This film traces the road of the Blues and takes us on a journey to mythical places: From the banks of the Niger to New Orleans, going up the Mississippi through Memphis to the skyscrapers of Chicago. It tells the story of this culture which faced the worst barriers and shows that Humanity can overcome barbarity.
Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.
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.
Shake ‘Em On Down is a one-hour documentary film which aims to tell the story of Fred McDowell, who was first recorded by Alan Lomax in 1959, traveled to Europe with the Rolling Stones in the mid-1960s, mentored Bonnie Raitt, and served as the cornerstone of the unique and enduring North Mississippi- style of blues music.
The story of Sonny Bell, an aging Chicago Blues musician, who refuses to retire and defiantly hits the road with his band for one last long-shot to keep doing the only thing that makes them all feel truly alive--play Blues. The story is inspired by Stone's experiences touring and playing harmonica with many of blues music's most revered artists.
A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.
An unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life and work of guitarist Eric Clapton told through his own words and songs.
Live, intimate, and raw, Sessions For Robert J is the essential audio/video companion to Eric Clapton's 2004 gold, Top 10 Me And Mr. Johnson, tribute to blues legend Robert Johnson. Filmed during tour rehearsals in London and Dallas plus a Los Angeles hotel room and the Dallas warehouse where Johnson made some of his final recordings, Sessions for Robert J finds Clapton performing all Robert Johnson songs with his touring band, acoustically with Doyle Bramhall II and solo-as well as discussing Johnson and his influence. A performance/documentary DVD with 14 tracks (from which the 11 CD selections are taken), Sessions for Robert J is blues heaven.
The star-studded special celebrates the trailblazing music series' 40th anniversary. With guest hosts Jeff Bridges, Matthew McConaughey and Sheryl Crow, the two-hour broadcast features memorable moments from the show's remarkable run, anchored by some of the brightest stars in the show's history returning to the AUSTIN CITY LIMITS stage for incredible performances. Highlights include legends Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Foo Fighters, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Gary Clark Jr., Lyle Lovett, Alabama Shakes, Buddy Guy and more performing in celebration of AUSTIN CITY LIMITS' legacy as an American music institution over the last four decades.
Live concert recording of B.B. King playing with many guests, including Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King, Etta James, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield, Billy Ocean & Phil Collins.
Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, THE BLUES UNDER THE SKIN dramatizes the tumultuous relationship of a young couple (Onike Lee and Roland Sanchez) as they struggle to overcome the barriers of poverty and prejudice that keep them from finding happiness together.
Robert Plant formed his current band The Sensational Space Shifters in 2012 and has been recording and touring with them ever since. Robert Plant has always introduced music from many cultures into his work and the Sensational Space Shifters blend of African rhythms and melodies, rock music, and folk roots is his latest incarnation. In October 2016 they took part in David Lynch's inaugural Festival of Disruption at the Ace Hotel Theater in Los Angeles, an event that raised funds for The David Lynch Foundation. The set featured tracks from the band's 2014 album Lullaby and...The Ceaseless Roar alongside fascinating Space Shifters re-workings of Led Zeppelin classics.
John Mayer: Someday I'll Fly chronicles the musical evolution of one of the most influential solo artists of his generation. Featuring rare demos, interviews and live performances; it is told in it's entirety from Mayer's perspective. Centered mostly on his career and professional accomplishments, Someday I'll Fly strips away the typical gossip surrounding Mayer to provide an intimate look at the life and career of a lauded musician.
The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.
This warm 90 minutes documentary shows us unknown blues musicians from Mississippi. They play everywhere : on the streets, in dirty little bars, in a barber shop, in big clubs. The film really captures the true faces of blues and shows us that this music had nothing to do with nostalgia or record company hypes. Documentary on the Delta blues.
The story of The Blues traces the four main traditions of blues music: Form Blues, Blues, Urban Blues and Blues Electric. The blues has evolved and diversified, and filtered into a surprising variety of styles in contemporary music. In the blues the history of music was released. A look at the roots, origins and the subsequent influence of style the film explores the blues significant contribution to the development of jazz, rock and country and western music. Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Alexander Texas, and many more artists are featured through the film.
Over a series of 5 nights in November 2007, Jeff Beck performed, along with special guests, at Ronnie Scott's Club in Soho, London. The small venue was filled with a packed audience every night. Guest appearances include Joss Stone, Imogen Heap, Eric Clapton and the Big Town Playboys. Bonus features include interviews with Jeff Beck and the band members, as well as a rockabilly set with the Big Town Playboys.
This acclaimed documentary depicts the sad life of the greatest of all jazz singers, Billie Holiday, a life engraved with personal tragedy and ultimately shortened by drug abuse and alcoholism. Her story and career are portrayed through rare archival film and television appearances, memorable renditions of her greatest songs, and interviews with friends and colleagues.
In a tiny Alabama town with the curious name of Muscle Shoals, something miraculous sprang from the mud of the Tennessee River. A group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of the greatest music of all time: “Mustang Sally,” “I Never Loved a Man,” “Wild Horses,” and many more. During the most incendiary periods of racial hostility, white folks and black folks came together to create music that would last for generations and gave birth to the incomparable “Muscle Shoals sound.”
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.