Charlie Parker - Bird Songs

Two musical stars from the golden age of Hollywood get a second chance at rekindling their love in the modern world.

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.

Guitarist Al di Meola, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, and bassist Stanley Clarke, all of whom recorded numerous albums as leaders during the 1970s and 1980s, join forces for this 1994 concert in Montreux. Each musician's compositions are featured in this mostly acoustic performance, though charts were necessary to help them find their way through unfamiliar pieces. There is a noticeable lack of ego apparent on-stage, with no one player trying to steal the spotlight. For his solo feature, "Eulogy to Oscar Romero," Ponty incorporates the use of a digital delay to accompany himself, while Clarke's and di Meola's solo performances are more in the context of the concert. CD The Rite of Strings, which was recorded the following year.

Duke Ellington's fifty year career was full of accomplishments as a highly original pianist, arranger, prolific composer and leader of a timeless orchestra. On occasion he recorded with a small group from his orchestra or as a piano soloist, but Duke was rarely filmed in that capacity... with a few exceptions. On January 23, 1967, Ellington filmed two programs for Danish television. The first has him jamming with an octet taken from his orchestra, including such greats as altoist Johnny Hodges, tenor-saxophonist Paul Gonsalves, baritonist Harry Carney and trumpeter Cat Anderson. Highlights include "The Jeep Is Jumpin'," "Sophisitcated Lady" and "Jam with Sam." The second program puts the focus on Ellington's piano, in solo and trio performances that include "Lotus Blossom," "Mood Indigo," and a definitive version of "Take the 'A' Train." Always a modern and distinctive soloist, Ellington is seen creating brilliant improvisations full of strong melodies, subtle surprises and sly wit.

In 1999, on the occasion of the centenary of Ellington's birth, Franco Maresco commissioned Steve Lacy to perform ten songs by the Duke, which were recorded and filmed in Palermo. In 2024, twenty years after Lacy's death and fifty years after that of Ellington, that unpublished material re-emerges from the archive of the great Sicilian director and becomes a documentary.

Multi-faceted artist Phil Niblock captures a brief moment of an interstellar communication by the Arkestra in their prime. Black turns white in a so-called negative post-process, while Niblock's camera focuses on microscopic details of hands, bodies and instruments. A brilliant tribute to the Sun King by another brilliant supra-planetary sovereign. (Eye of Sound)

The Hot Club of Montevideo is a Uruguayan cultural institution founded in 1950 by the pianist Paco Mañosa, along with his brother and some friends who played together. It was the first club dedicated exclusively to jazz in Latin America.

A documentary about the legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959). There exist many myths and legends about the Jazz Singer Billie Holiday — one of the greatest voices of the last century. Most of them tell the story of the tragic victim of drugs, alcohol, men, color, or the circumstances of her upbringing. To some extent she contributed herself to these legends, especially in her autobiography "Lady Sings the Blues". In recent years, more and more records and reports have shown a different picture of her. These statements of confidants, colleagues and friends clean up with many of the legends and show a strong personality who has been anything but a pitiable victim. Billie Holiday was a strong-willed and determined person and a very complex personality who did not correspond to the classic victim type.

Jazz vocalist Dave Lambert auditions a new group of singers at RCA Studios in 1964.

ZAZ, in August 2014, completed a major tour spanning 5 continents, performing sold out each time. “On the Road” takes us behind the scenes of this triumphant world tour of 93 concerts.