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Joe Gideon is at the top of the heap, one of the most successful directors and choreographers in musical theater. But he can feel his world slowly collapsing around him – his obsession with work has almost destroyed his personal life, and only his bottles of pills keep him going.
Also known as “History of a Man’s Face” and “By a Man’s Face Shall You Know Him” . Immigrant gangs terrorize a Japanese town with their threats, loud jazz, and tasteless fashion sense, and only the tough but suave Dr. Amamiya (Ando) can stop them, as long as he gets rid of his silly peace-loving ideals.
This revue presents its numbers around the orchestra leader Paul Whiteman, besides that it shows in it’s final number that the European popular music are the roots of American popular music, called Jazz.
Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.
Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) is engaged to marry talented white jazz musician Meade Howell, but the pair face opposition from both Meade’s family, who object to an inter-racial marriage, and Shelby’s parents, who want her to marry a professional. As Shelby is afflicted by pre-marital doubts, handsome Lute McNeil arrives on the scene, determined to make Shelby his at any cost.
Explore the life of Sharon Preston-Folta, the daughter of American icon and legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong. To the world, Louis Armstrong is iconic — a symbol of musical genius, unparalleled success, and unassailable character. To Sharon, he was simply Dad.
Promoting his 2001 jazz covers album ‘Swing When You’re Winning’, English pop rock singer Robbie Williams fronts a 58-piece big band for a live show of crooner standards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on October 10, 2001.
To understand the international phenomenon of Uku Kuut means to understand the ability of different musical niches, sub-genres and hidden creative explosions to not only exist, but flourish, completely independently of the mainstream. Kuut’s life, mothered by Maryn E.Coote (who you may know as the Estonian jazz diva Marju Kuut), took him from the Soviet Union to a refuge in Sweden, music studios in Los Angeles, back to a re-independent Estonia and later, fighting ALS, to loudspeakers all around the world.
The unorthodox comedian’s latest act, an introspective look into people, culture and the essence of stand-up itself – all with the iconic Stewart Lee style. Oh, and jazz.
Riga, Latvia. Four women: Elita, a passioned actress, Elina, her daughter, Iveta, a tourist guide and Paulina, a teenage ballet dancer. All are in love and going through strong emotions. A free-style composition about passion and arts, a visually stunning cinematic jazz partition.
This film is about a famous jazz saxophonist, Izzy, whose life is forever changed after he is accidentally shot.
Merry Fellows was the first Soviet musical comedy. Set in Odessa and Moscow in the 1930s. Shepherd Kostya Potekhin (Utyosov) is mistaken for an international concert star. He falls in love with Anyuta (Orlova) and plays the “star” for her. In a cascade of comic musical numbers he becomes the leader of a Jazz-Band and gives a hilarious show at the Odessa Music Hall. Now he is destined to perform at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
Michel, who’s crazy about jazz, has just found a rare album that he dreams of quietly listening to in his living room. But the world seems to have conspired against him: his wife chooses this moment to divulge an ill-timed revelation, his adult son makes a surprise visit, one of his friends knocks on the door, while his mother keeps calling him on his smartphone. Not to mention that today the residents in his apartment building are holding their annual House Party. Manipulative and a liar, Michel is ready to do anything to have a moment of peace and quiet. Is it still possible, in this day and age, to just have one hour of peace?
Adrian is a young poet who decides to leave Romania and go live to Spain. He wants to change his life, earn some money and learn Spanish. Upon arriving in Cordoba, he works at a car dealership that sells both old and new cars. During the day he hides in a small caravan in the parking lot of the car dealership. One day, Adrian finds a package with a CD and poster for a tour of one flamenco / jazz band. He is enchanted by the music and by the picture of Maria, who plays a bass guitar in the band. They both meet after a concert on the beach, where they begin their relationship full of passion, problems and surprises.
When stewardess Lillemor falls in love with her jazz ballet teacher Robert, a black American man, relatives and friends take offense at their relationship.
Music for Black Pigeons is the first collaboration between Jørgen Leth and Andreas Koefoed. The film poses existential questions to influential jazz players such as Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Midori Takada and many others: How does it feel to play, and what does it mean to listen? What is it like to be a human being and spending your whole life trying to express something through sounds? The characters wake up, rehearse, record, perform and talk about music. In some moments they are on the edge, the edge of existence, constantly challenging themselves. They listen. They devote themselves to finding a space to create a connection to something bigger than themselves. Something that will outlast all of us.
An intimate and revealing look at the world-changing musician, presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home recordings and personal conversations. This definitive documentary honors Armstrong’s legacy as a founding father of jazz, one of the first internationally known and beloved stars, and a cultural ambassador of the United States.
Maggie and Jack are childhood family friends and now as adults give dating advice together on their popular local radio show. When they find out their show is being shopped around for national syndication, their boss encourages them to introduce their significant others to their families for a live, on-air New Year’s Eve special. Knowing their fathers’ local jazz club, The Magnolia, is struggling financially, Maggie and Jack agree to the special as long as it’s hosted at the club. But when Maggie and Jack are both dumped before the big event, Jack suggests they pretend to be a couple and surprise their listeners with the news during a midnight kiss on New Year’s Eve!
Triple D Productions returns with the sequel Dna Bloodline 2. After being convicted of involuntary manslaughter, of Jazzmon King, Fly Dana Killebrew finally accepts the fact that it’s time to change the way he moves. As Fly examines what in his Bloodline, he realizes that the very things that creates you can ultimately be the same things that destroys you.
Alley and Jazz plans to take over the neighborhood, but they have to get rid of the key players to do so. Starting with Shay after spotting her counting a large some of money Alley devises a plan of action. Across town Jazz is also putting the wheels in motion pillow talking with Kash seductively moving into position to strike. The one thing about wanting to be on top, everyone is your competition whether you like it or not.
NOIR transports you back to a time of black and white movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s. It’s New York City, a single spotlight illuminates a detective sat at his desk, fog swirls around his feet as he lights his cigarette, jazz music echoes all around, Welcome to the world of NOIR. Veronica Smart is a beautiful 40-year-old woman married to her husband Cliff for 16 years, always wanting to be a star, she has now grown tired of the marriage and wants out. Meeting a group of teenagers at the local school she works, sets in motion a plan that will include seduction, passion, lies, manipulation and murder. Now available on Prime Video in the UK and USA.
A 13-year-old girl grows up between a boxing ring and the street. Her friends are guys who kill and rob. In the 1990s the whole city hates them, but for Masha they are the best people in the world, who love and protect her. She sings them jazz and dreams of becoming a singer. But one day Masha learns who they actually are and what they have done to her life and family. She matures, leaves the small city for Moscow, trying to break with her past. But one day the past stands directly before her.
Lionel Essrog, a private detective living with Tourette syndrome, ventures to solve the murder of his mentor and best friend — a mystery that carries him from the gin-soaked jazz clubs of Harlem to the slums of Brooklyn to the gilded halls of New York’s power brokers.
In 1959, Berry Gordy Jr. gathered the best musicians from Detroit’s thriving jazz and blues scene to begin cutting songs for his new record company. Over a fourteen year period they were the heartbeat on every hit from Motown’s Detroit era. By the end of their phenomenal run, this unheralded group of musicians had played on more number ones hits than the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beatles combined – which makes them the greatest hit machine in the history of popular music. They called themselves the Funk Brothers. Forty-one years after they played their first note on a Motown record and three decades since they were all together, the Funk Brothers reunited back in Detroit to play their music and tell their unforgettable story, with the help of archival footage, still photos, narration, interviews, re-creation scenes, 20 Motown master tracks, and twelve new live performances of Motown classics with the Brothers backing up contemporary performers.
When Madame Adelaide Bonfamille leaves her fortune to Duchess and her children — Bonfamille’s prize family of domesticated house cats — the butler plots to steal the money and kidnaps the heirs, leaving them out on a country road. All seems lost until the wily Thomas O’Malley Cat and his jazz-playing alley cats come to the Aristocats’s rescue.
Ram Bowen and Eddie Cook are two expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris where, unlike America at the time, Jazz musicians are celebrated and racism is a non-issue. When they meet and fall in love with two young American girls, Lillian and Connie, who are vacationing in France, Ram and Eddie must decide whether they should move back to America with them, or stay in Paris for the freedom it allows them. Ram, who wants to be a serious composer, finds Paris more exciting than America and is reluctant to give up his music for a relationship, and Eddie wants to stay for the city’s more tolerant racial atmosphere.
Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Accompanied by an all-star jazz soundtrack, Sharky’s new “machine” gathers evidence while Sharky falls in love with a woman he has never met.
In 700 Sundays, legendary comedian and actor Billy Crystal tells the stories of his youth, growing up in the jazz world of Manhattan, his teenage years, and finally adulthood. The Tony Award-winning show is a funny and poignant exploration of family and fate, loving and loss.
This documentary showcases basketball player Michael Jordan’s awe-inspiring moves, providing behind-the-scenes and on-the-court action, including footage of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls going head-to-head against the Utah Jazz in the 1997 NBA Finals. Phil Jackson and Bob Costas are interviewed (among others), and the awesome soundtrack includes songs by Earth, Wind and Fire, Fatboy Slim and Freddie King.
New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can’t control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.
From Adolphe Sax’s workshop to the legendary times of jazz and bebop, conquering the classical music stages, forbidden by Nazis and Communists and banned by the Pope: in its 170-year history the saxophone has always been the most seductive as well as the most feared musical instrument. Award-winning Canadian filmmaker Larry Weinstein illuminates and mythologizes the story of the saxophone, its most legendary players and its allegedly longstanding curse about saxophonists falling prey to the instrument’s dark powers.
Set in 1920’s New York City, this movie tells the story of idealistic young playwright David Shayne. Producer Julian Marx finally finds funding for the project from gangster Nick Valenti. The catch is that Nick’s girl friend Olive Neal gets the part of a psychiatrist, and Olive is a bimbo who could never pass for a psychiatrist as well as being a dreadful actress. Agreeing to this first compromise is the first step to Broadway’s complete seduction of David, who neglects longtime girl friend Ellen. Meanwhile David puts up with Warner Purcell, the leading man who is a compulsive eater, Helen Sinclair, the grand dame who wants her part jazzed up, and Cheech, Olive’s interfering hitman / bodyguard. Eventually, the playwright must decide whether art or life is more important.
To the Beat follows 14-year-old twins Mia and Mackie Castillo – dancers since they were toddlers. Beginning at just three years old, that’s been their one true passion. They support each other through competitions and rehearsals, even though they dance different styles. Mia loves tap and Mackie loves jazz. When their favorite pop star launches an online contest to find the most unique dance group for his next music video, the twins each form their own team to compete for the chance to dance in the video – enlisting their friends and family to help gain online votes. Meanwhile, their arch rival and neighbor, Avery, the best dancer of all (who knows it too) uses her charm and resources to get the upper hand in the competition.
A washed up Vegas lounge singer, Jack Satin (Hamilton von Watts), has no money, no job, and delusional aspirations of fame. When Jack is forced to leave Vegas, he packs up his old Cadillac and hits the road for Atlantic City. But his car dies in the desert and Jack is left stranded in the small town of Lost Springs. There, Jack meets jazz legend turned mechanic, Doc Bishop (Robert Guillaume), who helps him with his car trouble. Although Jack is far from the stage, he begins to find himself feeling at home in the small town. When he meets local bar owner, Lauren Wells (Melissa Joan Hart), Jack starts to see there is more to life than chasing fame and fortune. Doc encourages Jack to explore his true love of music, while Lauren provides the audience he has always wanted. But as Jack realizes this town has more to offer him than the bright lights of the big city, his Vegas past catches up with him — what unfolds is comedy at the crossroads of life.
Yehudi Menuhin was the 20th century’s greatest violinist. He was a child prodigy but the man behind the violin was harder to know. Endlessly touring and crossing continents and cultures, his contract with EMI was the longest in the history of the music industry. He took classical music out of the concert hall because he believed music was for everyone and had the power to change lives. An impassioned idealist, Yehudi wanted to give more to the world – he became a tireless fighter for humanitarian issues he believed in. In this film, commemorating the 100th year of his birth, family and close friends recall his extraordinary musical life, in which he embraced jazz and Indian ragas as much as Bach, Beethoven and Bartok. And incredible home movies take us on an intimate behind-the-scenes journey from his childhood in California, to meeting gypsies in Romania and travelling to India and beyond.
Stelios Dimitrakopoulos has 32 hours left before he loses everything. From the jazz bar he painstakingly keeps running for years, to his own family. The Romanian gangster who lent him money, now demands the debt to be paid. The middle-man and former friend, makes Stelios take care of illegal errands. His wife is seriously thinking of abandoning him, and a night club owner, not thinking about the consequences, finally starts to stand up for himself. Christmas is coming, the clock is ticking, and the tree in Stelios’ house must be decorated.
Al Capone – The quintessential self-made American man, ruthless killer, or both? To this day we are fascinated with this celebrity gangster. Americans love a bad boy; a tragic anti-hero. Al Capone is one of the originals, one of the most notorious bootleggers and gangsters of the twentieth century, believed to have personally murdered dozens of people and ordered the killing of hundreds of others. But that’s only one side of this complicated man. He was also a hugely popular public figure, dynamic and charismatic; he opened one of the nation’s first soup kitchens, and was a devoted patron and guardian of jazz, giving African American musicians opportunities that they would otherwise never have had. So what made him a crime boss instead of a powerful politician?
