The Magic City: Birmingham according to Sun Ra

Set in 1947, Knights of Swing is a feature film that chronicles a group of young jazz musicians whose dream is to form a “really swingin’ Big Band”. Unfortunately, things prove much more complicated when the community objects to the diversity of the band. Alliances form, and lines are drawn. What follows is soul searching, uplifting, and through music, our story illuminates forgiveness, healing and unconditional love.

The prophetic jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, who today is seen as one of the most important innovators in jazz, was obsessed with his radical music and by the thought that people one day would understand it. In 1962 he recorded his first album in Sweden. Eight years later he was found dead in New York's East River, aged 34. (TCM)

In the 1950s, Gabriel, a talented young pianist, plays in the quartet of his father, Georges, a famous jazz virtuoso at the peak of his career. In the midst of his concerts, Gabriel searches for the words to tell his father about his need for freedom.

In this Amazon Music Songline episode, filmed live in Iceland, Laufey reimagines her most beloved songs with stunning new arrangements at her childhood music school.

Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered coupling gospel and country together.

Set to a classic Duke Ellington recording "Daybreak Express", this is a five-minute short of the soon-to-be-demolished Third Avenue elevated subway station in New York City.

"Hope You Like It" is a heartwarming short documentary that delves into the life of Ken “K-Brick” Cooper, a talented jazz musician whose music carries the weight of a cherished family legacy. Set against the backdrop of an isolated mall in Laughlin, Nevada, this short film captures Ken's poignant journey as he serenades the empty hallways with original jazz compositions. His saxophone, a precious gift from his late father just before his passing, serves as a powerful connection to the past.

The brilliant self-taught pianist Erroll Garner left his mark on jazz forever. His song Misty, which he allegedly composed between two concerts on an aeroplane, immediately became one of the great jazz standards and is still one of the most covered ballads in the world today. Who was the man behind the ever-friendly smile from the ghettos of Pittsburgh, whose talent brought him to the biggest international stages?

An unprecedented collection by Afrobeat legend Femi Kuti, Live At The Shrine includes both a concert film/DVD documentary and a live concert CD, singularly conveying the beauty and joy of Afrobeat music – a combustible cocktail fusing jazz, funk, and traditional African music – while also communicating it’s fascinating roots and politics which began with Femi’s father Fela Kuti, the creator and godfather of Afrobeat. Live At The Shrine takes place in the Kuti family’s hometown of Lagos at the Africa Shrine, where every Sunday Femi plays to a packed house of revelers. With music as his weapon of choice and the Africa Shrine a temple of protest song, Femi continues his father’s fight, railing against the corrupt Nigerian government and staunchly defending PanAfricanism. Capturing this experience through interviews, street scenes, and the music itself, Live At The Shrine captures the spirit, passion, and hope, of a man and a people who are fighting.

Record label manager and producer Manfred Eicher established the record label ECM in 1969. He has been a key promoter of European - and Norwegian - jazz.

From the sound of mountains and endless expanses, to the heavy pulse of the big city. Norwegian jazz is loved by fans all over the world. How did small Norway become a big jazz country?

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.

"I swear, I wanted to make a “visual album” but this is literally the way the wind blew me this time."

The musical traditions of the eastern and western worlds are bridged through the improvisations of Bombay, India-born percussionist/vocalist Trilok Gurtu. Gurtu’s mastery of post-bop jazz has not gone unnoticed. Downbeat magazine named him “best percussionist” in three critic and popularity polls and proclaimed, “musically, the world is his stage”. Jazz magazine, Straight No Chaser took a similar view, writing, “this music has a transcendental quality and removes any obstacles that lie between western and eastern improvised music.” Gurtu’s eclectic approach has enabled him to collaborate with most of the world’s greatest musicians. Tracklist 01. Jhuleal 02. Peace of five elements 03. Africa con India 04. Pasana’s Love 05. Dance with my lover 06. God rhythm

Zawinul is onstage with the WDR Big Band from Germany and a special international rhythm section. The music is a tribute to the pioneering 1970s fusion collective Weather Report, originally with Wayne Shorter on sax, Zawinul on keys, and later Jaco Pastorius on bass (among other personnel). Zawinul and the WDR play "Brown Street" and "Carnavalito." Arranger Vince Mendoza re-imagines this colorful, small-group music for Europe's longest-lived jazz orchestra. And they can play!

Tracklist: 1. Route 66 2. Medley: - Save Me - My Old Friend - Trouble In Paradise 3. Distracted 4. Wait For The Magic 5. Mornin' 6. Take Five 7. Lost And Found 8. Midnight Sun 9. Medley: - Step By Step - Breakin' Away - I Will Be Here For You (Nitakungodea Milele) 10. Boogie Down

Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra return to Earth after several years in space. Ra proclaims himself "the alter-destiny", meets with inner-city youths and battles with the devil himself to save the black race.

A documentary about the jazz standard and it's roots in Jewish and African-American culture/

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Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.