『Peter Barakan’s Music Film Festival』

An appreciation of the life and career of Barbara Dane, part singer and part activist, who has been active since the 1950s, and still continues to perform well into her 90s. Acclaimed by Louis Armstrong and Bob Dylan among others, she is equally convincing whether singing jazz, blues, folk, or whatever turns her attention to. Director Maureen Gosling will attend the first screening and take part in a Q&A.

Garland Jeffreys’s music has always been hard to classify, which meant that in his native America the media passed on his records, robbing him of the mass popularity which he richly deserved. Rock, soul and reggae all play their part in his songs, attested to by Bruce Springsteen, and Laurie Anderson, on behalf of Garland’s friend and supporter Lou Reed. Director Claire Jeffreys, Garland’s wife of many years, will attend the first screening and take part in a Q&A.

Primarily known as a songwriter, and shunning the spotlight out of shyness, Bobby Charles is a name known to comparatively few, but in addition to “See You Later Alligator,” his original hit from the mid-1950s, he produced a stunning though understated masterpiece in 1972, supported by Woodstock’s finest. This loving look back at his life is recommended wholeheartedly.

Soundies were the precursors of music video, 3-minute musical films produced for a limited period during the 1940s, and viewed on a kind of jukebox with a screen installed in bars. We have assembled a programme of 30 of the best (including a few that may draw raised eyebrows in 2024) especially for this festival, featuring Duke Ellington, Nat “King” Cole, Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Dorothy Dandridge, Fats Waller, Hoagy Carmichael and more.

With the exception of leader Robert Fripp, the legendary King Crimson has seen innumerable musicians pass through its ranks in the half century since its debut in 1969.
A good number of them, from various periods in the group’s history, appear here to give their frank take on Fripp, while the current line-up performs. You don’t need to be a fan to appreciate this fascinating piece of work.

Julian Benedikt’s 2006 documentary illustrates how European jazz, born out of the original American form of the music, gradually developed many differing and equally original interpratations. While perhaps not as renowned globally as American jazz, Norway’s Jan Garbarek, Sweden’s Bobo Stenson, German Joachim Kühn and many others whet the viewer’s appetite to hear more where this came from.

This is the story of Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, two German jews who fled Hitler’s Nazis to found Blue Note Records in New York in 1939, eventually creating one of the most legendary catalogues in modern jazz, through their undiluted love of the music. Made in 1996 by German director Julian Benedikt, this documentary features a broad selection of performances, from Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins to contemporaries like Cassandra Wilson and Japanese pianist Onishi Junko.

Filmmaker Garry Bassin and actor/producer Yamaguchi Tomoko visited a total of 30 countries around the world over a span of 10 years, documenting a wide variety of traditional music. This film is a distillation of highlights from the first five years of their travels, visiting Kazakhstan, Turkey, Hungary, Greece, Argentina, Belize, India, Iceland, Georgia….a feat for the ears and eyes.