City of the Winds

Whispering Sidewalks(ja)

Inada plays Betty Yoshida, a singer and dancer from America who arrives in Japan to go on tour, only to be swindled by scheming managers. Penniless and cast to the streets, Betty is taken in by Oki (Nakagawa), a talented tap dancer who introduces her to a group of struggling musicians living and working together.

Bird: Not Out Of Nowhere(en)

Kansas City PBS is proud to present a documentary that looks back at the years Charlie “Bird” Parker spent in Kansas City and his lasting legacy on the Kansas City jazz scene. Bird: Not Out of Nowhere features rarely seen archival footage of Parker, interviews with musicians and historians, and live performances from Kansas City’s most talented jazz musicians.

Live in Japan 93/96(en)

Reissue of Standards Trio concerts; originally released separately as Live at Open Theater East and Trio Concert 1996

Assolo(it)

Danny 'Sweet Touch' Caputo is a young sax player on the verge of crowning his life's dream, to play in the festival that will send him to the top amongst the jazz greats. With just 50 minutes standing between him and his consecration, as he runs over his last simple question more to pass time than anything else. Danny tries to answer, but instead finds himself projected into another world, one populated by the sensual and very real ghosts of his past...

Ella Fitzgerald Live in Australia(en)

Ella Fitzgerald visited Australia back in 1960. Gracefully stepping up to the microphone for the celebrated television event 'The BP Super Show', hosted by musician and entertainer Horrie Dargie, Fitzgerald delivered a mellifluous set of legendary songs in an intimate concert setting at The Embers Nightclub in Toorak Road, South Yarra Victoria. This rarely seen B&W television treat is considered to be one of the earliest audio-visual recordings of the 'First Lady of Song', backed by the smooth sounds of the Lou Levy Quartet. Beside Fitzgerald's performance of 14 memorable Jazz and Blues classics, the program also contains original BP musical interludes and jingles from the Horrie Dargie Quartet.

Jimmy McGary: The Best Jazz You Never Heard(en)

Tenor saxophonist Jimmy McGary was a major presence in the Cincinnati music scene from the 1950s until his death in the early ’90s. With music rooted in Bebop with a progressive slant, the Jazz legend was a session player for King Records and released his first album as a bandleader — The First Time (with a quartet that included pianist Pat Kelly) — in 1979. McGary’s spirit and legacy have lived on well after his passing and well beyond Cincinnati, as evidenced in this new documentary film.

Dear Director(en)

During the summer of 1980, the American jazz concert pianist Kazzrie Jaxen writes a 16 pages long letter to director Ingmar Bergman. His film 'From the Life of the Marionettes' have sent her on a dramatic inner journey, making her realize that she is not alone in her own body.

Nina: A Historical Perspective(en)

This Emmy-nominated TV special highlights rare performance footage filmed between 1968 and 1969 at various US venues and locations, including the Westbury Music Fair, The Village Gate, and RCA Studios in New York City. Also featured are candid and personal interviews with Nina herself, revealing her unique views on music and life -- all expressed with her trademark intensity.

Wealth of a Nation(en)

"This film explores how freedom of speech — including dissent — is afforded to all Americans, and shows freedom of expression in art, music, dance, architecture, and science. The film also emphasizes the importance of the individual’s contribution to the whole of society and demonstrates how a productive and creative society is formed by the open and respectful exchange of ideas. The film was written, produced, and directed by William Greaves" (National Archives).

Bad Animal(en)

Everything changes for a rising hip-hop star, SEMBRÉ, and his manager, MARLENE, a talented indie artist in her own right; as they are dealing with the collapse of their five-year romance, a new producer shows up with a major record deal, forcing them to confront their past while navigating the price of loyalty and fame in the underground Chicago music scene.

You, the Living(sv)

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

Joe Zawinul & WDR Big Band - Leverkusener Jazztage(en)

Zawinul is onstage with the WDR Big Band from Germany and a special international rhythm section. The music is a tribute to the pioneering 1970s fusion collective Weather Report, originally with Wayne Shorter on sax, Zawinul on keys, and later Jaco Pastorius on bass (among other personnel). Zawinul and the WDR play "Brown Street" and "Carnavalito." Arranger Vince Mendoza re-imagines this colorful, small-group music for Europe's longest-lived jazz orchestra. And they can play!

Daybreak Express(en)

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

Ray(en)

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

Art Blakey: The Jazz Messenger(en)

A portrait of inspirational jazz drummer and teacher Art Blakey with Dizzy Gillespie, many pupils including Wayne Shorter, the Marsalis brothers, and a surprising new generation of musicians and dancers.

Miroslav Vitouš – jazzová legenda(cs)

Femi Kuti: Live at the Shrine(en)

An unprecedented collection by Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti, Live At The Shrine includes both a concert film/DVD documentary and a live concert CD, singularly conveying the beauty and joy of Afrobeat music – a combustible cocktail fusing jazz, funk, and traditional African music – while also communicating it’s fascinating roots and politics which began with Femi’s father Fela Kuti, the creator and godfather of Afrobeat. Live At The Shrine takes place in the Kuti family’s hometown of Lagos at the Africa Shrine, where every Sunday Femi plays to a packed house of revelers. With music as his weapon of choice and the Africa Shrine a temple of protest song, Femi continues his father’s fight, railing against the corrupt Nigerian government and staunchly defending PanAfricanism. Capturing this experience through interviews, street scenes, and the music itself, Live At The Shrine captures the spirit, passion, and hope, of a man and a people who are fighting.

Noble Sissle's Syncopated Ragtime(en)

Combining footage unseen since WWI with original scores from the era, this film tells the story of Noble Sissle's incredible journey that spans "The Harlem Hellfighters" of World War I, Broadway Theatre, the Civil Rights movement, and decades of Black cultural development.

High Fidelity(en)

After his long-time girlfriend dumps him, a thirty-year-old record store owner seeks to understand why he is unlucky in love while recounting his "top five breakups of all time".

The Blues Brothers(en)

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.