Alvin Queen is one of the best jazz drummers of all time. A child prodigy, he played with the greatest masters (Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Pharaoh Sanders... ) He is also a very nice person who has a lot of wisdom to transmit. He shows it beautifully in this first episode of "Seeds of Success".
Himself
Gregory Porter One Night Only – Live at the Royal Albert Hall captures the two-time GRAMMY-winning singer in a stunning live performance at the famed London venue with his band accompanied by the London Studio Orchestra conducted and arranged by Vince Mendoza. Porter sings songs from his acclaimed recent album Nat King Cole & Me, as well as favorite songs of his own including “Hey Laura,” “No Love Dying,” “Don’t Lose Your Steam,” and “When Love Was King.”
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
Musical performers put on a show in a pawn shop to convince a man to give them the money they need to buy back their instruments.
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.
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.
The spotlight's on Parchís, a record company-created Spanish boy/girl band that had unprecedented success with Top 10 songs and hit films in the '80s.
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.
San Francisco's North Beach in the 50's - A mix of jazz, poetry and art - The Beach recreates the atmosphere that prevailed through first-hand accounts from the actual "players" along with photographs and artwork from that vibrant time.
Before Rolling Stone, there was Soul Newspaper. Behind Soul, there was Regina Jones. Against all odds, Regina blazed her own path, and at 80 has found herself again.
A documentary that explores the challenges that a life in music can bring.
A documentary profiling a Japanese taiko drumming group based in the remote Sado Island, Japan. The film blurs the line between real-life documentary footage of the troupe's training and practice regimes, and staged performances of their varied musical acts, with sets designed by artist Tadanori Yokoo and an additional experimental electronic music score by Toshi Ichiyanagi.
Thursday 27th of October 2016 – Teatro Espace, Turin. Mulatu Astatke is a musician, composer, arranger and Ethiopia’s cultural ambassador. He’s known as the godfather of ethiojazz, a unique blend of jazz, traditional Ethiopian music, latin, caribbean reggae and afrofunk. Born in 1943 in Jimma, Mulatu studied music not only in Ethiopia but also in UK and USA. In 2005 he contributed to the soundtrack of Jim Jarmusch’s film “Broken Flowers”, reaching a new public worldwide.
Madrid, Spain, June 30th, 2016. Rafael and José Luis jam a crazy one-day trip in search of the city's jazz scene, meeting the musicians, the club owners, the audience, the true believers who tell the story from the beginning, back in the 1950s, until the last breath of this memorable day.
A documentary on Dizzy Gillespie's landmark visit to Cuba and his performance at the Fifth International Jazz Festival in Havana, Cuba. Filmed in 1985 with Arturo Sandoval and Sayyd Abdul Al Khabyyr.
With socialite Tracy Lord about to remarry, her ex-husband - with the help of a sympathetic reporter - has 48 hours to convince her that she really still loves him.
In this entertaining Puppetoon animated short film, a young boy, Jasper, gets trapped inside a pawnshop at midnight. All the musical instruments come to life and play jazz. A whooping wooden Indian chief self-animates as well, and goes on the warpath.
This legendary performance by Van Morrison and The Caledonia Soul Orchestra was filmed at The Rainbow in London in July, 1973. Previously unissued, it stands as one of the greatest live shows by any band.