Jazz '34: Remembrances of Kansas City Swing (1996) review

For those of you who watched the 1996 feature Kansas City and thought "wow, this movie's a clunker but the soundtrack sure is pretty neat," this mini-feature might be preferable: it's a showcase of multiple modern jazz talents doing what they do best, all with a teensy bit of narration from Harry Belafonte.  It doesn't provide much historical background regarding the popularity of "swing" (except that clubs were apparently packed in those years) and doesn't have the courtesy of identifying who's playing what until the closing credits, although it's easy on the ears and Altman resists doing anything fancy with his cameras to distract from the music.  I wish more businessfolk with deep pockets opened up establishments like these, because late night crowds are always looking for a place to take their side pieces, order some fancy drinks and be softly entertained.