Movies: Jazz singer or musician

Tenor saxophonist, composer and producer Kamasi Washington and his band perform a special show at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater for the theatre's 85th year anniversary. Washington explores Harlem's rich musical and cultural history and the city's...

With this project Pat Metheny has created a whole new way to make music. Based on a childhood fascination with his grandfather's player piano, Metheny commissioned new inventors to build an exciting array of acoustic mechanical musical instruments ca...

Finland has long been the promised land for long hair and heavy rock music, however jazz has it’s own place here too! Then again maybe jazz is just the general name we give to music we can’t quite classify. And the original soundscapes brought forth ...

One of music's most magnetic performers, George Benson shines in this live performance. Recorder at Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Ireland this performance highlights the versatility of George Benson. With guest appearances by jazz legend Joe Sample, th...

A short documentary about Vince Guaraldi, the composer most well known for his work on several 'Peanuts' animated television specials....

Legendary singer, actor, and jazz pianist Nat King Cole was prominent in the mid-1900s. Though he passed away in 1965 at only 45 years old, his songs have remained iconic in the years since, with some of his most famous songs including "Smile", "The ...

The hits come fast and furious in this 2001 performance by Antoine "Fats" Domino at the Jazz and Heritage Festival in his hometown of New Orleans. Well, maybe not that fast; Fats's style was never what you'd call exactly frenetic, and he was well int...

What was supposed to be a 40 minute performance gets extended another 20 minutes with 3 more songs to the already sung 35 songs in Bing’s only fully televised concert! Recorded a month and a half before his death, we see Bing in great form performing...

A jazz musician struggles to come to terms with his age when he is assigned a live in nurse....

On 25 August 1972, the jazz rock fusion band, Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by guitarist John McLaughlin with musicians Billy Cobham, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird and Jan Hammer, performed a set of spiritual, intense, instrumental songs from their first alb...

The documentary recounts the six-decade career of jazz singer Carol Sloane, lauded by critics and peers as one of the greatest jazz singers in history but still relatively unknown to the public at large, and follows her preparations for her final liv...

Young Cab Calloway's mother is concerned, because Cab spends his days listening to the radio, pretending to lead a miniature orchestra. A deacon passing by the apartment hears him singing and advises him go to his wife's gypsy tea room. As she reads ...

"Bad Woman Blues - Beth Hart" celebrates the music and voice of a woman who enriches rock and blues with emotion, authenticity, and honesty....

In 1965, during eminent trumpeter Louis Armstrong’s visit to Prague, Jan Spata then a young promising documentary filmmaker, created the report 'Hallo Satchmo'....

A struggling young man secretly plays a magical trumpet that transports him from his desolate world into a colorful "bliss." When his younger brother discovers his secret, their relationship is put in jeopardy....

Charles Mingus showcases three exceptional concerts performed in April 1964 featuring his most celebrated lineup--Jaki Byard (piano), Dannie Richmond (drums), Johnny Coles (trumpet), Clifford Jordan (tenor sax) and the great Eric Dolphy (alto sax, fl...

This feature-length documentary chronicles the life and playful methods of Dutch pianist and composer Misha Mengelberg, a significant figure in post-WWII European Jazz and free improvisation. Archival footage, rehearsal / performance sequences and i...

A street photographer regains passion for his craft after befriending a homeless jazz musician....

Common sense says you can't make a living in America playing avant-garde improvisational jazz. But Ken Vandermark does it anyway. Among musicians, Vandermark's work ethic is almost mythic. The Chicago reed player has released over 100 albums with ne...

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