Films that tell stories about jazz open a revealing window on the place and perception of the music within popular culture. See Kevin Whitehead’s compelling 2020 book Play the Way You Feel, whose insightful readings of roughly 100 films connect the dots between plot points, thematic ideas, conventions, and tropes related to race, authenticity, subculture, and personal expression.
Films with jazz scores, or those in which jazz musicians sneak onto the screen for a chorus or two, are also fun to ponder. David Meeker’s massive online database, , covers the territory. If you (1996) awaits.
