I’m sure you realize that it just don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing! This short documentary about Adolph Eddie Rosner (a contemporary of Louis Armstrong who affectionately called him the White Armstrong, when he met him 1929) is a must see for any lover of the jazz trumpet and boy that man could play! Born in Berlin in 1910, a Polish Jew, he discovered jazz at the age of 15 and by 19 came in second to Louis Armstrong in the music competition in Chicago. His hot style of music had him touring all over Europe until 1939 when the Nazis invaded Warsaw. He and his wife fled east to the Soviet Union where he made many fans (some highly placed in the military). He was made conductor/bandleader of the official Soviet Jazz Orchestra based in Moscow. He toured Russia and played to packed houses even as a World War II raged (his band even played for Stalin in the "mysterious empty theater" concert). Eventually however Communist dogma made his music to Western and primitive and illegal! He was eventually sent to the Gulag where he played for the many labor camps throughout the Soviet Union, a small ray of hope and beauty for the inmates. This movie was actually made to help raise money for Eddie Rosner who was broke. He died two days before his official release from the Gulag was announced. This film is a fantastic biography of a little-known musical genius who sounded like an angel!

Reviewed by Eric Michel, FilmCities