Eye and Ear Control: ESP-Disk’ on Film
Guest curated by Brian Belovarac
A selection of short films on the evolution and formation of what came to be called free jazz through the form’s earliest adopting record label, ESP-Disk’.
Guest curator Brian Belovarac manages distribution at Janus Films/The Criterion Collection, and has presented programs at the George Eastman Museum, Anthology Film Archives, the Northwest Film Forum, and many other venues.
Atlantic Records introduced the wider marketplace to “free jazz” via Ornette Coleman, but it was the small, New York–based ESP-Disk’ label that documented the subsequent reshaping of the form as it developed throughout the 1960s. ESP released groundbreaking records by artists like Albert Ayler, Pharoah Sanders, Patty Waters, and Sun Ra before ceasing operations in the early 1970s. Revered by musical seekers across the globe—and resented by performers who typically received little to no royalties—ESP is now regarded as one of the most influential record labels of all time. Tonight’s program brings together all of the ESP-associated films produced in the 1960s. To paraphrase the label’s slogan: you’ve never seen such sounds in your life. —Brian Belovarac
Program:
New York Eye and Ear Control, (dir. Michael Snow, 1964, 34 min, 16mm)
The Fugs (dir. Edward English, 1966, 13 min, 16mm)
Giuseppi Logan (dir. Edward English, 1966, 5 min, 16mm)
The Godz (dir. Jud Yalkut, 1966, 9 min, 16mm)
Spaceways (dir. Edward English, 1968, 18 min, 16mm)
Ticket Info
Regular Admission: $10
Student, Senior, Teacher: $9
Available in advance at our Box Office or by phone: 415-978-2787.