Jazz
Kamasi Washington Scored the Michelle Obama Documentary Becoming
Multi-instrumentalist and jazz composer Kamasi Washington has written the score for the new Michelle Obama documentary Becoming. The Netflix film drops today, while the score will be released on May 15th. Based on the former First Lady’s memoir of the same name, Becoming picks up where the 2018 book left off, following Obama on a 34-city promotional tour while revisiting some of the memoir’s most striking moments. It was directed by Nadia Hallgren, who knew she wanted to work with Kamasi Washington before she put the book down. She said in a statement, “Mrs. Obama loves music, and when I read the line in her book ‘And heaven, as I envisioned it, had to be a place full of jazz,’ I knew immediately Kamasi was the artist that could interpret her experience musically.” In a press rel...
Damien Chazelle’s Netflix Series The Eddy Is A Mess Without the Music: Review
The Pitch: The Academy Award-winning wunderkind director Damien Chazelle has made his name largely on films all about jazz, from his 2009 indie debut Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench to 2014’s searing music-school drama Whiplash and to 2016’s widescreen musical throwback La La Land. But with The Eddy, he’s one of the lead behind-the-scenes voices on an eight-episode limited streaming series set largely in a smoky Parisian nightclub whose creative leader is a mercurial ex-jazz pianist (André Holland) with a dark past, a troubled daughter, and thugs threatening him. So, to paraphrase Barton Fink, it’s an Oscar-winning director, one of the best actors of his generation, and Netflix. Whaddya need, a road map? The Language of Music: The first thing to know about The Eddy is that, apparentl...
A Lesson on Failing With the Worst Orchestra in the World
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Radio Public The Portsmouth Sinfonia billed themselves as “indisputably, the worst orchestra in the world.” They have brought joy into the lives of millions. In the fifth episode of Ghost Echoes, we learn about the importance and healing effects of failure. For more episodes of Ghost Echoes, subscribe now! Follow on Facebook | Twitter | Podchaser Music and Sound Notes: — The recording of Vivaldi’s Concerto for two trumpets heard here is NOT Matthew Parsons and his colleague Glenn Skelton. It is in fact Michel Rondeau (presumably double tracked) and organist Alaine Letendre, sourced from Musopen. — Here’s Chi-Chi Nwanoku’s BBC performance of Failing by Tom Johnson. — The snippets heard shortly after are from “It Never Entered My Mind” perform...
