Keeping Time

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

Melrick is an unruly young boy who spends his summer in French Guiana at his grandmother's house to escape his turbulent daily life in Stains, France. At the end of his stay, he plays the drum to revive the memory of his late uncle, Lucas Diomar, who died in tragic circumstances. Despite a wave of murders of young men shaking the headlines, Melrick becomes aware of his place in a family destroyed by irreparable grief.

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

A web documentary that explores Montreal’s incredible contribution to jazz music history through the legendary black musicians of Little Burgundy – the neighbourhood that was a hub of musical creativity, private clubs and speakeasies from the Jazz Age 1920s to the Golden Era of Jazz in the 1940s and 50s. Oscar Peterson, Oliver Jones, Norman Marshall Villeneuve, the Sealey Brothers, Nelson Symonds, and Louis Metcalf are among the greats who lived or played in "Burgundy".

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Documentary short showcasing the genius of jazz greats Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Cozy Cole, and Milt Hinton, among others.

An unprecedented collection by Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti, Live At The Shrine includes both a concert film/DVD documentary and a live concert CD, singularly conveying the beauty and joy of Afrobeat music – a combustible cocktail fusing jazz, funk, and traditional African music – while also communicating it’s fascinating roots and politics which began with Femi’s father Fela Kuti, the creator and godfather of Afrobeat. Live At The Shrine takes place in the Kuti family’s hometown of Lagos at the Africa Shrine, where every Sunday Femi plays to a packed house of revelers. With music as his weapon of choice and the Africa Shrine a temple of protest song, Femi continues his father’s fight, railing against the corrupt Nigerian government and staunchly defending PanAfricanism. Capturing this experience through interviews, street scenes, and the music itself, Live At The Shrine captures the spirit, passion, and hope, of a man and a people who are fighting.

In the 1950s, Gabriel, a talented young pianist, plays in the quartet of his father, Georges, a famous jazz virtuoso at the peak of his career. In the midst of his concerts, Gabriel searches for the words to tell his father about his need for freedom.

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

The hits come fast and furious in this 2001 performance by Antoine "Fats" Domino at the Jazz and Heritage Festival in his hometown of New Orleans. Well, maybe not that fast; Fats's style was never what you'd call exactly frenetic, and he was well into his seventies at the time of this show. But there are a whole lot of hits--"I'm Walkin'," "Blueberry Hill," "Walking to New Orleans," "My Blue Heaven," etc.--and they're just as irresistible as ever, with Domino and band (including a full horn section) in top form as they deliver their brew of R&B, rock & roll, and country music with its distinctively rollicking New Orleans vibe. Aside from the 60-minute concert, the DVD features interviews with Fats, Allen Toussaint (himself a legendary New Orleans musician and producer), author/music journalist Mikal Gilmore, and others, plus a minute or two of Domino and Toussaint jamming at the piano

Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.

The unmistakable voice of the eleven-time Anděl Award winner, first-class musicians, and songs that flow across musical genres in a concert experience from Brno's Sono Music Club... The concert, recorded on November 28, 2022, at the SONO Music Club in Brno, is the culmination of Dan Bárta & Illustratosphere's concert tour for their joint fifth studio album, Kráska a zvířený prach (Beauty and Stirred Dust). This mutually inspiring and authentically creative community of musicians included not only new songs in the program, but also a selection of some older atmospheric hits from their more than twenty-year musical career. Enjoy Bárta's refined vocal performance and a fusion of virtuosically played original compositions on the domestic scene, combining pop rock, jazz, soul, and funk with intimate poetry in the lyrics, just like hundreds of fans in one of the most acoustically perfect halls in the country.

Between segregation and cosmic revelation, The Magic City traces the birth of Sun Ra, where a city becomes myth and a man, a galaxy.

On November 30, 2017 the National Park Service and National Park Foundation will present the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting. Popular entertainers and a United States military band add to the celebratory evening.

A principal musician in Count Basie's orchestra for years, legendary jazz trumpeter Buck Clayton performs with two small groups in this pair of superb concerts filmed live in London and Brussels, Belgium, in the 1960s. Other musicians joining Clayton include Jimmy Witherspoon, Vic Dickenson, Earle Warren and Humphrey Lyttelton. Songs are "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Night Train," "Jeepers Creepers," "Swinging at the Copper Rail" and many more.

The story of legendary jazz drummer, Gene Krupa. Since his youth, all Gene ever wanted to do is play the drums and make music. This is something his parents would not approve of- they want him to be a priest. When Gene's father dies he promises to enter the priesthood. He soon realizes that he doesn't belong there and leaves to join his friend, Eddie's band. Ethel, Eddie's girlfriend, convinces Gene to go to New York and make it big. The 3 of them head to New York. Here Ethel and Gene soon fall in love and Gene makes a name for himself. Gene starts to live in the fast lane, with drugs, alcohol, women and parties. Ethel, unhappy with Gene's lifestyle, leaves him. Gene soon "hits rock bottom" where he has to face reality and choose where to take his life.

Cecil Taylor was the grand master of free jazz piano. "All the Notes" captures in breezy fashion the unconventional stance of this media-shy modern musical genius, regarded as one of the true giants of post-war music. Seated at his beloved and battered piano in his Brooklyn brownstone the maestro holds court with frequent stentorian pronouncements on life, art and music.

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

A control-obsessed saxophonist must embrace uncertainty when he learns that a career-defining audition will be assessed on his ability to improvise.

The life story of the famous pianist and band-leader of the 1930s and 1940s.