Willie Smith: Willie the Lion (2004)

Mentor to Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk, pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith was truly one of the most vital and influential figures in jazz history. The purveyor of a stomping piano style known as the "Harlem Stride," the complex Smith was also a decorated war hero, a cantor in a Harlem synagogue, and a composer of over 100 classic jazz compositions. This biographical documentary examines the life of the legendary jazz great through interviews, narration, archival material, and rare performance footage.