The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences has had its share of problems relating to documentaries in the past few years, which makes its recent decision to scrap the documentary-short category—causing more films to compete for fewer nominations—all the more ponderous. But the organization occasionally gets it right, as it did by nominating 1994's A Great Day In Harlem for best documentary feature. Jean Bach's film takes one simple object as its central subject, Art Kane's famous 1958 photograph of nearly 30 jazz giants gathered on the steps of a Harlem brownstone, and gathers as many stories relating to the photo as it can. Bach spoke to many surviving participants, finding out, for instance, the great difficulty with which Thelonious Monk was brought to the photo shoot and the reason behind the presence of all the neighborhood children in the front row. It's a modest simple effort, which is part of its strength; for jazz fans, it plays like the Rosetta Stone. And given the number of interview subjects who have died in the years since its filming—including Dizzy Gillespie and Gerry Mulligan—Bach's film seems more important than ever. This video re-release includes "The Spitball Story." also by Bach, the film gives a first-hand account of Gillespie's famous firing from Cab Calloway's orchestra, a story involving hot tempers, spitballs, musical experimentation, a dramatic changing of the guard, and a knife. In other words, classic jazz elements.