TV / Film News

"Ma Nuit Chez En Enfer. Or, a Night at the Movies" by Steve Provizer

Source: Brilliant Corners, a Boston Jazz Blog
March 5, 2011

Hollywood movies suck. Not only that, going to a multiplex theatre is one of the most dispiriting, depressing and irritating experiences imaginable. Yet, it's one to which Americans are sado-masochistically drawn by the millions. It's especially piquant to plunge in just after you've seen the Oscars; like turning over a beautiful moss-covered log in the forest and having your hand covered with slimy larvae. I had submitted to watching the Oscars only because I actually know a couple who made ...

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The Miles Davis Movie: Will It Be the Best Movie Ever About Jazz? Or: Wow, There Are Not a Lot of Movies About Jazz

Source: Miles Davis Online
February 28, 2011

Let's take a look at a shortlist of good-to-great films with jazz as its central theme (excluding documentaries...):

Bird Round Midnight Mo' Better Blues The Five Pennies Sweet And Lowdown Sweet Love, Bitter Tune in Tomorrow... Paris Blues St. Louis Blues The Glenn Miller Story Young Man with a Horn Lady Sings the Blues The Gene ...

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Must Hear TV: Prime-Time Themes That Still ... Rock!

Source: Something Else!
February 21, 2011

By Something Else Reviews There are TV themes you remember. “All In The Family," with its way-back talk of President Hoover and LaSalle cars. Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams cooing together, “What would we do, baby, without us?" Bars where everybody knows your name. Fat Albert and the Junkyard Band's familiar “hey, hey, hey!" Then, there are the prime-time themes that just rock. Time to plug in and turn your television up to 11 ... “WKRP IN CINCINNATI END CREDITS," ...

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Esperanza Spalding to perform at the GRAMMY Awards

Source: Dean Lofton
February 9, 2011

Best New Artist GRAMMY nominee Esperanza Spalding will perform on the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. The show will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 13, 2011. The GRAMMY Awards will be broadcast live on the CBS Television Network from 8-11:30 p.m. ET/PT. Esperanza Spalding also to Co-Host GRAMMY Pre-Telecast Ceremony The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast Ceremony will take place on Sunday, February, 13 from 1ת p.m. ...

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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Scores a Huge Super Bowl Ad...

Source: Digital Music News
February 5, 2011

Bank Robber Music and Deutsch LA are toasting a huge one. Rather, a ginormous one. Because the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is not only getting featured in the upcoming “21st Century Beetle" campaign by Volkswagen—they're getting splashed during Super Bowl XLV. The group just tipped the inclusion to Digital Music News this morning.

The spots will feature a 30-second remake of the blues classic “Black Betty," and the match-up just made sense. “Deutsch was working with Volkswagen and contacted me, ...

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Blast from the Past: Mark Cantor's Jazz Films

Source: Riffs on Jazz by John Anderson
February 2, 2011

I had the pleasure ofattending Mark Cantor's “Jazz on Film" presentation on January 22nd here at theJewish Community Center of San Francisco and it was a blast from the past.Cantor is a jazz film archivist who has collected over 4,000 reels (yes, actualfilm) of vintage jazz performances. He shares programs of these rare films atpresentations all over the world, including The National Academy of RecordingArts and Sciences, The International Association of Jazz Record Collectors,Monterey Jazz Festival, Academie du Dance (Paris, ...

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Must Hear TV: Prime-Time Themes That Still Resonate

Source: Something Else!
January 31, 2011

By Something Else Reviews In many ways, television is a technological wonder these days, what with remote controls, digital signals and DVRs. But, for those who fell in love with the old-school opening theme, it's not all gravy. Today, you're more likely to simply see the word LOST charging toward the screen, followed by a suitably ominous thud. Cool, sure. But try humming along. Contrast that with some of these crazy-addictive broadcast favorites from yesteryear ... BOB JAMES, “ANGELA (THEME ...

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Miles Plays Miles

Source: Riffs on Jazz by John Anderson
January 25, 2011

Dingo is a little Australian-French film released in 1991 that would probably be lost in obscurity except for one fact—it stars Miles Davis. In the first image of the film, we see John “Dingo" Anderson (played by Colin Friels) playing his trumpet in the Australian outback, which sets up the tension between his life in the middle of nowhere and his dreams of playing jazz. We then see a flashback to John's childhood in 1969, when a plane carrying legendary ...

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