This featured film takes a humorous but incisive look at the best-selling instrumentalist of all time – and quite possibly one of the most famous living musicians. Listening to Kenny G investigates the artist born Kenny Gorelick – who took the pop charts by storm with his 1986 breakthrough single, 'Songbird' – exploring his talent for playing ... jazz so smoothly that a whole new genre, 'Smooth Jazz,' formed around him, and questioning fundamental assumptions about art and excellence. In his own words, Kenny G speaks candidly about his musical background, his stringent work ethic, and his controversial standing in the jazz canon – along with insights from fans and critics alike.
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This film documents the 1987 North American tour of the great rock band U2. Fresh with their success of their best selling album 'The Joshua Tree', the band plays monster gigs. Along the way, the band takes the opportunity to indulge in some special musical activities like playing with B.B. King and performing 'I Still Haven't Found What I'm ...Looking for' with a famous church choir. All the while, concert footage of the band's biggest hits on tour are featured while Bono speaks his mind on the problems of his homeland.
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Dylan Jones is in the driving seat for this authoritative four-part look back. No stone remains unturned, as he revisits the New Romantics, rap, modern dance music, hip-hop, indie jingle, synth-pop, house music and club culture. He makes the case that the 1980s was the most radical, innovative and creative decade in the history of pop because ..., unlike other decades, unleashed a myriad of new musical genres in just 10 years. In the first part, Dylan Jones explores how in this decade the world-conquering genres of rap, hip-hop and modern dance music were launched, while guitar-driven indie flourished in a constellation of scenes spread out across the world. And a technological revolution was changing how music was made, filling the charts with a starburst of innovative records. Meanwhile, the launch of MTV turned pop into a visual medium, allowing artists as varied as U2 and Eurythmics to take charge of how they presented themselves. Featuring interviews with Nile Rodgers, Bananarama, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie, Mark Ronson, Trevor Horn and Soul II Soul's Jazzie B.
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An in-depth look into the life and work of the iconic artist and musician Frank Zappa. As a singer, songwriter, rock guitarist, classical composter, recording producer and even occasional film director, Frank Zappa was as difficult to describe as his eclectic music was throughout his 30-year career. Zappa was without peer, a singular ent ...ity who branched out in countless directions, and in the process, became one of the most important and influential musical artists of the latter-20th century. With his most famous band, The Mothers of Invention, he blended rock, jazz, classical, doo-wop, R&B and avant-garde stylings with strange, sexually-tinged lyrics and absurd stage theatrics to create a wholly unique live experience, while in the studio producing outside-the-mainstream albums.
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Over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 1983, filmmaker Jonathan Demme joined creative forces with Jordan Cronenweth and Talking Heads... and miracles occurred. Following a staging concept by singer-guitarist David Byrne, this euphoric concert film transcends that all-too-limited genre to become the greates ...t film of its kind. A guaranteed cure for anyone's blues, it's a celebration of music that never grows old, fueled by the polyrhythmic pop-funk precision that was a Talking Heads trademark, and lit from within by the geeky supernova that is David Byrne. This circus of musical pleasure defies the futility of reductive description; it begs to be experienced, felt in the heart, head, and bones, and held there the way we hold on to cherished memories. On those three nights in December 1983, Talking Heads gave love, life, and joy in generous amounts that years cannot erode, and Demme captured this act of creative goodwill on film with minimalist artistic perfection. Stop Making Sense is an invitation to pleasure that will never wear out its welcome.
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Experience the evolving genius of rock icon David Bowie in this documentary that chronicles the last five years of his life. The film features never-before-seen footage of Bowie as well as conversations with the musicians, producers, and music video directors who worked with him on his final tour back in the early 2000s (when he had a he ...art attack that compelled him to turn away from live performances); the Man Who Fell to Earth–inspired musical Lazarus; and his final two albums, 2013’s The Next Day and Blackstar, which was released two days before Bowie died of cancer.
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In his own words, Kenny G speaks candidly about his musical background, his stringent work ethic, and his controversial standing in the jazz canon – along with insights from fans and critics alike. Show More