Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 2020
Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.
Tensions rise when the trailblazing Mother of the Blues and her band gather at a Chicago recording studio in 1927. Adapted from August Wilson's play.
Two quirky, cynical teenaged girls try to figure out what to do with their lives after high school graduation. After they play a prank on an eccentric, middle aged record collector, one of them befriends him, which causes a rift in the girls’ friendship.
Robert Johnson was one of the most influential blues guitarists ever. Even before his early death, fans wondered if he'd made a pact with the Devil.
The film chronicles Nina Simone's journey from child piano prodigy to iconic musician and passionate activist, told in her own words.
In a tiny Alabama town with the curious name of Muscle Shoals, something miraculous sprang from the mud of the Tennessee River. A group of unassuming, yet incredibly talented, locals came together and spawned some of the greatest music of all time: “Mustang Sally,” “I Never Loved a Man,” “Wild Horses,” and many more. During the most incendiary periods of racial hostility, white folks and black folks came together to create music that would last for generations and gave birth to the incomparable “Muscle Shoals sound.”
A portrait of Keith Richards that takes us on a journey to discover the genesis of his sound as a songwriter, guitarist and performer.
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.
An unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life and work of guitarist Eric Clapton told through his own words and songs.
Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, THE BLUES UNDER THE SKIN dramatizes the tumultuous relationship of a young couple (Onike Lee and Roland Sanchez) as they struggle to overcome the barriers of poverty and prejudice that keep them from finding happiness together.
A film about the first benefit rock concert when major musicians performed to raise relief funds for the poor of Bangladesh. The Concert for Bangladesh was a pair of benefit concerts organised by former Beatles guitarist George Harrison and Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar. The shows were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, to raise international awareness of, and fund relief for refugees from East Pakistan, following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.
When his police detective best friend is killed, down-at-heel private eye and part-time blues singer BJ gets the blame. He must start his own investigation to clear his name, but what he uncovers is a tangled web involving crooked cops, drug-dealing gangsters, the city's underground gay and biker scenes, and even his past.
Brian Hartley has finally found the girl of his dreams in Linda. Unfortunately, he can't convince her or himself that it's really true. When she catches him with another woman, she finally decides she's had enough and vows to never see him again. Frenzied from the loss, Brian breaks into her house to try to talk her into seeing him again, but Linda and her roommates Kim and Sharon instead bind him to the bed.
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.
Two rival record collectors attempt to con an old lady out of a rare but cursed 1930s blues record. When a series of unfortunate circumstances lands them in jail, the feud festers for over 20 years until they are released from prison and get a second chance at snagging the vinyl - this time from a more formidable foe.
"Bad Woman Blues - Beth Hart" celebrates the music and voice of a woman who enriches rock and blues with emotion, authenticity, and honesty.
Blues legends B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, plus Evelyn Young, Gatemouth Moore, Fred Ford, Honeymoon Garner, Booker T. Laury, and others play jam sessions & tell stories about Memphis' Beale Street. Filmed in Memphis in the late 80's, the award-winning documentary has been lovingly remastered and restored from the original 16mm film and audio tape. A personal look at a neighborhood where the music lasted "all day and all night". It's a must-see for any music fan.
John Mayer: Someday I'll Fly chronicles the musical evolution of one of the most influential solo artists of his generation. Featuring rare demos, interviews and live performances; it is told in it's entirety from Mayer's perspective. Centered mostly on his career and professional accomplishments, Someday I'll Fly strips away the typical gossip surrounding Mayer to provide an intimate look at the life and career of a lauded musician.
Weekend-dad Kim-Andre is trying hard to be the perfect father for his daughter Mina, but must deal with his mother when she steals the trump card of his - a newly renovated Ford Mustang.
Soul singer Dana Masters traces the story of Ottilie Patterson, who for a dazzling few years in the late 1950s and early 1960s was a pioneer of British jazz and blues music and inspiration to later groups such as The Rolling Stones and The Pretty Things.
The life of Blues and folk singer Huddie Leadbetter, nicknamed Leadbelly is recounted. Covering the good times and bad from his 20s to 40s. Much of that time was spent on chain gangs in the south. Even in prison he became well known for the songs he had composed and sung during and before the time he spent there.
From 1978 to 1985 Alan Lomax traveled the American South and Southwest with a television crew to document regional folklore with deep historical roots. From the resulting 400 hours of footage came the five-program series American Patchwork, which aired on PBS in 1991.
KET’s Jubilee series features the performances of nationally known artists and popular local musicians at summer folk music festivals in Kentucky. Since its premiere in 1996, Jubilee has presented an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary bluegrass, blues, folk, gospel, and other forms of music from around the world to your backyard.