man about an engagement.

Look at the mutt, Stepan.

Isn't he cute?

Poor darling, motherless and fatherless.

I'd rather look at a 15 kopek coin.

Let's adopt him.

What for?

When we come home in the evening, all tired out,

he'll cheer us up.

Oh, forget it.

A job's the only thing that can cheer me up.

Let's go to the employment agency.

Come here!

Look! Musicians wanted!

Banjo and drums.

For a jazz band. What's that?

Haven't the faintest.

Well, that's jazz.

- Like it? - Yes, a lot.

- What about you? - He likes it too.

We still need a saxophone,

but us three can start.

Did you catch what makes jazz so speciaI?

- Of course. - The syncopation.

Yes, the syncopation.

Remember the instrument that sounds like this?

Think it was a trumpet?

Well, it was a trumpet, but with a mute.

We're in great luck, friends.

We'll be the first jazz band in the republic.

We'll see no end of success!

We'll play in the best halls in the country.

We've settled everything. We rehearse tomorrow morning,

and in the evening we play.

He's a crackpot.

- You think so? - You saw that, didn't you?

- What do we do? - Forget the whole thing.

- But we might become famous. - Never.

But suppose we do?

Get off the stage!

Scram!

Cheaters!

Kick 'em out!

Call that music?

We never should have hooked up with you!

We had our own program.

We weren't stars, but we made a living.

But now you're obsessed with fame, eh.

Did you think we'd become stars overnight?

Nothing new ever wins recognition at first.

We went in too much for sound effects.

We haven't learned to play well yet.

We've still got a lot of hard work ahead of us.

We've wasted enough time.

Let's rehearse.

You an idiot, or what?

To hell with yourjazz and your rehearsals!

Snap out of it!

Let's go.

Wait! What about our band?

You can take your band and...

I'll knock you silly!

- Greetings, boys. - Well, what is it?

I've been wanting to meet you a long time.

Could you play for us

at a party tomorrow evening?

I know just how you feeI.

- Will 600 rubles be enough? - How much did you say?

600 rubles.

Here's an advance.

Tomorrow evenings at 7. The Paradise Restaurant.

Let the boys take a breather.

You didn't think anybody wanted jazz.

What intelligent audience, right, Stepan?

I always said jazz has a big future.

Our next number is dedicated to the hero of the day.

Papa invites you to join him at his table.

Friends,

I want to thank all of you

for the surprise you arranged on my birthday

by inviting these fine young men here.

As you know, I have few weaknesses.

Jazz is one of them. I love jazz.

I first began to appreciate jazz in Chicago in 1908

when I heard Mitchell.

How he played! He held the audience spellbound.

They forget everything else in the world.

That was ideaI for my work.

I wish the Soviet pioneers ofjazz every success

because their success is our success.

Any more birthdays coming up?

We could play more.

Papa is the only one of us who's crazy about jazz.

None of the boys care for it.

Ever hear Sam Wooding?

Sam holds a speciaI place in my heart.

- What about Scott Joplin? - Scott is vulgar.

Very few well to do people used to go to hear him.

Scott Joplin is my ideaI.

Especially this number.

Know this one?

Of course. 'Alexander's Ragtime Band'.

Friends and associates,

we have gathered here today

for the golden anniversary of Papa's working career.

I have the honour to convey heartiest greetings to Papa

from the staff of the Taganrog branch

and to present him with this small token of our affection.

Is that your idea of a joke?

How'd I know it was for Papa?

You jerk!

What'd you call me?

Pile in, boys!

I like Duke Ellington best of all.

Time to pack it up, Papa.