TV / Film News

Homelessness: Detroit Jazz Musician Brian O'Neal Tries It

Source: Michael Ricci
January 15, 2010

By AMY LANGE for myFOXDetroit.com DETROIT, MI - With so many people without a place to call home in Haiti, we're reminded how many are homeless here at home. Many people can't imagine being in that position while others wish they weren't. However, hardly anyone would voluntarily become homeless. Yet, that's exactly what a local musician has been doing for the past couple of days and nights. Alone, cold and walking Detroit's streets at night, Brian O'Neal searches for a ...

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TV Review: "Sam Cooke: Crossing over" American Masters (PBS)

Source: Pop Dose
January 14, 2010

Maybe its because Ive read Peter Guralnicks comprehensive 2005 Sam Cooke biography Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke that the newest entry in the generally wonderful PBS series American Masters, Sam Cooke Crossing Over, which debuts on PBS tonight, seems a little bit skimpy to me. An hour simply is not enough to tell the story of one of Americas greatest musical lives.

The basic facts of Sam Cookes life are by now pretty well known. His father was ...

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Avatar Soundtrack Ushers in Return of New Age Music!

Source: Michael Ricci
January 12, 2010

It used to be the stuff of the '60s and '70s. A magical mystery tour express, where rock stars and alternate religion advocates converged on the same track New Age Music. Free flowing, free form melodies inspiring introspection and what was called Universal Awareness. If you thought this trend went underground, you'd be right. But underground didn't mean gone. The original proponents merely entered conventional society: Cutting their hair, getting jobs, marrying and starting families. But throughout it all, their ...

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The Pulse of New Orleans

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
January 11, 2010

Larry Blumenfeld's “Cultural Conversation" with TV producer David Simon in today's Wall Street Journal is a highly recommended read. Simon, producer of HBO's acclaimed series “The Wire," is now focusing on a new jazz-tinged program that will debut on HBO in April.Tinged is not a strong enough word. Jazz is the undercurrent, and the heartbeat, of the program, scheduled for 10 episodes in Season One.“Treme" is the series... and it is named for Treme, a hotbed ...

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Jazz Video Guy 2009 Year in Review

Source: Michael Ricci
January 8, 2010

Bret Primack, aka the Jazz Video Guy, looks back at the video he produced in 2009. Features: Billy Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, Lester Young, Miles Davis, John Coltrane. Writer/Video Journalist Bret Primack has been at the forefront of new media since he co- founded Jazz Central Station in 1995. In 1997, he was the first Jazz blogger with Bird Lives, where, as the Pariah, his heartfelt diatribes struck a responsive chord in the music industry. A graduate of NYU ...

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Jazz Film "Chaography" Reaches Contest Semi-Finals, Needs Your Vote

Source: Michael Ricci
January 7, 2010

CHAOGRAPHY: Variations on the Theme of Freedom, a new fiction film project celebrating New Yorks jazz scene, has been named a Semi-Finalist in the first annual Ultimate Filmmaker Competition (UFC) presented by Filmmakers Alliance. One of 25 entries selected from approximately 1,000 submissions, the film is slated to feature acclaimed jazz saxophonist Stacy Dillard and pianist Eric Reed in starring roles. For the Semi-Final Round, members of the public are encouraged to vote for the project they would most like ...

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The Anatomy of Vince Guaraldi

Source: Michael Ricci
January 3, 2010

In 1963, Vince Guaraldi and Ralph J. Gleason (co-founder of Rolling Stone magazine and the Monterey Jazz Festival) collaborated on a film that offered a unique perspective on how Vince's classic song “Cast Your Fate To The Wind" crossed over from the jazz world to the pop charts, and influenced the next generation of American music.

Unavailable for more than 40 years, this rare footage has been lovingly restored in high definition and fully expanded to continue Vince's story through ...

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Correspondence: A Vince Guaraldi Film

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
January 3, 2010

Film producer Andrew Thomas writes with news of what perhaps everyone but Jack Berry and I knew:

I was surprised by your suggestion that there is little evidence of Vince on film or tape. There is actually a decent amount, and much of it is included in ...

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