Charles Lloyd: Journey Within: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A motion picture film with the title Charles Lloyd: Journey Within. It consists of a single reel of positive, black-and-white, 16mm acetate film with bilateral variable-area optical sound. The footage opens with a view of an empty theatre with a band set onstage. Shortly afterwards, members of the Charles Lloyd Quartet walk on set. The footage then quickly cuts to a scene with people disembarking from a plane with [CESKOSLOVENSKE AEROLINIE] printed on it, as instrumental jazz music plays in the background and the opening credits role. Llyod and the rest of his bandmates are then seen walking through an airport, at one point a sign that reads [PRAHA] comes into focus. The next scene opens with a photograph of Charles Lloyd as a young boy. His mother can be heard describing Lloyd's formative years and his early musical interest. As she speaks, a slideshow with photographs of Lloyd appear onscreen; each picture shows Lloyd at an older age than the previous one. In the next scene, Charles Llyod sits in a field describing some of his experiences as an amateur musician performing in "a place [in Memphis] called Mitchell's Hotel." Much of the rest of the documentary shows footage of Lloyd and his quartet performing, including their performance at The Prague International Jazz Festival 1967, in Praha. The documentary ends with various clips of Charles Lloyd running around and sitting on rocks at a beach as jazz music plays in the background.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1968
• Created by: Eric Sherman, American
• Subject of: Charles Lloyd, American, born 1938
• Subject of: Keith Jarrett, American, born 1945
• Subject of: Jack DeJohnette, American, born 1942
• Subject of: Ron McClure, American, born 1941
• Subject of: George Avakian, Armenian American, 1919 - 2017
• Owned by: Ernie Smith, American, ca. 1925 - 2004
• Type: sound films
• Type: black-and-white films (visual works)
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration (digital file): 00:57:18
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 1920 ft
• Place filmed: Prague, Czech Republic, Europe
• Place filmed: Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Documentary films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2015.275.44.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Anonymous Gift in memory of Ernest (Ernie) R. Smith, Jazz Historian
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Eric Sherman Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.