Jazz Icons: Sarah Vaughan: Live in '58 & '64 (2007)

Blue Note - A Story of Modern Jazz

"It must schwing!" was the motto of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German Jewish immigrants who in 1939 set up Blue Note Records, the jazz label that was home to such greats as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon and Sonny Rollins. Blue Note, the most successful movie ever made about jazz, is a testimony to the passion and vision of these two men and certainly swings like the propulsive sounds that made their label so famous.

Billie

‘Lady Day’ was one of the greatest jazz vocalists the world ever heard. In 1971, journalist Linda Lipnack Kuehl set out to write the definitive biography of Billie Holiday. Before her mysterious death in 1978, Lipnack Kuehl had taped over 200 hours of interviews. The tapes have never been heard. Now they form the basis of an atmospheric, multi-layered documentary that captures the many complex facets of a proud black woman, violent drug addict, loyal friend, vindictive lover and unforgettable singer of ‘God Bless The Child’, ‘Saddest Tale’ and the haunting ‘Strange Fruit’.

'Round Midnight

Inside the Blue Note nightclub one night in 1959 Paris, an aged, ailing jazzman coaxes an eloquent wail from his tenor sax. Outside, a young Parisian too broke to buy a glass of wine strains to hear those notes. Soon they will form a friendship that sparks a final burst of genius.

Chris Botti in Boston

Chart-topping jazz trumpeter Chris Botti and special guests performed two star-studded concerts at the historic Boston Symphony Hall with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on September 18 and 19, 2008. Special guests include Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Me, John Mayer, Katharine McPhee, Lucia Micarelli, Sting and Steven Tyler.

Lady Sings the Blues

Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday, beginning with her traumatic youth. The story depicts her early attempts at a singing career and her eventual rise to stardom, as well as her difficult relationship with Louis McKay, her boyfriend and manager. Casting a shadow over even Holiday's brightest moments is the vocalist's severe drug addiction, which threatens to end both her career and her life.

New York, New York

An egotistical saxophone player and a young singer meet on V-J Day and embark upon a strained and rocky romance, even as their careers begin a long uphill climb.

Blues in the Night

A struggling band find themselves attached to a fugitive and drawn into a series of old feuds and love affairs, as they try to stay together and find musical success.

Sweet and Lowdown

In the 1930s, jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute woman.

The Legends of New Orleans : The music of Fats Domino

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 into his seventies at the time of this show. But there are a whole lot of hits--"I'm Walkin'," "Blueberry Hill," "Walking to New Orleans," "My Blue Heaven," etc.--and they're just as irresistible as ever, with Domino and band (including a full horn section) in top form as they deliver their brew of R&B, rock & roll, and country music with its distinctively rollicking New Orleans vibe. Aside from the 60-minute concert, the DVD features interviews with Fats, Allen Toussaint (himself a legendary New Orleans musician and producer), author/music journalist Mikal Gilmore, and others, plus a minute or two of Domino and Toussaint jamming at the piano

High Society

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.

Stephane Grappelli - In New Orleans 1989

Few jazz musicians are as exuberant at their advanced age as Stéphane Grappelli in this concert. In this program, the old master plays in an ensemble reminiscent of the famous Hot Club de France, the ensemble Grappelli led with Django Reinhardt in the 1930s, featuring two guitars and a double bass.

Blues for Herold

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.

Quincy

An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between musical genres, producing major pop hits of the early 1960s and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations in the same time period.

Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser

A documentary film about the life of pianist and jazz great Thelonious Monk. Features live performances by Monk and his band, and interviews with friends and family about the offbeat genius.

Pete Kelly's Blues

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

Young Man with a Horn

Taken in by the musical world as a young orphan, Rick Martin grows up with a desire to play pure jazz instead of the commercial gigs he lands, whilst also coping with the problems caused by his tempestuous marriage to an aloof heiress.

Bolden

A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.

Pirates

A pirate radio, the girl next door, and a test of friendship.

Amy

A documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse, the immensely talented yet doomed songstress. We see her from her teen years, where she already showed her singing abilities, to her finding success and then her downward spiral into alcoholism and drugs.

MOANIN'

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

Loyle Carner - hugo: reimagined (live from the Royal Albert Hall)

in celebration of the release of his critically lauded, mercury prize nominated album “hugo”, revered wordsmith loyle carner reinterpreted the record for a very special live performance at the esteemed royal albert hall in october 2023

Thunder Soul

Jamie Foxx presents the inspiring true story of high school band leader Conrad O. Johnson, who transformed his ragtag jazz band students into a legendary funk powerhouse that took the nation by storm.

La fuga

In a retirement home for former professional musicians, a newcomer convinces some of his mates to embark on an exciting adventure that will change their lives.

Lush Life

Jeff Goldblum and Forest Whitaker star as New York jazz musicians, forced to confront a life beyond their hedonistic existence when a personal crisis strikes.

The Strip

Drummer Stanley Maxton moves to Los Angeles with dreams of opening his own jazz club, but falls in with a gangster and a nightclub dancer and ends up accused of her murder.

New Orleans

A gambling hall owner relocates from New Orleans to Chicago and entertains his patrons with hot jazz by Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Woody Herman, and others.

All My Love

Plot unavailable

Ornette: Made in America

Shirley Clarke's frenetic documentary about multi-talented musician Ornette Coleman.

Mahavishnu Orchestra Live On BBC 1972

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 album "The Inner Mounting Flame" at the Paris Theatre, London for BBC-TV, accompanied by psychedelic visual effects.

Soul

Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.

Jammin' the Blues

In this short film, prominent jazz musicians of the 1940s gather for a rare filming of a jam session. This highly stylized chronicle features tenor sax legend Lester Young.

Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill

It's 1959 in a seedy bar in Philadelphia, and Billie Holiday is giving one of her last performances interlaced with salty, often humorous, reminiscences to project a riveting portrait of the lady and her music 4 months before her death.

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

An immersive look at the eventful life and brilliant artistic career of visionary American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991).

Chasing Trane

An account of the life of the brilliant jazz musician John Coltrane (1926-67), a gifted saxophonist, an extraordinarily talented thinker whose original, avant-garde work has impacted and influenced people all over the world. A story about music's ability to entertain, inspire and transform.

Laufey's A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl

Laufey takes the audience on a spell-binding sonic journey under the stars, performing alongside the legendary Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Pat Metheny - The Orchestrion Project

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 capable of responding to his touch on the guitar, resulting in a completely unique approach to solo performance.

Waltz for Monica

"Monica Z" is a biopic about the Swedish singer and actress Monica Zetterlund focusing on her journey from a job as a telephone operator in a small town in Sweden to stardom in the clubs of New York and Stockholm.

The Jazz Singer

A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer.

Meeting of the Spirits

In 1979 and 1980, three world renowned guitarists, John Mc Laughlin, Paco De Lucia and Larry Coryell, formed a guitar super-trio and toured Europe. This is the recording of their performance live at Royal Albert Hall.

Jazz Icons: Count Basie Live in '62

The concert captured on William "Count" Basie's entry in the "must-own" audio/video Jazz Icons series comes from the vaults of Swedish Television. Modern eyes and ears are whisked to April 24, 1962, with Basie conducting his Atomic-era orchestra.

Sparni

It’s the second semester of junior year for Pierce “Sparni” Sparnroft, a gifted jazz vibraphonist studying at Montclair State University in New Jersey. Sparni’s prospects on the vibes were rejuvenated by their new professor, the world-renowned Steve Nelson, and are to be showcased during a student-driven recital in May 2023. But all the while, Sparni must face a crisis within.