It's 1959 in a seedy bar in Philadelphia, and Billie Holiday is giving one of her last performances interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music 4 months before her death.
Early experimental film from Zbigniew Rybczynski that broke new ground in the use of pixelation, optical printing, animation and other compositional film devices. Beautiful jazz score and color usage.
JAZZ HOT is a major discovery, a unique sync sound film recorded of Django Reinhardt, greatest of jazz guitarists, here with violinist Stephane Grappelli and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France.
From the mid-fifties to his death in the early nineties, Miles Davis was universally recognized as one of the most innovative musicians working in Jazz. He was also one of the most popular with his albums regularly breaking into the pop charts and he picked up a total of eight Grammy Awards. He also launched the careers of many jazz musicians including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin and many more. This concert, filmed in Munich in 1987, followed the release of his Grammy Award winning album Tutu and the set list features two tracks from that record, the title track and Portia , plus his unique arrangements of Michael Jackson's Human Nature and Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time.
Jazz vocalist Dave Lambert auditions a new group of singers at RCA Studios in 1964.
ZAZ, in August 2014, completed a major tour spanning 5 continents, performing sold out each time. “On the Road” takes us behind the scenes of this triumphant world tour of 93 concerts.
Throughout three decades, Bill Laswell has been a constant innovator, fusing seemingly disparate genres into a whole new sound. Touching upon everything from worldbeat, funk, rock, hip-hop and jazz, there are no limits to his experimental approach. Among his many talents is his ability to bring together well-matched singers and players to create a distinct style that defies easy classification. His Soundstage episode embodies his unique approach, transcending any genre boundaries and delivering an engaging performance. From the World Beat of Tabla Beat Science, to the jazzy flavors of Pharoah Sanders backed by Material, it’s an exciting mix. Other surprises include a rocking Buckethead set that includes a little breakdancing and songs by Praxis. The show culminates with an all-star performance, funked up by Bootsy Collins.
Multi-faceted artist Phil Niblock captures a brief moment of an interstellar communication by the Arkestra in their prime. Black turns white in a so-called negative post-process, while Niblock's camera focuses on microscopic details of hands, bodies and instruments. A brilliant tribute to the Sun King by another brilliant supra-planetary sovereign. (Eye of Sound)
1950s Soho beats with far more energy than its 21st century counterpart in this vivid time capsule.
A documentary about the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959). There exist many myths and legends about the Jazz Singer Billie Holiday — one of the greatest voices of the last century. Most of them tell the story of the tragic victim of drugs, alcohol, men, color, or the circumstances of her upbringing. To some extent she contributed herself to these legends, especially in her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues". In recent years, more and more records and reports have shown a different picture of her. These statements of confidants, colleagues and friends clean up with many of the legends and show a strong personality who has been anything but a pitiable victim. Billie Holiday was a strong-willed and determined person and a very complex personality who did not correspond to the classic victim type.
A documentary short about Charley Patton included in the box set "The Definitive Charley Patton - 75th Anniversary Edition". The film contains interviews with musicians, musicologists, blues scholars and Delta historians and contains brand new footage of Dockery’s, the legendary plantation where Patton was raised and where many people believe the Delta Blues truly blossomed as an art form.
This Final Performance Tribute began on Les Paul's 90th birthday when luminaries from the musical world gathered to celebrate at New York's historic Iridium Jazz Club. Les and friends jammed every Monday for the next four years until the legend left us. Great moments from many of those cool sessions are presented in this tribute to the man who created a sonic boom with the solid-body electric guitar. About the Collector's Edition: Les jams live with special guests like Keith Richards, Steve Miller, and José Feliciano. Musical luminaries Bonnie Raitt, Tony Bennett, Sonya Hensley and others share their thoughts on Les. Includes 23 songs played by Les, like "Tennessee Waltz", "Route 66", "Back Home Again in Indiana", and the original rendition of "How High the Moon" with wife Mary Ford.
Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.
A documentary on Dizzy Gillespie's landmark visit to Cuba and his performance at the Fifth International Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba. Filmed in 1985 with Arturo Sandoval and Sayyd Abdul Al Khabyyr.
A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.
Brilliantly mixing animated sequences and archival footage, Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre paints a touching portrait of virtuoso pianist Oscar Peterson.
In 1999, on the occasion of the centenary of Ellington's birth, Franco Maresco commissioned Steve Lacy to perform ten songs by the Duke, which were recorded and filmed in Palermo. In 2024, twenty years after Lacy's death and fifty years after that of Ellington, that unpublished material re-emerges from the archive of the great Sicilian director and becomes a documentary.
Bizet's Carmen gets a modern adaptation. Seducting, provocating, sensual. All the ingredients for a perfect drama. With her charm, Karmen gets out of many situations.
The documentary film on the life and legacy of Rahsaan Roland Kirk – a one of a kind musician, personality, activist and windmill slayer who despite being blind, becoming paralyzed, and facing America’s racial injustices - did not relent.
The story of the American music dynasty, the Carters and Cashes, and their decades-long influence on popular music.