A somewhat reverent look at the jazz piano virtuoso includes many famous contributors
The legendary jazz piano virtuoso is the subject of this warmly celebratory if undemanding documentary, which takes us through his life and times and also brings together jazz musicians to play a special session in his honour. Peterson was a musician who played and composed in the tradition of Art Tatum, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington; largely performing with his own trio, or later solo, which gave him a quasi-classical mien.
Unlike these other greats, however, Peterson was from Canada, and as his friend Quincy Jones remarked: “I didn’t know they even had black people in Canada!” In consequence, Peterson never grew up with Jim Crow segregation, of which there was no legal equivalent in Canada – although racism and discrimination were certainly commonplace enough, and Peterson’s 1962 plangently emotional composition Hymn to Freedom, written for Martin Luther King Jr,...
The legendary jazz piano virtuoso is the subject of this warmly celebratory if undemanding documentary, which takes us through his life and times and also brings together jazz musicians to play a special session in his honour. Peterson was a musician who played and composed in the tradition of Art Tatum, Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington; largely performing with his own trio, or later solo, which gave him a quasi-classical mien.
Unlike these other greats, however, Peterson was from Canada, and as his friend Quincy Jones remarked: “I didn’t know they even had black people in Canada!” In consequence, Peterson never grew up with Jim Crow segregation, of which there was no legal equivalent in Canada – although racism and discrimination were certainly commonplace enough, and Peterson’s 1962 plangently emotional composition Hymn to Freedom, written for Martin Luther King Jr,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Biopics ain’t Wikipedia entries. Lives never conform to a tidy narrative arc — even one as dramatic as Aretha Franklin’s. With Respect, screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson and director Liesl Tommy did an admirable job condensing 20 years of the Queen of Soul’s tumultuous life into a mere two-and-a-half hours. Thanks to some impressive research and Jennifer Hudson’s captivating performance as the late icon, the film treats viewers to a host of her most transformative moments. You’re in the studio as Franklin finds the groove for her breakthrough hit,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Jordan Runtagh
- Rollingstone.com
The centerpiece of Scott Ora’s cluttered San Fernando Valley apartment is the 1939 Oscar his step-grandfather, the late lyricist Leo Robin, was presented for co-writing “Thanks for the Memory.” Sung by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in the film “The Big Broadcast of 1938,” the trophy sits proudly on the piano where Robin worked on some of his biggest hits. The movie marked the comedian’s breakout role and Leo’s tune, co-written with frequent collaborator Ralph Rainger, soon became Hope’s theme song. It was Robin’s only Academy Award win out of a total of 10 nominations.
Over the course of 20 years, from 1934 (when the best original song category was introduced and he was nominated for “Love in Bloom”) through 1954, Robin, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame who died in 1984 at the age of 84, earned 10 Oscar nominations (two in 1949 alone). His impressive catalog includes signature tunes for Maurice Chevalier...
Over the course of 20 years, from 1934 (when the best original song category was introduced and he was nominated for “Love in Bloom”) through 1954, Robin, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame who died in 1984 at the age of 84, earned 10 Oscar nominations (two in 1949 alone). His impressive catalog includes signature tunes for Maurice Chevalier...
- 10/1/2019
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar-winning film composer and symphony orchestra conductor Andre Previn died Thursday at his home in Manhattan, his manager confirmed to the New York Times. He was 89.
The former enfant terrible of motion picture scoring and accomplished jazz pianist was honored with four Academy Awards. He won the first two, for best scoring of a musical picture (a category that has since been retired), for “Gigi” and “Porgy & Bess” in 1958 and 1959, respectively, while still in his 20s. He then won two for best adaptation or treatment (another retired sub-category) in 1963 and 1964 for “Irma la Douce” and “My Fair Lady,” respectively.
He later abandoned films to conduct such esteemed orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Previn’s jazz influence was pianist Art Tatum and, from the age of 12, he developed a proficiency in jazz piano, which led to his first film assignment at age 16, while still a...
The former enfant terrible of motion picture scoring and accomplished jazz pianist was honored with four Academy Awards. He won the first two, for best scoring of a musical picture (a category that has since been retired), for “Gigi” and “Porgy & Bess” in 1958 and 1959, respectively, while still in his 20s. He then won two for best adaptation or treatment (another retired sub-category) in 1963 and 1964 for “Irma la Douce” and “My Fair Lady,” respectively.
He later abandoned films to conduct such esteemed orchestras as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Previn’s jazz influence was pianist Art Tatum and, from the age of 12, he developed a proficiency in jazz piano, which led to his first film assignment at age 16, while still a...
- 2/28/2019
- by Richard Natale
- Variety Film + TV
Noted music biographer David Ritz has written a pair of books about Aretha Franklin. He co-authored her 1998 autobiography, “Aretha: From These Roots,” written with her input. Then in 2014, he published “Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin,” culled from interviews with those closest to her, which essentially shattered his friendship with the Queen of Soul, who was upset by its candor.
What was your experience like working with Aretha on her own autobiography?
I originally was introduced to her by Ray Charles. I chased after her tenaciously for 18 years before she agreed to do it with me. I couldn’t have been more excited. We worked on it for two years. I used to sit in her kitchen, her cooking and me eating, listening to gospel and jazz records. Ultimately, she wouldn’t go where I felt she needed to go, which was to the most difficult challenges in her life.
What was your experience like working with Aretha on her own autobiography?
I originally was introduced to her by Ray Charles. I chased after her tenaciously for 18 years before she agreed to do it with me. I couldn’t have been more excited. We worked on it for two years. I used to sit in her kitchen, her cooking and me eating, listening to gospel and jazz records. Ultimately, she wouldn’t go where I felt she needed to go, which was to the most difficult challenges in her life.
- 8/16/2018
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
Songs On Screen: HitFix recurring feature of tributes by writers to their favorite musical moments from TV and film. Check out all the entries in the series here. There are three great songs from American film, and they are all about rainbows. “Over the Rainbow,” “Moon River” and “The Rainbow Connection” – are the three most quintessentially American songs ever to appear on screen, sung by three quintessentially American characters; and all three stand apart as plaintive cries of lonely souls dreaming of someplace far away..”Waiting round the bend” ”where troubles melt like lemondrops” for “the lovers, the dreamers and me” The things these songs share tell you everything needs to know about the character of 20th Century America. The things they don’t share tell you everything you need to know about how that character changed as the era wore on. Let’s start at the top, and the very top it is.
- 6/26/2015
- by Richard Rushfield
- Hitfix
Fillip Cornershop Satiediously, vol. 2 (Unheard Universe) Following up on last year's initial Satie volume, Cornershop now delivers a unique reading of Satie's notorious "Vexations," the one-page piece which Satie said should be performed with repeats until it totaled 840 times through the printed text (or perhaps not; debate has raged since its 1949 publication). Cornershop brings the piece in at a monumental 48 hours (more traditional performances of the 840-times length range from 18 to 28 hours).
As I was wondering how Cornershop could achieve such a performance without the aid of caffeine, which in turn would mitigate against his chosen slow tempo, I noticed a splice after the 168th time through and then, in turn, after the 336th. Shortly after the latter, and concurrent with my wife's threat of divorce, I had to stop listening, but a little math revealed to me that 1 through 168 and 169 through 336 were precisely the same length, so it appears...
As I was wondering how Cornershop could achieve such a performance without the aid of caffeine, which in turn would mitigate against his chosen slow tempo, I noticed a splice after the 168th time through and then, in turn, after the 336th. Shortly after the latter, and concurrent with my wife's threat of divorce, I had to stop listening, but a little math revealed to me that 1 through 168 and 169 through 336 were precisely the same length, so it appears...
- 4/1/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Panama City, Fla. (AP) — Renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco — who collaborated with Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and other top singers and musicians of his era — has died at the age of 91. DeFranco's family told The Associated Press on Friday that the famed musician died Wednesday evening at a Panama City hospital. DeFranco's wife Joyce said he had been in declining health in recent years. DeFranco performed at venues around the world for 75 years and recorded with musicians including Sinatra, Holliday, Art Tatum, Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. He was named a National Endowment for the
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- 12/26/2014
- by The Associated Press
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
No jazz pianist in the last 45 years has been uninfluenced by Bud Powell, because his work in the early days of bebop with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie established the prototype for the style's pianists, at least in a group setting: quicksilver, horn-like figures from the right hand, jabbing harmonies from the left that add off-kilter accents to the rhythm. (When playing solo, and sometimes on ballads in trio, Powell deployed a fuller, more lush style derived from Art Tatum, with some of his friend and mentor Thelonious Monk's style mixed in.) He left surprisingly few official documents of his collaboration with Parker and Gillespie, with most coming after the style's foundation because of two recording bans. By then he had already become a leader in his own right and had begun recording a legacy of not just great pianism but also his unique compositional style.
But even though...
But even though...
- 9/27/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Madrid — Renowned Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes, a composer and bandleader who recorded with Nat "King" Cole, was musical director at Havana's legendary Tropicana Club and a key participant in the golden age of Cuban music, has died in Sweden at age 94.
The news of his death was confirmed by Cindy Byram, the agent of Valdes' son Chucho Valdes, who is a well-known musician in his own right. A cause of death was not given.
The senior Valdes studied piano and later taught it to Chucho (Jesus Dionisio Valdes), who went on to become a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Cuban-based jazz band Irakere.
The father began playing accompaniments at Havana's famous night clubs in the 1940s. He then worked with singer Rita Montaner as her pianist and arranger from 1948 to 1957, when she was the lead cabaret act at the Tropicana.
His orchestra Sabor de Cuba also accompanied singers Benny...
The news of his death was confirmed by Cindy Byram, the agent of Valdes' son Chucho Valdes, who is a well-known musician in his own right. A cause of death was not given.
The senior Valdes studied piano and later taught it to Chucho (Jesus Dionisio Valdes), who went on to become a founding member of the internationally acclaimed Cuban-based jazz band Irakere.
The father began playing accompaniments at Havana's famous night clubs in the 1940s. He then worked with singer Rita Montaner as her pianist and arranger from 1948 to 1957, when she was the lead cabaret act at the Tropicana.
His orchestra Sabor de Cuba also accompanied singers Benny...
- 3/22/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book now
• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below
Opening this weekTheatre
Big and Small
Cate Blanchett plays Lotte, a continuing optimist in a bleak world where she struggles to make a connection with her family and others. Sydney Theatre Company with its award-winning production of Botho Strauß's surreal play. Barbican, London (020-7638 8891), Friday until 29 April.
Miss Julie
Maxine Peake plays the troubled 19th-century aristocrat who wanders into the kitchen and the bed of her father's valet, Jean, one delirious midsummer's eve. David Eldridge adapts Strindberg's troubling play, which caused a scandal when it was first produced. Royal Exchange, Manchester (0161-833 9833), Wednesday until 12 May.
Film
This Must Be The Place (dir. Paolo Sorrentino)
Paolo Sorrentino's English-language debut has Sean Penn as a retired goth rocker living in Dublin.
• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below
Opening this weekTheatre
Big and Small
Cate Blanchett plays Lotte, a continuing optimist in a bleak world where she struggles to make a connection with her family and others. Sydney Theatre Company with its award-winning production of Botho Strauß's surreal play. Barbican, London (020-7638 8891), Friday until 29 April.
Miss Julie
Maxine Peake plays the troubled 19th-century aristocrat who wanders into the kitchen and the bed of her father's valet, Jean, one delirious midsummer's eve. David Eldridge adapts Strindberg's troubling play, which caused a scandal when it was first produced. Royal Exchange, Manchester (0161-833 9833), Wednesday until 12 May.
Film
This Must Be The Place (dir. Paolo Sorrentino)
Paolo Sorrentino's English-language debut has Sean Penn as a retired goth rocker living in Dublin.
- 4/10/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
New York — Billy Taylor, an acclaimed jazz pianist and composer who became one of the genre's most ardent advocates through radio, television and the landmark Jazzmobile arts venture, has died at age 89.
Taylor died Tuesday of a heart attack in Manhattan, said his wife, Theodora Taylor. "He enjoyed his life," she said. "Music was his love."
Though he had a noteworthy career as a musician and composer that spanned decades, and played with luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, Billy Taylor was probably best known as a tireless jazz booster, educator and broadcaster.
Dr. Taylor, as he preferred to be called, was the first black to lead a television studio orchestra in the 1950s. He helped found Jazzmobile in the 1960s – which began as mobile, outdoor concerts on a parade float to bring free music to inner city neighborhoods. He was host of a popular jazz...
Taylor died Tuesday of a heart attack in Manhattan, said his wife, Theodora Taylor. "He enjoyed his life," she said. "Music was his love."
Though he had a noteworthy career as a musician and composer that spanned decades, and played with luminaries such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, Billy Taylor was probably best known as a tireless jazz booster, educator and broadcaster.
Dr. Taylor, as he preferred to be called, was the first black to lead a television studio orchestra in the 1950s. He helped found Jazzmobile in the 1960s – which began as mobile, outdoor concerts on a parade float to bring free music to inner city neighborhoods. He was host of a popular jazz...
- 12/30/2010
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Wakefield, Nc - Deep in the woods of Raleigh, I felt the ghost of Glenn Gould. He’s been dead since 1982, but there he was at a grand piano playing the first of Bach’s The Goldberg Variations.
His body wasn’t hunched over the keyboard on his collapsible chair. He wasn’t humming away as he played. But it was unmistakably Gould. The keys of the Yamaha Dcfiiiapro were stuck in his iconic way. His music filled the classical music concert hall covered in maple and cherry wood.
How can this be? Who conjured the Canadian classical music genius? Zenph Sound Innovations figured a way to make dead fingers play. This isn’t merely a piano roll, fake stereo treatment or a new noise reduction that goes beyond Dolby.
There is no other way to describe the technological miracle except in spiritual terms. This is the closest we’ll...
His body wasn’t hunched over the keyboard on his collapsible chair. He wasn’t humming away as he played. But it was unmistakably Gould. The keys of the Yamaha Dcfiiiapro were stuck in his iconic way. His music filled the classical music concert hall covered in maple and cherry wood.
How can this be? Who conjured the Canadian classical music genius? Zenph Sound Innovations figured a way to make dead fingers play. This isn’t merely a piano roll, fake stereo treatment or a new noise reduction that goes beyond Dolby.
There is no other way to describe the technological miracle except in spiritual terms. This is the closest we’ll...
- 8/20/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
The Fantastic Mr Fox soundtrack. Wes Anderson loves quirk. Enigmatic characters with deadpan stares, talking – and talking, and talking, and talking. With wry postmodern self-awareness. Steve Zissou. Jason Schwartzman in Rushmore. The Tenenbaums. Quirk up to the eyeballs. And whilst for some (like me) this can be tiresome in his narratives and characters, the man knows how to make a really pleasingly quirky soundtrack.
Anderson’s affection for the Fantastic Mr Fox children’s book is clear and sincere – it was the first book he ever owned, and his wry quirkiness allied with this sense of warm-hearted nostalgia has produced a gorgeous soundtrack, all plucked strings, harmonies, crooning, and The Beach Boys, and that’s a recipe for Christmassy loveliness right there. Alexandre Desplat has scored the piece, contributing twelve tracks to the album, each simple, jaunty, and utterly charming, and Burl Ives’ Fooba Wooba John (like Dean Martin with...
Anderson’s affection for the Fantastic Mr Fox children’s book is clear and sincere – it was the first book he ever owned, and his wry quirkiness allied with this sense of warm-hearted nostalgia has produced a gorgeous soundtrack, all plucked strings, harmonies, crooning, and The Beach Boys, and that’s a recipe for Christmassy loveliness right there. Alexandre Desplat has scored the piece, contributing twelve tracks to the album, each simple, jaunty, and utterly charming, and Burl Ives’ Fooba Wooba John (like Dean Martin with...
- 11/22/2009
- by Chris Neilan
- Movie-moron.com
Anybody familiar with Wes Anderson's films will be just as at ease with the director's idiosyncratic soundtrack choices. With help from frequent collaborator and music supervisor Randall Poster, "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is suited with similar Andersonian choices, with inclusions from the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, old voices like Burl Ives, jazz from Art Tatum and all-new contemporary contributions from Jarvis Cocker and score composer Alexandre Desplat. The soundtrack hits physical and digital shelves on Nov. 3. The film, which boasts the voices of stars like George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Anderson regulars, Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray, hits theaters...
- 10/2/2009
- by Katie Hasty
- Hitfix
EastEnders matriarch Barbara Windsor and muscle-bound A-Team star Mr T may be at opposite ends of the celebrity spectrum, but are they really as far apart as they seem? If we've learned anything here at Six Degrees, it's that no one - but no one - is an island in the world of showbiz. With a little help from a former Pop Idol contestant, a suave screen legend and a tempestuous ex-model, it takes just a few short steps to connect these two seemingly-unconnected celebs. We pity the fool who thought it couldn't be done!
Ds takes you from Babs to Mr T through Six Degrees of Separation.
Barbara Windsor to... Darius Danesh - Babs was on her feet at London's New Theatre on Tuesday when Darius received a standing ovation for his role as Rhett Butler in the stage version of Gone With The Wind. She, . . .
Ds takes you from Babs to Mr T through Six Degrees of Separation.
Barbara Windsor to... Darius Danesh - Babs was on her feet at London's New Theatre on Tuesday when Darius received a standing ovation for his role as Rhett Butler in the stage version of Gone With The Wind. She, . . .
- 4/27/2008
- by Beth_Hilton_imdb_@digitalspy.co.uk (Beth Hilton)
- Digital Spy
nm0001084 autoIce Cube[/link] is begging studio bosses to cast him in the rumoured A-team movie - as Bosco 'B.A.' Baracus.
The rapper-turned-actor is one of a number of stars linked to the role, and he may have to compete with the likes of nm0000609 autoVing Rhames[/link], nm0003817 autoMichael Clark Duncan[/link] and the original B.A., Laurence 'nm0851345 autoMr T[/link]' Tureaud, to win the coveted part.
But Cube is convinced he's the best man for the job - and even auditioned on U.S. TV show Live With Regis + Kelly.
He said, "Definitely. I think I could do Mr. T. Get the mohawk going. 'I pity the fool. I pity the fool.'"...
The rapper-turned-actor is one of a number of stars linked to the role, and he may have to compete with the likes of nm0000609 autoVing Rhames[/link], nm0003817 autoMichael Clark Duncan[/link] and the original B.A., Laurence 'nm0851345 autoMr T[/link]' Tureaud, to win the coveted part.
But Cube is convinced he's the best man for the job - and even auditioned on U.S. TV show Live With Regis + Kelly.
He said, "Definitely. I think I could do Mr. T. Get the mohawk going. 'I pity the fool. I pity the fool.'"...
- 1/10/2008
- WENN
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