(Filmmaker in person)

Jack Sheldon is a great trumpet player who takes his art and calling so seriously while simultaneously taking himself not so very seriously that after 50 years in jazz he still is “trying to get good.” Sheldon a jazz survivor, “the last cat standing” from the bebop generation, in the words of Billy Crystal. Besides Crystal, other friends and admirers “sit in” to give Jack his props, including Merv Griffin, Clint Eastwood, Chris Botti, Dave Frischberg, Tierney Sutton, Terry Gibbs and Johnny Mandel. But the best of Trying to Get Good is all Jack, all the way: playing, singing, interacting with his public and relating some tasty and serious tales.

(2008, 89 min.) – G.R.