Indie rock icons the Archers of Loaf reunited in 2011, and during the course of their reunion tour played two legendary concerts at Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, NC. Combining in-your-face concert footage along with rare interviews of the band, this film by director Gorman Bechard documents those concerts, and captures the excitement and explosive energy of what its like to see this extraordinary band perform live.
The Who's seminal double album 'Tommy', released in 1969, is a milestone in rock history. It revitalized the band's career and established Pete Townshend as a composer and Roger Daltrey as one of rock's foremost frontmen. The first album to be overtly billed as a 'rock opera', 'Tommy' has gone on to sell over 20 million copies around the world and has been reimagined as both a film by Ken Russell in the mid-seventies and a touring stage production in the early nineties. This new film explores the background, creation and impact of 'Tommy' through new interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, archive interviews with the late John Entwistle, and contributions from engineer Bob Pridden, artwork creator Mike McInnerney plus others involved in the creation of the album and journalists who assess the album s historic and cultural impact.
Gil Scott-Heron, one of rap's earliest (and unfortunately unknown) pioneers, gets his full due in Black Wax, the 1982 documentary recently reissued on video. Interspliced between performance footage of Scott-Heron and his Midnight Band are vignettes of him walking around Washington D.C., spouting his views on then-President Reagan (dubbed "Ray-Gun") and generally dropping knowledge. The live performance features many of Scott-Heron's best-known hits, including "Johannesburg," "Winter in America," and "Angel Dust," among others. Warm, intelligent, and insightful throughout, Scott-Heron is clearly enjoying himself and the opportunity to espouse his views. A must for any fan of Scott-Heron's, and definitely worth a look for fans of the funkier jazz music of the mid to late 1970's.
A contemporary take on the 17th-century genre of the pastiche, this delightful Baroque fantasy brings together some of the greatest arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, Purcell, and other composers with a new English libretto by Jeremy Sams, inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The all-star cast is headed by David Daniels as Prospero, Joyce DiDonato as Sycorax, Danielle de Niese as Ariel, Luca Pisaroni as Caliban, and the legendary Plácido Domingo as Neptune. Early music specialist William Christie conducts this dazzling world-premiere production, designed and directed by Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch.
Opera prima donna leaves the Metropolitan to form her own company with Tibbett as leading man. She leaves this company too which means Tibbett and company must carry on without her.
Recorded in 1993 during Raffi’s record-setting run at the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway, this concert is a celebration of all that we love on this big, beautiful planet. This stylish production delighted New York Children and their families with some of Raffi’s most exciting and moving performances.
The tour was in support of the group's second greatest hits album, 'Ten' (2012), and saw them perform tracks including 'Sound of the Underground', 'Love Machine', 'Jump', 'Biology' and 'The Promise'. Following the completion of the tour, the group announced that they had split.
The Snake The Cross The Crown is one of America's best unknown touring bands.They've reached the point and ask the question every musician is eventually faced with, is this worth it? On A Carousel Of Sound, We Go Round explores this universal story with a unique cinematic approach combining performance, past and present footage, and animation, into a moving diary feature film experience about a great band, on the road, with a future unclear. A story any dedicated music fan or musician will instantly relate to and appreciate.
James Taylor plays a selection of new songs and greatest hits in this intimate performance filmed in his Martha's Vineyard home. Includes an insightful interview with the singer/songwriter and such pop gems as "Secret of Life," "Wandering," "You've Got a Friend," "Fire & Rain," "Sweet Baby James," "Country Road," "Mexico," "Your Smiling Face," and more.
Live at the City Hall in Sheffield, England on the 7th of February and the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England on the 8th of February, 1995. Setlist: 1) Billy Budd 2) Have-A-Go-Merchant 3) Spring-Heeled Jim 4) You’re the One for Me, Fatty 5) The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get 6) Whatever Happens, I Love You 7) We’ll Let You Know 8) Jack the Ripper 9) Why Don’t You Find Out for Yourself 10) The National Front Disco 11) Moon River [Henry Mancini cover] 12) Hold On to Your Friends 13) Boxers 14) Used to Be a Sweet Boy 15) Now My Heart Is Full 16) Speedway
We Came Home is the story of Afghanistan through Afghan American musician, Ariana Delawari. Born in LA, the year the Soviets invade Afghanistan, her home's filled with refugees, Afghan music and her father's dedication to Afghanistan, a country nobody else seemed to care about. After 9/11, her parents move to Kabul to help reconstruct. Ariana spends ten years between LA and Afghanistan, documenting her father's homeland in photographs, film and music. During the Taliban resurgence, Ariana records an album with master musicians in Kabul, revealing the challenges of building anything in this country. Ariana experiences firsthand the threat of war and corruption when her father is arrested. Through this, she unexpectedly realizes why her father could never abandon his people. She now understands Afghanistan cannot be forgotten.
Blackberry Smoke; Live at the Georgia Theatre is the critically acclaimed southern rockers first ever live DVD. It was filmed during a concert in front of a sold out audience at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, GA. The DVD brings Blackberry Smoke's high-energy show to fan's living rooms with 11 songs and other thrilling features including performances with special guests Zac Brown, Clay Cook of the Zac Brown Band, and Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie. The live event features some classics such as "Good One Coming On" and "Son Of The Bourbon" as well as new material from Blackberry Smoke's highly praised new album "The Whippoorwill."
A group of 40-somethings in Hollywood juggle their frustration with the movie business and upheaval in their personal lives. They also burst into song.
The quality of keyboardist/composer/bandleader Joe Zawinul's music remained unparalleled to the very end. This titan of the jazz world – whose innovative and genre-bending sensibilities gave rise to such visionary musical entities as Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate – took his final bow on September 11, 2007, at age 75 after a battle with cancer. Recorded in concert at a festival date in Lugano, Switzerland, on July 7, 2007, this aptly titled concert video is unwavering proof that Zawinul, like so many great artists, clearly saved some of his best work for last. This is a perfect companion piece to the 75 audio CD, which garnered a GRAMMY in 2010 for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Harry for the Holidays" is both a traditional and musically adventurous Christmas television special, shot in high definition and originally broadcast on NBC in 2003. The unusual yet beautiful setting is the historic interior of the Bowery Savings Building/Cipriani 42nd Street; one can see an occasional car flash by through windows behind Harry Connick Jr. and his Big Band. Connick's program includes holiday standards but his arrangements are novel, cutting against the melodiousness of the likes of "Silver Bells" or "Frosty the Snowman" with edgy strings, sizzling brass, and complex rhythms. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "The Happy Elf" swing like nobody's business, while "Silent Night" shifts from blues to ballad to gospel in a collaboration between Connick, Marc Anthony, and Kim Burrell. Whoopi Goldberg and Nathan Lane turn up for some cute sketches, and there's a bonus: Connick and Burrell doing the lovely "I Pray on Christmas," not seen in the NBC broadcast.