My review was written in November 1985 after watching the film at a Times Square screening room.
"The Gig" is a winning little film about a group of guys who try to fulfill their dream of being jazz players. Self-distributed by filmmaker Frank D. Gilroy, this comedy-drama should win favor with older audiences who can identify easily with the ingenious premise and situations.
Wayne Rogers toplines as a New York businessman who has played Dixieland jazz with his five pls for their own amusement once a week since 1970. He arranges a two-week pro engagement at Paradise Manor hotel in the Catskills and ultimately talks the group into taking the step, the convincing argument being when their bass player George (Stan Lachow) drops out due to a major illness, promoting solidarity among the other five.
The replacement bassist, veteran player Marshall Wilson (Cleavon Little), causes friction in the group, not so much because he's black and they're white but because of his unfriendly personality and condescending attitude towards the budding amateurs. Filmmaker Gilroy gets maximum comic mileage out of this contrast, while making good points concerning the snobism and purist stance that pervades many jazz circles.
At Paradise Manor, the group's dream of self-realization is almost snuffed out when hotel owner Abe Mitgang (Joe Silver, perfectly cast), immediately objects to their loud "biff, bang, bam" playing, and requires the band to play quiet, schmaltzy music. They ultimately succeed in winning over the resort audience to swinging Dixieland music Disillusionment comes when crooner Rick Valentine (played by actor-dj Jay Thomas) makes a comeback engagement and nastily insults the band's abilities when they can't play his Vegas-style arrangements, forcing Mitgang to fire them.
Aided by a very entertaining portrait of life at a Catskills resort, Wayne Rogers and Cleavon Little make a solid team. They're supported ably bby reallife jazz artist Warren Vache (who plays his own cornet here and doubled as film's musical director) portraying, natch, the most talented musician in the group; Jerry Matz as the clarinetist with an inflated view of his abilities; Andrew Duncan as the henpecked pianist; and Daniel Nalbah s the morose drummer/dentist.
"The Gig" stands as an effective peek at the wish-fulfillment fringes of show business, previously treated from a jazz vantagepoint in the 1976 Swedish pic "Sven Klang's Combo".
