ECM: The Most Beautiful Sound Next To Silence

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.

During a decade rife with paranoia, in the middle of the McCarthy era, Music Inn was a bold experiment. Halfway between the Second World War and The Civil Rights Movement, Phil and Stephanie Barber created an oasis in the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts where aspiring musicians came to learn from the very best. Students and faculty, young and old, rich and poor, white, black, and brown convened together and learned from each other. Defying the surrounding environment, Music Inn harbored a racial and cultural harmony where music was all that mattered.

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.

The young American Pablo Menéndez came to Cuba to study Music at the National School of Art. Here he formed a family and became one more Cuban. Member of the Sound Experimentation Group of ICAIC and promoter of the teaching of the electric guitar in Cuba, he is, together with his group Mezcla, one of our most original musicians.

"Hope You Like It" is a heartwarming short documentary that delves into the life of Ken “K-Brick” Cooper, a talented jazz musician whose music carries the weight of a cherished family legacy. Set against the backdrop of an isolated mall in Laughlin, Nevada, this short film captures Ken's poignant journey as he serenades the empty hallways with original jazz compositions. His saxophone, a precious gift from his late father just before his passing, serves as a powerful connection to the past.

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

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

When the Lutheran pastor Roland retires, the young priest Roll shall replace him. He plays the trumpet, loves Jazz and his methods are unconventional: From the first day on he offends the village's notables, but he doesn't care so much since he especially targets the youths, wants them to get back to the church again. However the mayor agitates against him, manages to endanger Roll's success. The conflict leads to vandalism and open violence against Roll.

Did you look at the sun for too long, until the shapes of the surrounding world stretched and the colors became distorted? In this music documentary, the band Mikko Sarvanne Garden performscompositions set to contemporary poetry: Heräämisen valkea myrsky, Valo jota pöly juo, and Hiljainen kuin metsä.

"I swear, I wanted to make a “visual album” but this is literally the way the wind blew me this time."

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.

An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.

Jazz Sabbath - Leverkusener Jazztage 2025

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

Michel Leeb & The Count Basie Orchestra - Humour et Swing

The brilliant self-taught pianist Erroll Garner left his mark on jazz forever. His song Misty, which he allegedly composed between two concerts on an aeroplane, immediately became one of the great jazz standards and is still one of the most covered ballads in the world today. Who was the man behind the ever-friendly smile from the ghettos of Pittsburgh, whose talent brought him to the biggest international stages?

In early July of 2012, Scofield released, after ten years of record pause of ensemble Uberjam, a new and long-awaited album called Uberjam Deux...

Medeski Martin and Wood at Leverkusener Jazztage - Germany 12 November 2013 Tracklist: - 1969 - Seven Days - Black Elk Speaks - Amber Girls - Nostalgia in Times Square

29. Leverkusener Jazztage, 01. November 2008, Germany Tracklist: - Who Needs Love - Talkin Loud - Deep Waters - N.O.T. - When the Sun Comes Down - Colibri - Step Aside - Reach Out - Nights over Egypt - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing - Everyday - I Hear Your Name - Always There

Joe Zawinul & Trilok Gurtu duo amazes everyone! The 25th Frankfurt Jazz Festival in 1994 hosted this superhero duo.