Review: ICONS AMONG US

One of the most significant concepts spoken in the documentary ICONS AMONG US regards how a musician learning to play jazz is nothing more than that musician discovering the answer to the question who am I… because, as is stated in the film, the core of how an artist approaches creating jazz music is all in the music coming from who they are. That sounds deep, but when you really think about and consider what that means… it says so much about jazz.

Immediately upon viewing ICONS AMONG US, the viewer will realize not only that jazz is a passion for musicians of all backgrounds, ages, men and women – it’s a way of life, not just something people do. What is also apparent is that jazz has, and is still, evolving constantly. Much of the jazz heard in this film is very different from the standards and greats from the past, but that’s not to say this music, as broad and vivid as it is, doesn’t have its place and purpose.

ICONS AMONG US is a journey through the “now” of jazz music, the story of how the sound and the structure – the heart and soul of the music – how it has grown with us as a culture of emotional human beings, each of us having lived our own lives yet all interconnected. On a very primal level, jazz is the musical interpretation of that experience.

Co-directed by Lars Larson, Michael Rivoira and Peter J. Vogt, ICONS AMONG US is a straightforward documentary. There’s no glitz or flair in the style of the film. Instead, it’s all about the music… whereas the typical response for many would be to focus on the musician. The creator/performer of jazz is not the catalyst for the music, but is the vessel for its birth into the world for others to hear and feel. With that said, this film is an intensely enjoyable audio/visual experience, especially for the enthusiastic — but ignorant — amateur lover of jazz, such as myself. It’s both an introduction and a retrospective nostalgia piece that takes the viewer from the origins of jazz (from the mouths of some of the art form’s veterans) to loose predictions and anticipation for where jazz music is headed… into the great unknown of infinite possibilities.

The full title of this documentary is ICONS AMONG US: JAZZ IN THE PRESENT TENSE. Fitting, given the clearly emphatic theme of current musicians and the essence of jazz as music of now. This is the film that needs to be shown to young students just developing an interest in music, whether it be jazz or classical or any kind of music. Jazz is like learning the rules and bending/breaking them all at once – in my mind at least, the core of the phenomena of music uninhibited.

For more information about ICONS AMONG US and to follow the progress and success of the film as it reaches more and more viewers, check out The Jazz Indie.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars