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5

Little Feat: High Wire Act - Live in St. Louis 2003 (2CD/Blu-ray)

Read "Little Feat: High Wire Act - Live in St. Louis 2003 (2CD/Blu-ray)" reviewed by Doug Collette


Little Feat High Wire Act -Live in St. Louis 2003 Mercury Studios2023 Little Feat's current personnel lineup has stabilized dramatically in recent years, so it's somewhat of a disappointment High Wire Act: Live in St. Louis 2003 does not depict those positive changes. Nevertheless, the 2CD/Blu-ray package does present an accurate portrait of the beloved band in its valiant (and largely successful) attempts to honor the legacy of the group in the wake of ...

5

Maestro: The Leonard Bernstein Story

Read "Maestro: The Leonard Bernstein Story" reviewed by Victor L. Schermer


Bradley Cooper Maestro Netflix 2023 This film is what might be called a romantic biopic about “maestro" (and household word) Leonard Bernstein's life and work and his loving but troubled relationship with his wife, the Costa Rican/ Chilean pianist and actor Felicia Montealegre. Yet it has the power and fast-moving energy of a war film like Battleship Potemkin (Mosfilm, 1925 ) or Saving Private Ryan (Paramount, 1998). That's because Bernstein led a warrior-like ...

32

Salvation through rhythm: Max Roach—The Drum Also Waltzes

Read "Salvation through rhythm: Max Roach—The Drum Also Waltzes" reviewed by Peter Jones


Max Roach--The Drum Also Waltzes Directed by Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro PBS American Masters2023 Anyone who enjoyed the recent Wayne Shorter documentary Zero Gravity might also dig this--a more conventionally structured but equally fascinating look at the life of Max Roach. Filmmaker and interviewer Sam Pollard began making it in October 1987, then--for reasons which are not explained--left it alone for years before resuming again at some point after Roach's death in 2007.

12

Impressions of Zero Gravity

Read "Impressions of Zero Gravity" reviewed by AAJ Staff


We published Peter Jones's review of Zero Gravity the other week, but other staffers wanted to share their thoughts on the Wayne Shorter documentary, so we collected them and presented them here. Ellen Johnson Zero Gravity, the documentary chronicling the life and music of jazz icon Wayne Shorter, surpasses the boundaries of conventional biographical films. It explores the mystical and philosophical dimensions that shaped Shorter's extraordinary journey. His fusion of spiritual beliefs with an insatiable curiosity about the ...

30

Leaving Planet Earth: Amazon's Wayne Shorter Documentary Zero Gravity

Read "Leaving Planet Earth: Amazon's Wayne Shorter Documentary Zero Gravity" reviewed by Peter Jones


Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity Director: Dorsay Alavi 2023 Wayne Shorter was brought up in the belief that he could achieve anything he wanted to: there should be no barriers to his ambition. This three-part documentary--a true labor of love from director Dorsay Alavi--shows us that Shorter was far more than a musician. In the first part (or portal), we see Shorter and his brother Alan, portrayed in black and white by a pair of ...

799

Clint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett - The Music Never Ends

Read "Clint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett - The Music Never Ends" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


This article was first published on All About Jazz on April 11, 2008. Tony Bennett Clint Eastwood Presents: Tony Bennett--The Music Never Ends Warner Home Video 2007 No matter how much you know, or think you know, about the life and artistry of Tony Bennett, you will learn something new from Clint Eastwood's lovingly rendered, impeccably produced two-DVD documentary Tony Bennett--The Music Never Ends. Eastwood and director Bruce Ricker weave together performance ...

1

Peter Case: A Million Miles Away - Take Yes For An Answer (DVD)

Read "Peter Case: A Million Miles Away - Take Yes For An Answer (DVD)" reviewed by Doug Collette


Peter Case A Million Miles Way -Take Yes For An Answer Passport 2020 Productions 2023 The dilettante music lover might wonder why there's a biopic/documentary available devoted to a living musician named Peter Case. Yet fans of the man have long known what a cursory glance at his Wikipedia page reveals: the Buffalo-born musician/songwriter boasts a résumé so expansive it might be refused as implausible if tendered as a film treatment. Born ...

3

Reed Rapture In Brooklyn

Read "Reed Rapture In Brooklyn" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Ivo PerelmanReed Rapture in Brooklyn Mahakala 2023 Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman is a restless innovator with a prolific output. Recorded in 2021, his magnum opus, the 12-disc box set Reed Rapture in Brooklyn (Mahakala, 2022), is a set of improvised duets with a dozen masters of the woodwinds. Versatile and award-winning director/producer Don McGlynn is known for the depth and captivating uniqueness of his documentaries. Hence, he was the perfect choice to make this film ...

1

A Night At The Family Dog/Go Ride The Music/West Pole 2-DVD

Read "A Night At The Family Dog/Go Ride The Music/West Pole 2-DVD" reviewed by Doug Collette


A Night At The Family Dog/Go Ride The Music/West Pole Mercury Studios2023 Close to three hours of footage taken from television programs curated by the late Ralph J. Gleason, esteemed journalist, co-founder of Rolling Stone Magazine and passionate advocate of music from the mid-to-late Sixties, A Night At The Family Dog/Go Ride The Music/West Pole offers more than just a glance at the culture of the times, but insightful perspectives on the artistic movement(s) as ...

9

My Name Is Ottilie At The Queen's Film Theatre + Q&A

Read "My Name Is Ottilie At The Queen's Film Theatre + Q&A" reviewed by Ian Patterson


My Name Is Ottilie (DoubleBand Films, 2022) + Q&A Queen's Film Theatre jny:Belfast, Northern Ireland January 28, 2023 Most music biopics tell a linear story, chapter by chapter, and then close the book. History as entertainment. The best documentaries, however, act as catalysts, creating a revival of interest in the subject, inviting revisionist histories and even engendering meaningful legacy. My Name Is Ottilie, the moving story of Northern Irish blues and jazz singer Ottilie Patterson, ...


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