Jazz (TV series) released single-artist collections. Jazz (TV series) Jazz is a 2001 documentary miniseries, directed by Ken Burns. It was broadcast on PBS in 2001, and was released on DVD and VHS on January 2, 2001 by the same company. Its chronological and thematic episodes provided a history of jazz, emphasizing innovative composers and musicians and American history. Swing musicians Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington are the central figures. Several episodes discussed the later contributions of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie to bebop, and of Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and John Coltrane to free and cool jazz. Nine episodes surveyed forty-five years
John Garcia Gensel named full-time Minister to the Jazz Community; initially Jazz vespers were held at various locations including Central Synagogue. In 1968, jazz ministry had become fully established in Saint Peter's Lutheran Church, on Lexington Avenue in New York City. Jazz musicians including Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Billy Strayhorn attended and played regularly at Jazz vespers. In 1975 Documentary Educational Resources published a portrait of Rev. Gensel which was filmed over the course of 5 years; the documentary records Duke Ellington's last concert and funeral. At Saint Peter's Lutheran Church Rev. Gensel also founded