February 14, 2003

  • Music Documentaries

    Last nite we saw Standing in the Shadows of Motown - a film about the studio musicians – The Funk Brothers - who created the Motown sound, but who never received the credit they deserved, until now. An enjoyable film but we both felt it could have been better. Too much banter, and bad editing didn’t really make up for the lack of archival footage…

    Over the last two weeks, we have also been watching  Jazz a 4-DVD (12-episode) series on the history of jazz in America. A documentary that charts the evolution of jazz from it’s roots in New Orleans’ blues and the jitterbuggers’ Swing era to the more intellectual styles of bebop … ending with jazz musicians in the 80′s/90′s we’d never heard of. It was interesting how jazz was once THE “mainstream popular music” of America. Then it became  obscure, avant-garde and an acquired taste. At first, the People’s music. Now, the Musicians’ music.

    There was also an animated moment in the Bebop chapter – what looked like a very 50′s stylized cartoon. There is a little king with a big moustache, and a band of musicians. Anyone know what cartoon this is from? We couldn’t find anything in the credits.