
An intimate music portrait of American composer Frank Zappa
For the past ten years Zappa in composing has turned away from Rock and Roll music - for which he first became famous - and has been working on new, contemporary, orchestral electronic music; in solitude and beyond any commercial conventions or commitments. It is the first time that Zappa has allowed a film crew to study him during compositional work, actually filming the first moments of a new compositional process. By contrast, in a staged interview Zappa gives comments on music. This film seeks to reveal the sensetivities of Zappa's personality and character also beyond narrative content.
In a nightclub setting, Bob Crosby and His Orchestra play five numbers, as young couples dance in front of the bandstand, in contrasting styles ranging from Dixieland to Blues to Ragtime Pop to Swing: "How'dja Like to Love Me?", "Pagan Love Song", "Moments Like This", "Romance in the Dark" and one of the group's best-known recordings, "The South Rampart Street Blues." The featured vocalist if Kay Weber and the drummer is Ray Bauduc.
Explore NowAs Tobias, a young director, supposes that his girl-friend Ellen had an affair with his brother Markus, front man of "Hansen", one year ago, he decides to shoot a documentary about the band's next tour. When Ellen joins the project, everybody's emotions boil over, although they are observed all the time.
Explore NowFrank Scheffer's (collage like) documentary on the American composer and rock guitarist Frank Zappa, as broadcast by VPRO in the Netherlands April 22,2007. Most of what’s on here is seen before, particularly in Roelof Kier’s 1971 documentary and/or Scheffer’s own documentary “A present day composer refuses to die”. But there is some new stuff too, particularly interviews with Denny Walley, Haskell Wekler, Elliot Ingber and Bruce Fowler.
Explore NowAn American Dissident: un tributo a Frank Zappa is an Italian documentary that aired on the Videomusic channel on January 7, 1994. It includes footage from Zappa's Universe, Video From Hell, Does Humor Belong In Music?, Baby Snakes, The True Story Of 200 Motels, The Late Show, Zappa's May 17, 1988 show at Palacio de Deportes in Barcelona, Spain, The Dub Room Special, various other interviews and performances.
Explore NowIn a nightclub setting, Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra, with two of his vocalists, perform four of the group's best known songs. For the complete list of songs, check the soundtrack listing.
Explore NowThis musical short salutes bandleader B.A. Rolfe on his 40th anniversary in show business.
Explore NowA brief history of Stan Kenton's musical career from taxi-dance gigs to his successful big band orchestra.
Explore NowBandleader Frances Carroll leads The Coquettes, an all-female band, in several swing tunes.
Explore NowNickelback is one of the most successful acts in music history — they're also the number one band haters love to hate. This intimate portrait surveys the Canadian stadium rockers' rollercoaster career.
Explore NowDJ Screw: Untold Story tells the story of Robert Davis before the phenomenon and before the fame from the people who were there. This DVD also contains never-before seen footage of the one man who gave Houston its sound indentity, at work and at play as well as interviews with the original members of the S.U.C., Davis' family members and others whose careers are influenced by his music.
Explore NowThe Life & Times of Bobby Keys ... decades-long Sax player with The Rolling Stones, best friend to Keith Richards, and session player with John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Delaney & Bonnie, George Harrison, Dr. John, Joe Cocker, Harry Nilsson, Ian McLagan, Keith Moon, Etta James, Ronnie Wood, Sheryl Crow, Ringo Starr, Joe Ely, Warren Zevon, Billy Preston, Donovan, Marvin Gaye, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, John Hiatt, Yoko Ono and B.B. King.
Explore NowThe film covers a hundred years in the lives of the Ricordi family, the Milan publishing house of the title, and the various composers and other historic personalities, whose careers intersected with the growth of the Ricordi house. It beautifully draws the parallel between the great music of the composers, the historic and social upheavals of their times, as well as the "smaller stories" of the successive generations of Ricordi.
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