The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America poster

The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America poster

The Savoy King: Chick Webb & the Music That Changed America

2012 1h 32m 4Movie

DocumentaryMusic

Born poor in Baltimore, Chick Webb broke his back as a boy and faced life as a hunchback dwarf afflicted with Spinal Tuberculosis. Someone suggested drumming as physical therapy, and Webb found his calling: at only 16 he built the hottest jazz orchestra in America at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom, one of the rare places where Blacks and Whites could socialize together. The artists discovered and mentored by Webb are extraordinary, but perhaps no star shines brighter than that of Ella Fitzgerald. Features interviews with those who knew or played with Webb and period footage.

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Jeff Kaufman

Director

Top Cast

Rocky Carroll

Rocky Carroll

Narrator (voice)

Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal

Mezzy Mezzrow (voice)

Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly

Helen Oakley Dance (voice)

Keith David

Keith David

Charles Buchanan (voice)

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Self (archive footage)

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Self (archive footage)

Andy Garcia

Andy Garcia

Mario Bauzá (voice)

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy Gillespie

Self (archive footage)

Danny Glover

Danny Glover

Count Basie (voice)

Jeff Goldblum

Jeff Goldblum

Artie Shaw (voice)

Corey Hawkins

Corey Hawkins

Chick Webb (voice)

Ron Perlman

Ron Perlman

Gene Krupa (voice)

Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

Ella Fitzgerald (voice)

John Legend

John Legend

Duke Ellington (voice)

Billy Porter

Billy Porter

Dizzy Gillespie (voice)