Michael Cuscuna, the three-time Grammy winner, Mosaic Records co-founder, historian and archivist who produced hundreds of jazz reissues and studio sessions during his career, has died. He was 75.
Cuscuna died Saturday of cancer at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, Grammy-winning recording artist Billy Vera, a longtime friend, announced.
Cuscuna produced the 1970 album Buddy & the Juniors, featuring Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Junior Mance, for Vanguard Records, and 1972’s Give It Up, Bonnie Raitt’s lone gold album during her time at Warner Bros.
He produced reissues and studio sessions for Impulse, Atlantic, Arista, Muse, Elektra, Freedom, Novus and virtually the entire Blue Note catalog.
“Plainly stated, Blue Note Records would not exist as it does today without the passion & dedication of Michael Cuscuna,” execs from the label wrote on Instagram.
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Readers of Blues & Rhythm magazine know his work in the blues field,...
Cuscuna died Saturday of cancer at his home in Stamford, Connecticut, Grammy-winning recording artist Billy Vera, a longtime friend, announced.
Cuscuna produced the 1970 album Buddy & the Juniors, featuring Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Junior Mance, for Vanguard Records, and 1972’s Give It Up, Bonnie Raitt’s lone gold album during her time at Warner Bros.
He produced reissues and studio sessions for Impulse, Atlantic, Arista, Muse, Elektra, Freedom, Novus and virtually the entire Blue Note catalog.
“Plainly stated, Blue Note Records would not exist as it does today without the passion & dedication of Michael Cuscuna,” execs from the label wrote on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Blue Note Records (@bluenoterecords)
Readers of Blues & Rhythm magazine know his work in the blues field,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sandra Reaves-Phillips, the actress and singer who appeared in the films ’Round Midnight and Lean on Me and portrayed six legendary divas in a one-woman, tour de force stage show, has died. She was 79.
Reaves-Phillips died Friday at her home in Queens, family spokesperson Sandra Lanman told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been in failing health since falling off a stage during a performance of Raisin in St. Louis in 2004 and enduring serious auto accidents in 2014 and ’15 in New York.
The South Carolina native worked opposite Maurice Hines in his 2006 Broadway musical Hot Feet, and she portrayed Mama Younger and Bertha Mae Little, respectively, in Raisin on Broadway and national and European tours and in a 1999 off-Broadway production of Rollin’ on the T.O.B.A.
Reaves-Phillips was featured with saxophonist Dexter Gordon in Bertrand Tavernier’s ’Round Midnight (1986) in the role of Buttercup, and in the Morgan Freeman-starring...
Reaves-Phillips died Friday at her home in Queens, family spokesperson Sandra Lanman told The Hollywood Reporter. She had been in failing health since falling off a stage during a performance of Raisin in St. Louis in 2004 and enduring serious auto accidents in 2014 and ’15 in New York.
The South Carolina native worked opposite Maurice Hines in his 2006 Broadway musical Hot Feet, and she portrayed Mama Younger and Bertha Mae Little, respectively, in Raisin on Broadway and national and European tours and in a 1999 off-Broadway production of Rollin’ on the T.O.B.A.
Reaves-Phillips was featured with saxophonist Dexter Gordon in Bertrand Tavernier’s ’Round Midnight (1986) in the role of Buttercup, and in the Morgan Freeman-starring...
- 12/31/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Torben Ulrich, the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, has died at the age of 95.
Lars broke the sad news on Instagram on Wednesday (December 20th), writing the following:
“Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023. 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude. Thank you endlessly! I love you dad”.
Metallica fans will recognize Torben from his memorable appearance in the band’s Some Kind of Monster documentary. In the film, the senior Ulrich was invited to the recording studio to hear an early version of the material that would become 2003’s St. Anger. When asked for his opinion after hearing a song snippet, Torben uttered his now-famous line: “I would delete that.”
Lars has described his father as both Metallica’s biggest fan and critic.
“I think he appreciates Metallica, especially when we’re daring and a little unorthodox,...
Lars broke the sad news on Instagram on Wednesday (December 20th), writing the following:
“Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023. 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude. Thank you endlessly! I love you dad”.
Metallica fans will recognize Torben from his memorable appearance in the band’s Some Kind of Monster documentary. In the film, the senior Ulrich was invited to the recording studio to hear an early version of the material that would become 2003’s St. Anger. When asked for his opinion after hearing a song snippet, Torben uttered his now-famous line: “I would delete that.”
Lars has described his father as both Metallica’s biggest fan and critic.
“I think he appreciates Metallica, especially when we’re daring and a little unorthodox,...
- 12/21/2023
- by Jon Hadusek
- Consequence - Music
Torben Ulrich, Danish tennis pro, jazz writer and father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, has died at the age of 95.
Lars shared news of his father’s death in a social media post Wednesday. “Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude,” he wrote. “Thank you endlessly! I love you dad.” The caption was accompanied by a series of photos of his father including a black and white portrait, a magazine...
Lars shared news of his father’s death in a social media post Wednesday. “Torben Ulrich: 1928-2023 95 years of adventures, unique experiences, curiosity, pushing boundaries, challenging the status quo, tennis, music, art, writing….and quite a bit of Danish contrarian attitude,” he wrote. “Thank you endlessly! I love you dad.” The caption was accompanied by a series of photos of his father including a black and white portrait, a magazine...
- 12/21/2023
- by Charisma Madarang
- Rollingstone.com
After making “American Promise,” Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster were looking to create a very different type of documentary. The married co-directors had spent over a decade documenting their son and his best friend’s journey through Dalton, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country.
“That was 13 years of intense verité filmmaking,” said Stephenson, when she and Brewster were on IndieWire’s Toolkit podcast. “And I think as artists, we wanted to explore the medium and figure out what other kind of storytelling can we try.”
The filmmaking partners knew they were looking for a new project that would allow them to use archival footage to focus on an artist but push beyond a normal biography profile. Brewster, in particular, was focused on making a film about a musician. “Music is an entry to your soul,” said Brewster. “And so we thought that would be emotionally resonant...
“That was 13 years of intense verité filmmaking,” said Stephenson, when she and Brewster were on IndieWire’s Toolkit podcast. “And I think as artists, we wanted to explore the medium and figure out what other kind of storytelling can we try.”
The filmmaking partners knew they were looking for a new project that would allow them to use archival footage to focus on an artist but push beyond a normal biography profile. Brewster, in particular, was focused on making a film about a musician. “Music is an entry to your soul,” said Brewster. “And so we thought that would be emotionally resonant...
- 12/12/2023
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
The ’80s was a decade of movies that you can hear at a roar even on mute. A screenshot of Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay aboard the train in “Risky Business” has a sound to it. The same goes for a still image of Kaneda riding towards Neo-Tokyo in “Akira,” or Jack Nicholson’s car snaking its way up the mountains towards the Overlook Hotel during the opening titles of “The Shining.”
It was a decade of synths and sad jazz; a decade of legends reaching the height of their powers (e.g. John Williams and Ennio Morricone), and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right (e.g. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass). The movies had never sounded that way before, but the best film scores of the ’80s — our picks are listed below — continue to echo in our minds as if they’ve always been there.
It was a decade of synths and sad jazz; a decade of legends reaching the height of their powers (e.g. John Williams and Ennio Morricone), and of newcomers from other disciplines becoming cinematic virtuosos in their own right (e.g. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Philip Glass). The movies had never sounded that way before, but the best film scores of the ’80s — our picks are listed below — continue to echo in our minds as if they’ve always been there.
- 8/15/2023
- by David Ehrlich and Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
George Gershwin surmised “Life is a lot like jazz, it’s best when you improvise.” In keeping with the spirit of this given, Bertrand Tavernier’s ‘Round Midnight succeeds as a composite of jazz and its tormented originators thanks to the inspired casting and improvisational skills of real-life bebop musician Dexter Gordon, who was nominated for an Academy Award as Dale Turner, an amalgamation of Black expats and jazz legends who fled to Europe during the mid twentieth century.
A smoothly attenuated film which plays like elevated fan fiction from an outsider’s perspective, it’s a de-romanticized portrait of the jazz musician, artists whose contributions to their craft were exploited, but their well-beings disregarded during their professional tenure and eventual legacies erased or tarnished.…...
A smoothly attenuated film which plays like elevated fan fiction from an outsider’s perspective, it’s a de-romanticized portrait of the jazz musician, artists whose contributions to their craft were exploited, but their well-beings disregarded during their professional tenure and eventual legacies erased or tarnished.…...
- 7/27/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Of the many music documentaries that screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, many – in fact, most – spend a lot of time telling you how great their subjects are. And then there’s “Listening to Kenny G,” which spends a lot of time telling you how much smooth-jazz saxophonist Kenny G sucks.
Mind you, it’d be impossible to make a Kenny G doc without addressing the elephant in the room, which is that the former Kenneth Gorelick is to many, particularly in the jazz community, a living embodiment of everything that can be wrong with popular music. And director Penny Lane, whose previous work includes “Our Nixon” and “Hail Satan?” is smart enough to know she can’t avoid the topic of Kenny G’s extreme divisiveness and playful enough to make it the defining characteristic of her film.
So while we hear from Kenny’s old high-school music teacher,...
Mind you, it’d be impossible to make a Kenny G doc without addressing the elephant in the room, which is that the former Kenneth Gorelick is to many, particularly in the jazz community, a living embodiment of everything that can be wrong with popular music. And director Penny Lane, whose previous work includes “Our Nixon” and “Hail Satan?” is smart enough to know she can’t avoid the topic of Kenny G’s extreme divisiveness and playful enough to make it the defining characteristic of her film.
So while we hear from Kenny’s old high-school music teacher,...
- 9/17/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Bertrand Tavernier’s 1986 musical drama is based on the life of the saxophonist Lester Young, played by the great bebop artist Dexter Gordon as a struggling band man named Dale Turner. Turner’s highs and lows are reflected in the wonderful music on the soundtrack including Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. Gordon is joined by other real life jazz musicians in a diverse cast including Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Martin Scorsese has a small but scintillating part as a crooked club manager.
The post Round Midnight appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Round Midnight appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 9/6/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Charles Robert “Charlie” Watts, the Rolling Stones’ drummer and the band’s irreplaceable heartbeat, has died at age 80.
Watts’ publicist confirmed his death in a statement. “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts,” it read. “He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier [Tuesday] surrounded by his family.” The statement referred to Watts as “one of the greatest drummers of his generation” and closed by requesting that “the privacy of his family, band members, and close friends is respected at this difficult time.
Watts’ publicist confirmed his death in a statement. “It is with immense sadness that we announce the death of our beloved Charlie Watts,” it read. “He passed away peacefully in a London hospital earlier [Tuesday] surrounded by his family.” The statement referred to Watts as “one of the greatest drummers of his generation” and closed by requesting that “the privacy of his family, band members, and close friends is respected at this difficult time.
- 8/24/2021
- by Joe Gross
- Rollingstone.com
Director whose films ranged across genres from period drama to science fiction, and included the acclaimed evocation of the jazz world Round Midnight
The film-maker Bertrand Tavernier, who has died aged 79, invested his movies with a scrupulous and humane curiosity, no matter what the theme, genre or setting. He was catholic in his enthusiasms, moving easily from period drama to policier, swashbuckler to science-fiction, wide-ranging documentary to intimate musical elegy. The Observer critic Philip French said in 2002 that the director “combines a powerful intellect with a strong social conscience and has a greater knowledge of, and feeling for, the history of cinema than any moviemaker alive”.
Tavernier enjoyed international success with A Sunday in the Country (1984), his portrait of an ageing artist and his family at the dawn of the 20th century; it won him the best director prize at the Cannes film festival. Round Midnight (1986) starred the saxophonist Dexter Gordon,...
The film-maker Bertrand Tavernier, who has died aged 79, invested his movies with a scrupulous and humane curiosity, no matter what the theme, genre or setting. He was catholic in his enthusiasms, moving easily from period drama to policier, swashbuckler to science-fiction, wide-ranging documentary to intimate musical elegy. The Observer critic Philip French said in 2002 that the director “combines a powerful intellect with a strong social conscience and has a greater knowledge of, and feeling for, the history of cinema than any moviemaker alive”.
Tavernier enjoyed international success with A Sunday in the Country (1984), his portrait of an ageing artist and his family at the dawn of the 20th century; it won him the best director prize at the Cannes film festival. Round Midnight (1986) starred the saxophonist Dexter Gordon,...
- 3/28/2021
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
The French director’s films include Golden Bear-winner Fresh Bait, Bafta-winner Life And Nothing But and Round Midnight.
French director, screenwriter and producer Bertrand Tavernier has died aged 79, the Institute Lumière has announced.
Tavernier was president of the Lyon-based museum and cinematheque devoted to the legacy of local cinema pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumiere, working alongside its director and Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux.
Born in Lyon, the son of a writer and resistance fighter, Tavernier studied law before deciding to pursue his dream of making films.
For a time, he combined his filmmaking with working as a...
French director, screenwriter and producer Bertrand Tavernier has died aged 79, the Institute Lumière has announced.
Tavernier was president of the Lyon-based museum and cinematheque devoted to the legacy of local cinema pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumiere, working alongside its director and Cannes Film Festival delegate general Thierry Frémaux.
Born in Lyon, the son of a writer and resistance fighter, Tavernier studied law before deciding to pursue his dream of making films.
For a time, he combined his filmmaking with working as a...
- 3/25/2021
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Bertrand Tavernier, the prolific French filmmaker noted for films such as “Coup de Torchon” (1981), “A Sunday in the Country” (1984) and “Round Midnight” (1986), has died. He was 79.
The director’s death was confirmed on Thursday by the Institut Lumière in France and Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux. Tavernier had struggled with a pancreatic infection for some time, but it’s believed his death was abrupt.
Roger Ebert called Tavernier “one of the most gifted and skilled of French directors, the leader of the generation after the New Wave” and asserted that the director’s work represented a quiet repudiation of “the auteur theory that he once supported, since Tavernier never forces himself or a style” upon the viewer.
“If there is a common element in his work, it is his instant sympathy for his fellow humans, his enthusiasm for their triumphs, his sharing of their disappointments,” said Ebert. “To see the...
The director’s death was confirmed on Thursday by the Institut Lumière in France and Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux. Tavernier had struggled with a pancreatic infection for some time, but it’s believed his death was abrupt.
Roger Ebert called Tavernier “one of the most gifted and skilled of French directors, the leader of the generation after the New Wave” and asserted that the director’s work represented a quiet repudiation of “the auteur theory that he once supported, since Tavernier never forces himself or a style” upon the viewer.
“If there is a common element in his work, it is his instant sympathy for his fellow humans, his enthusiasm for their triumphs, his sharing of their disappointments,” said Ebert. “To see the...
- 3/25/2021
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Colo Tavernier O’Hagan, the revered screenwriter of award-winning films by Bertrand Tavernier and Claude Chabrol, died from cancer on June 13, according to a statement from the Lumière Institute in Lyon.
Throughout her prolific career spanning film and TV, Tavernier O’Hagan was a life-long, inspiring collaborator to her former husband, Bertrand Tavernier, on many of his most successful films, starting in 1980 with “A Week’s Holiday,” which competed at Cannes.
Born Claudine O’Hagan in England, with an Irish father and a French-Spanish mother, the screenwriter first earned critical acclaim with the script of Tavernier’s “A Sunday in the Country,” which earned her the Cesar award in 1985 for best adapted screenplay, and a National Society of Film Critics Award nomination out of the U.S.
She also collaborated with Tavernier on the Dirk Bogarde starrer “Daddy Nostalgia,” which competed at Cannes in 1990, and “Round Midnight,” a jazz-infused drama...
Throughout her prolific career spanning film and TV, Tavernier O’Hagan was a life-long, inspiring collaborator to her former husband, Bertrand Tavernier, on many of his most successful films, starting in 1980 with “A Week’s Holiday,” which competed at Cannes.
Born Claudine O’Hagan in England, with an Irish father and a French-Spanish mother, the screenwriter first earned critical acclaim with the script of Tavernier’s “A Sunday in the Country,” which earned her the Cesar award in 1985 for best adapted screenplay, and a National Society of Film Critics Award nomination out of the U.S.
She also collaborated with Tavernier on the Dirk Bogarde starrer “Daddy Nostalgia,” which competed at Cannes in 1990, and “Round Midnight,” a jazz-infused drama...
- 6/14/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Jay-z’s The Blueprint, Cyndi Lauper’s She’s So Unusual, Curtis Mayfield’s Superfly soundtrack, Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” and Nina Simone’s “Mississippi Goddam” are among the 25 recordings that will be added to the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry this year.
The eclectic list also includes Earth, Wind and Fire’s hit single “September,” the original Broadway cast recording of the musical Hair, Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba,” Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and a box set featuring the music of Schoolhouse Rock! The...
The eclectic list also includes Earth, Wind and Fire’s hit single “September,” the original Broadway cast recording of the musical Hair, Ritchie Valens’ “La Bamba,” Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and a box set featuring the music of Schoolhouse Rock! The...
- 3/20/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Lady Gaga has leaped into the lead in our combined Gold Derby odds for Best Actress at the Oscars. Her first on-screen feature film role in “A Star Is Born” has 19/5 top odds over more traditional actresses Glenn Close (“The Wife”), Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”) and Viola Davis (“Widows”). But a win by a music star in an acting category wouldn’t be a first at the Academy Awards.
Two of the all-time greats took home Oscar gold decades ago. Frank Sinatra managed to parlay his huge success as a singer to a pretty solid film career. The results included an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for “From Here to Eternity” in 1953 and a second nomination for “The Man with the Golden Arm” in 1955 as Best Actor.
SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
A few years earlier, crooner Bing...
Two of the all-time greats took home Oscar gold decades ago. Frank Sinatra managed to parlay his huge success as a singer to a pretty solid film career. The results included an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for “From Here to Eternity” in 1953 and a second nomination for “The Man with the Golden Arm” in 1955 as Best Actor.
SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
A few years earlier, crooner Bing...
- 10/24/2018
- by Robert Pius and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
The 40th edition of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, which runs from July 6 to 15, featured a truly impressive range of music with approximately 100 venues hosting over 1400 performing acts. The citywide celebration relies on a loose consortium of independent promoters, producers, programmers, musicians and club owners to book an array of talent showcasing Danish artists, elder journeymen, new talent and international stars from the world over — all with a healthy respect for the history and traditions of jazz.
Marquee acts like Jeff Beck, The Roots, and the Brad Mehldau Trio all had big nights early in the festival, while saxophone icon Pharoah Sanders (pictured) took the stage for two sold-out shows at the intimate Brorson’s Church. Veteran drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath enjoyed the support of a decidedly international band, as did Boston saxophonists George Garzone and Jerry Bergonzi, both of whom have been coming to the festival for years, each playing...
Marquee acts like Jeff Beck, The Roots, and the Brad Mehldau Trio all had big nights early in the festival, while saxophone icon Pharoah Sanders (pictured) took the stage for two sold-out shows at the intimate Brorson’s Church. Veteran drummer Albert “Tootie” Heath enjoyed the support of a decidedly international band, as did Boston saxophonists George Garzone and Jerry Bergonzi, both of whom have been coming to the festival for years, each playing...
- 7/10/2018
- by Mitch Myers
- Variety Film + TV
Since revamping and reopening just a handful of months ago, New York City’s The Quad Cinema has become yet another top tier art house offering up some of the year’s most interesting retrospectives and film series. Be it a retrospective for filmmaker Lina Wertmuller or their superlative look at the immigrant experience through a cinematic lens, The Quad has given cinephiles rather frequent occasion to put down their hard earned cash and take in a film or two.
Now, on the occasion of the release of the director’s latest documentary, the theater is commencing yet another revelatory retrospective, this time of an underrated juggernaut of French cinema.
Rarely uttered in the same breath as the true titans of French cinema, director Bertrand Tavernier has cemented himself as one of the nation’s great cinematic artists through his human and humane portraits of various communities. After getting his start as an assistant to director Jean-Pierre Melville, Tavernier would in many ways jettison with stylistic formalism of his contemporaries for pictures that feel far more tactile and loose. Lived in is a term often thrown around with Tavernier’s work, and it’s fitting despite being something of a cliche. Yes, his pictures feel decidedly of one singular voice and worldview, yet there is an audacious energy to each frame that ultimately turns each picture into a vital document of a very specific subculture. Older than many New Wave directors, it’s clear to see that Tavernier would garner much influence from their work, yet he never lost sight of the specificity of his own aesthetic eye.
So, this retrospective couldn’t have come at a more exciting moment. Not only is Tavernier back with a new picture that is a centerpiece of sorts here, but the director is the type of undervalued auteur that is just the type of discovery cineastes crave. Take Death Watch, for example. A gorgeously composed satire that is only more relevant today as its tale of a reporter capturing the last moments of a woman’s life through the camera in his eye is as prescient as ever. Harvey Keitel stars opposite Romy Schneider, both of whom are truly fantastic here, in what plays like a minor work when taken in context of masterpieces like Coup de Torchon, but is a delightful discovery in its own right.
Speaking of Torchon, Tavernier’s masterpiece and still arguably his best picture is part of this 17 film series, as is the brilliant Round Midnight. Starring Dexter Gordon, the film introduces the viewer to a talented yet deeply troubled saxophone player in late 50’s Paris, and is one of Tavernier’s most moving and stylistically exciting works. The music here is recorded live, with Gordon playing opposite legends like Herbie Hancock and the brilliant Freddie Hubbard. It’s this type of tactile vitality that’s a staple of Tavernier’s work, proving the filmmaker to be something far more than the intellectual-turned-critic-turned-filmmaker that he is oft billed as.
But those seeking Tavernier’s critical lens won’t have to look much further than his dry but profoundly dense new film My Journey Through French Cinema. Clocking in at well over three hours, we watch as Tavernier weaves a yarn about ostensibly his experience with cinema of his homeland, going from the works of Jacques Becker to those of the New Wave generation that would come right after he began working. Looking critically at everything from Casque D’Or to Le Petit Soldat, Tavernier takes a similar route as someone like Martin Scorsese, ostensibly building a critical analysis of cinema out of a deeply personal memoir. Built around Tavernier’s own experiences seeing these respective films (even down to the specific theaters he saw them in), French Cinema doesn’t just see the personal nature of its title as a superficiality. While yes, the picture is quite dry and a lengthy watch, there’s something quietly moving about it, turning the often dull “video essay” into something far more captivating.
For more information on this retrospective, head over to The Quad online.
Now, on the occasion of the release of the director’s latest documentary, the theater is commencing yet another revelatory retrospective, this time of an underrated juggernaut of French cinema.
Rarely uttered in the same breath as the true titans of French cinema, director Bertrand Tavernier has cemented himself as one of the nation’s great cinematic artists through his human and humane portraits of various communities. After getting his start as an assistant to director Jean-Pierre Melville, Tavernier would in many ways jettison with stylistic formalism of his contemporaries for pictures that feel far more tactile and loose. Lived in is a term often thrown around with Tavernier’s work, and it’s fitting despite being something of a cliche. Yes, his pictures feel decidedly of one singular voice and worldview, yet there is an audacious energy to each frame that ultimately turns each picture into a vital document of a very specific subculture. Older than many New Wave directors, it’s clear to see that Tavernier would garner much influence from their work, yet he never lost sight of the specificity of his own aesthetic eye.
So, this retrospective couldn’t have come at a more exciting moment. Not only is Tavernier back with a new picture that is a centerpiece of sorts here, but the director is the type of undervalued auteur that is just the type of discovery cineastes crave. Take Death Watch, for example. A gorgeously composed satire that is only more relevant today as its tale of a reporter capturing the last moments of a woman’s life through the camera in his eye is as prescient as ever. Harvey Keitel stars opposite Romy Schneider, both of whom are truly fantastic here, in what plays like a minor work when taken in context of masterpieces like Coup de Torchon, but is a delightful discovery in its own right.
Speaking of Torchon, Tavernier’s masterpiece and still arguably his best picture is part of this 17 film series, as is the brilliant Round Midnight. Starring Dexter Gordon, the film introduces the viewer to a talented yet deeply troubled saxophone player in late 50’s Paris, and is one of Tavernier’s most moving and stylistically exciting works. The music here is recorded live, with Gordon playing opposite legends like Herbie Hancock and the brilliant Freddie Hubbard. It’s this type of tactile vitality that’s a staple of Tavernier’s work, proving the filmmaker to be something far more than the intellectual-turned-critic-turned-filmmaker that he is oft billed as.
But those seeking Tavernier’s critical lens won’t have to look much further than his dry but profoundly dense new film My Journey Through French Cinema. Clocking in at well over three hours, we watch as Tavernier weaves a yarn about ostensibly his experience with cinema of his homeland, going from the works of Jacques Becker to those of the New Wave generation that would come right after he began working. Looking critically at everything from Casque D’Or to Le Petit Soldat, Tavernier takes a similar route as someone like Martin Scorsese, ostensibly building a critical analysis of cinema out of a deeply personal memoir. Built around Tavernier’s own experiences seeing these respective films (even down to the specific theaters he saw them in), French Cinema doesn’t just see the personal nature of its title as a superficiality. While yes, the picture is quite dry and a lengthy watch, there’s something quietly moving about it, turning the often dull “video essay” into something far more captivating.
For more information on this retrospective, head over to The Quad online.
- 6/22/2017
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Record executive Bruce Lundvall, who revived Blue Note Records label in the mid-1980s and turned it into a major influence on the contemporary jazz scene during his 25 years as president, has died at age 79. Last year, Bruce Lundvall received the Jazz Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his enormous contribution to the history and discography of jazz and popular music. In a career spanning 48 years, Mr. Lundvall was responsible for signing and/or nurturing the careers of a wide array of artists, including Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz, Chucho Valdes, Paquito D’Rivera, Ruben Blades, […]...
- 5/21/2015
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
Highly individual American drummer, bandleader and jazz visionary who toured with Lena Horne in the 1950s
A hundred years into its evolution, jazz incorporates ethnic and European classical instruments, drum machines and DJs spinning decks. A half-century or so ago, hardware habits were more cut and dried. A jazz big band had trumpets, trombones, saxes and a rhythm section. A small band had a rhythm section, a sax and trumpet, with maybe a guitar or a vibraphone. One that featured a (very quiet) guitarist, a flute or clarinet, a cellist, and a drummer who preferred mallets to sticks seemed like a strange beast in the jazz forest.
But the groups of the American drummer Chico Hamilton, who has died aged 92, did feature such instrumentation and, contrary to the jazz orthodoxies of the 1950s, they were for a time runaway successes. Hamilton led West Coast bands in that decade that came...
A hundred years into its evolution, jazz incorporates ethnic and European classical instruments, drum machines and DJs spinning decks. A half-century or so ago, hardware habits were more cut and dried. A jazz big band had trumpets, trombones, saxes and a rhythm section. A small band had a rhythm section, a sax and trumpet, with maybe a guitar or a vibraphone. One that featured a (very quiet) guitarist, a flute or clarinet, a cellist, and a drummer who preferred mallets to sticks seemed like a strange beast in the jazz forest.
But the groups of the American drummer Chico Hamilton, who has died aged 92, did feature such instrumentation and, contrary to the jazz orthodoxies of the 1950s, they were for a time runaway successes. Hamilton led West Coast bands in that decade that came...
- 11/26/2013
- by John Fordham
- The Guardian - Film News
In these exclusive extracts from his classy memoir, the Anchorman opens his head and shares his biggest memories
Ron on myths about his hair
1. My hair is called Andros Papanakas. It is not. I have no name for my hair.
2. My hair was bestowed upon me by the gods. This one is hard to dispel. It would have been just like Zeus to make such a gift, or Hermes, but even though I have called on these two gods many times I have never been told specifically by either one that I was given my hair, so I have to say no to the gift-from-the-gods theory.
3. My hair is insured by Lloyd's of London for $1,000. Nope! It's fifteen hundred, thank you.
4. My hair won't talk to my moustache. This is basically true but I would hardly call that a myth.
5. My hair starred in the movie Logan's Run. It was...
Ron on myths about his hair
1. My hair is called Andros Papanakas. It is not. I have no name for my hair.
2. My hair was bestowed upon me by the gods. This one is hard to dispel. It would have been just like Zeus to make such a gift, or Hermes, but even though I have called on these two gods many times I have never been told specifically by either one that I was given my hair, so I have to say no to the gift-from-the-gods theory.
3. My hair is insured by Lloyd's of London for $1,000. Nope! It's fifteen hundred, thank you.
4. My hair won't talk to my moustache. This is basically true but I would hardly call that a myth.
5. My hair starred in the movie Logan's Run. It was...
- 11/11/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Savannah, Ga. — Musician Ben Tucker performed with stars from Quincy Jones to Peggy Lee before he settled in the 1970s in Savannah, where the jazz bassist became one of the Georgia city's best-known working musicians.
He was killed in a car crash Tuesday at age 82.
Tucker was driving a golf cart across a road on Hutchinson Island when a car slammed into him at high speed, said Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller. Tucker was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver of the car that struck him was charged with vehicular homicide and other criminal counts.
The news stunned musicians and jazz enthusiasts in Savannah, where Tucker had been a musical fixture for roughly four decades. Tucker made his living playing upright bass – an instrument he'd named Bertha and claimed was 240 years old – in all sorts of settings from jazz festivals to wedding receptions, from nightclub gigs to bar mitzvahs.
He was killed in a car crash Tuesday at age 82.
Tucker was driving a golf cart across a road on Hutchinson Island when a car slammed into him at high speed, said Savannah-Chatham County police spokesman Julian Miller. Tucker was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver of the car that struck him was charged with vehicular homicide and other criminal counts.
The news stunned musicians and jazz enthusiasts in Savannah, where Tucker had been a musical fixture for roughly four decades. Tucker made his living playing upright bass – an instrument he'd named Bertha and claimed was 240 years old – in all sorts of settings from jazz festivals to wedding receptions, from nightclub gigs to bar mitzvahs.
- 6/5/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Here's a bit of an '80s rewind for you to start your week. While Martin Scorsese is no stranger to popping up in the front of the camera from time to time, the appearances are usually brief, but here's a look at something a little meatier. The director took a very small part in Bertrand Tavernier's 1986 film "Round Midnight." The 1950s-set film stars jazz legend Dexter Gordon as a fading musician who heads to Paris in a last attempt to revitalize his career in the face of alcoholism and personal woes. Scorsese plays a crooked former New York City club manager whose good intentions aren't what they seem. Jazz heads should take note that Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard and more make appearances. The film is on DVD and we urge you to check it out, but this brief scene is a nice little appetizer. Watch below.
- 10/15/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier.
Bertrand Tavernier: Taking Rabbits Out Of Hats
By Alex Simon
Bertrand Tavernier was bitten by the cinema bug at a tender age, falling in love with a diverse slate of films and filmmakers like Jean Renoir, Fritz Lang and Buster Keaton. Born in Lyon in 1941, Tavernier abandoned his law studies to write for the now-legendary French cinema magazine Cahiers du Cinema, which also launched auteurs like Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Making his directing debut with The Clockmaker of Saint-Paul in 1974, Tavernier’s career has been a prolific one, with 35 films to his credit, and dozens of awards, including the Best Director prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival for A Sunday in the Country.
Tavernier’s latest film is the sweeping epic The Princess of Montpensier, an adaptation of a 1662 novel which was published anonymously, but later credited to French noblewoman Madame de La Fayette. Set...
Bertrand Tavernier: Taking Rabbits Out Of Hats
By Alex Simon
Bertrand Tavernier was bitten by the cinema bug at a tender age, falling in love with a diverse slate of films and filmmakers like Jean Renoir, Fritz Lang and Buster Keaton. Born in Lyon in 1941, Tavernier abandoned his law studies to write for the now-legendary French cinema magazine Cahiers du Cinema, which also launched auteurs like Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard. Making his directing debut with The Clockmaker of Saint-Paul in 1974, Tavernier’s career has been a prolific one, with 35 films to his credit, and dozens of awards, including the Best Director prize at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival for A Sunday in the Country.
Tavernier’s latest film is the sweeping epic The Princess of Montpensier, an adaptation of a 1662 novel which was published anonymously, but later credited to French noblewoman Madame de La Fayette. Set...
- 4/14/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Bobby Hutcherson Bebop composer/vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson was born in Los Angeles in 1941 to a musical family. Bobby learned piano from his aunt, and grew up around Dexter Gordon. In his teens, he dedicated himself to the vibraphone, and before he hit 20, Bobby landed in New York at the legendary Birdland. In the Big Apple, Hutcherson honed his four-mallet chops and became an in-demand session player. He recorded for Blue Note, Columbia, and Verve. Collaborations include Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Eric Dolphy, Grant Green, Hank Mobley, Freddie Hubbard, and Herbie Hancock. With hundreds of tracks to collect, discover the beauty of "When You Are Near," from the virtuoso's 1966 Happenings. Buy: Amazon.com Genre: Jazz Artist: Bobby Hutcherson Song: When You Are Near Album: Happenings Dr. Dog Philly-based alt-rock quintette Dr. Dog started as a side project by vocalists/songwriters Toby Leaman...
- 6/4/2010
- by Phil Ramone and Danielle Evin
- Huffington Post
As Scorsese's new film, Shutter Island, opens, our critic picks the great man's 10 best scenes
Mean Streets (1973) 'What's a mook?'
Scorsese's uncanny ear for dialogue was evident from his first masterpiece, Mean Streets, which is set in the heart of Little Italy among debt collectors and small-time hoods. Characters were called by names such as Johnny Boy, Joey Clams and Giovanni Cappa. In one classic pool-hall scene, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and David Proval start a fight - over the jukebox sounds of Please Mr Postman - after a barman calls one of them "a mook".
Goodfellas (1990) Tracking shot entrance to the Copacabana
Ray Liotta's Henry Hill takes new girlfriend Karen (Lorraine Bracco) to dinner. They enter the Copa via the back door, go through the kitchen and are led onto the dancefloor and to the best table in the house. In one unbroken three-and-a-half minutes' shot,...
Mean Streets (1973) 'What's a mook?'
Scorsese's uncanny ear for dialogue was evident from his first masterpiece, Mean Streets, which is set in the heart of Little Italy among debt collectors and small-time hoods. Characters were called by names such as Johnny Boy, Joey Clams and Giovanni Cappa. In one classic pool-hall scene, Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and David Proval start a fight - over the jukebox sounds of Please Mr Postman - after a barman calls one of them "a mook".
Goodfellas (1990) Tracking shot entrance to the Copacabana
Ray Liotta's Henry Hill takes new girlfriend Karen (Lorraine Bracco) to dinner. They enter the Copa via the back door, go through the kitchen and are led onto the dancefloor and to the best table in the house. In one unbroken three-and-a-half minutes' shot,...
- 3/7/2010
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
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