Hockshop Blues

Betty Boop and friends meet Louis Armstrong on a jungle safari.

Weather Report live at the Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany, November 6, 1975. Program: Freezing Fire - Scarlet Woman - Mysterious Traveller - Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz

Filmed in Chicago & finished in 1959, The Cry of Jazz is filmmaker, composer and arranger Edward O. Bland's polemical essay on the politics of music and race - a forecast of what he called "the death of jazz." A landmark moment in black film, foreseeing the civil unrest of subsequent decades, it also features the only known footage of visionary pianist Sun Ra from his beloved Chicago period. Featured are ample images of tenor saxophonist John Gilmore and the rest of Ra's Arkestra in Windy City nightclubs, all shot in glorious black & white.

Wes Montgomery shines a light on one of the most unique and influential guitarists in music history. These beautifully filmed programs from the spring of 1965 feature Wes, in intimate studio settings, leading three different lineups through some of his best-known tunes, including "Four On Six", "Jingles" and "West Coast Blues". This rare footage, complete with rehearsals, between-song banter and closeup camera angles, illuminates We's extraordinary musical vocabulary and unconventional picking technique. An in-depth, song-by-song analysis by legendary jazz guitarist Pat Metheny makes this DVD a guitar lover's dream.

On October 17, 1996, veteran and contemporary jazz greats gathered for a select soiree on the stage of New York's Carnegie Hall, saluting a guy more noted for making popular films than for making sweet music. But as any fan of Clint Eastwood, especially after he started directing 30 years ago, will attest, the award-winning star is also an inveterate jazz lover who has uniquely integrated that musical form into the scores of his films. Join Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Flip Phillips, Charles McPherson, James Rivers, Slide Hampton, Hank Jones, Thelonious Monk Jr., the Kyle Eastwood Quartet, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and more for this scintillating celebration of film and music.

Jazz guitarist Mike Stern and fusion violin player Didier Lockwood perform a unique duo concert at the beautiful antique theatre in Vienne, France.

Duke Ellington and Orchestra perform 'C Jam Blues'.

Herbie is a short 16mm black and white film by George Lucas and Paul Golding made in 1966 as part of their USC film school course. It is an abstract film with no story and no actors, that graphically depicts the reflections of moving light streaks and light flashes from traffic at night. It is set to a piece of jazz music by Herbie Hancock, whose first name was used for the title.

Kirk Whalum presents this music documentary-cum-live concert performance exploring the impact of jazz on modern retellings of the Gospel. The film includes performances by Kirk Whalum himself along with George Duke, Lalah Hathaway, Doc Powell and Kevin Whalum.

Oswald the Rabbit puts on a concert for a group of barn animals - but when they discover that he's miming to a record of his idol, Paul Whiteman - they boo and shun him. Oswald wanders off in shame to hang himself from the nearest tree and is stopped by none other than Whiteman himself who happens along in his car. The two begin performing music using parts of the car which leads to some highly surrealistic setpieces (dancing tools - a hood ornament that does an Indian dance, etc.) This rare and whimsical cartoon was used to promote THE KING OF JAZZ and makes reference to same.

A rising nineteen-year-old singer by the name of Billie Holiday made her screen debut in this musical landmark, which features Duke Ellington and his orchestra performing his symphonic jazz piece “A Rhapsody of Negro Life” set to scenes of everyday African American life.

Imagine hanging out with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, hearing them jam together, trading riffs, then riffing with words and trading stories. Bird and Diz are gone, but giants still walk among us. One of those giants is Buster Williams. Buster has played with everyone - Miles, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Art Blakey, and on. In this intimate portrait, Buster trades stories, and plays, with some of the world's greatest musicians - Benny Golson, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride and others, and takes us on a journey through his life, legacy, and America's greatest art form - the truly universal music called Jazz.

Captured in state-of-the-art High Definition and mastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, The New Orleans Concert ignites a massive celebration of Big Easy music past and present - redolent in jazz, rollicking piano renditions, classic rhythm and blues, contemporary funk and rock & roll, all as steamy as a sweltering Delta summer's evening. New Orleans' legends, including Allen Toussaint, The Neville Brothers, and legendary drummer Earl Palmer, are joined by Steve Jordan, Bonnie Raitt, Keith Richards and Joss Stone to create this extraordinary musical extravaganza, reminding the world once again that New Orleans is far more than just one nation's treasure.

During the same summer as Woodstock, over 300,000 people attended the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity. The footage from the festival sat in a basement, unseen for over 50 years, keeping this incredible event in America's history lost — until now.

Bayou Maharajah explores the life and music of New Orleans piano legend James Booker, the man Dr. John described as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced." A brilliant pianist, his eccentricities and showmanship belied a life of struggle, prejudice, and isolation. Illustrated with never-before-seen concert footage, rare personal photos and exclusive interviews, the film paints a portrait of this overlooked genius.

An evil spider kidnaps a housefly from a cabaret and takes her to his secret lab.

Chet Baker silently wanders through an Antonioniesque landscape in a Felliniesque state of wonderment as his improvised trumpet solos alternate between earnestly offering the obvious and mocking the artiness of the whole affair.

Shipwrecked African-American slaves arrive in the midst of Bakumatsu-era Japan; they soon carve out a niche in the market with their musical talents.

In 1979 and 1980, three world renowned guitarists, John Mc Laughlin, Paco De Lucia and Larry Coryell, formed a guitar super-trio and toured Europe. This is the recording of their performance live at Royal Albert Hall.

Boundary-pushing Russian dancer and actress Ida Rubinstein selects renowned French composer Maurice Ravel to compose the music for her next ballet. Ravel ends up creating his greatest success ever: Boléro.