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Kate Winslet’s Grammy Win ( Photo Credit – Wikimedia; Facebook )

An actor winning a Grammy instead of a Tony or an Oscar is a surprising feat. However, it is certainly not out of the ordinary. Kate Winslet, known for her roles in Sense and Sensibility, Titanic, The Holiday, Mare of Easttown, among others, has achieved this feat. The award-winning actress won a Grammy for a short story narration in the 1999 audiobook Listen to the Storyteller. But did you know that she was not supposed to record the story in the first place?

How Did Kate Winslet Win A Grammy Award In 1999?

Kate Winslet appeared on Elizabeth Day’s podcast, How to Fail, in September 2024. In this podcast, she opened up about her journey as a mother and an actor, balancing her roles on both fronts while managing and looking after herself. She also shared a few tips on parenting that she herself grew up learning.

General Hospital spoilers and updates for Tuesday, February 18 tease romantic gestures, insecure mothers and taking chances.

Harrison Chase (Josh Swickard) makes a romantic gesture, Lulu Spencer (Alexa Havins) is an insecure mother and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) asks someone to take a chance on her.

Romantic Gestures

At home, Chase is in the shower as he makes a romantic gesture to Brook Lynn Chase (Amanda Setton), shouting, “there’s room for two in here!”

Does his wife hear him through the sound of the shower, is she home at the time? Regardless of his inability to father their child, at least he hasn’t lost his drive or his desire-that should count for something.

It’s plain Chase is feeling a little bit better after being so discouraged after their fertility tests and having to give such horrible news to his wife.

It made him pretty depressed as well-but so far,...

On Tuesday February 11 2025, PBS broadcasts Chautauqua at 150: Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise!

Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “Chautauqua at 150: Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise” promises to be a meaningful celebration of Chautauqua’s 150 years. This special broadcast on PBS will highlight the rich history of the Chautauqua Institution, a place known for its focus on education, arts, and community. The episode will explore themes of faith and democracy, showcasing how these elements have shaped the community over the years.

Wynton Marsalis, a renowned musician and cultural figure, will play a significant role in this celebration. His work often reflects deep connections to jazz and its roots in American culture. In this episode, Marsalis will bring his unique perspective to the festivities, blending music with storytelling. Viewers can expect a vibrant mix of performances and narratives that honor the past while looking forward to the future.

As the episode unfolds,...

General Hospital spoilers and updates tease Snoop Dogg could be set to shake things up in Port Charles at some point in the future.

While on the Jennifer Hudson show with several other stars from Gh, Donnell Turner (Curtis Ashford) told Hudson he met Snoop and that he wants to appear on the soap.

The Doggfather Of Cool Wants To Appear On The ABC Soap

Many notable actors, such as John Stamos (Blackie Parrish) and Demi Moore (Jackie Templeton I), have soared to new heights of fame after their time on the show.

Janine Turner, who played Jackie I’s sister Laura Templeton also found primetime fame, and in music, Rick Springfield (Noah Drake) and Ricky Martin (Miguel Morez)

However, the soap has also attracted a plethora of high-profile celebrities eager to make guest appearances over the years, such as the likes of James Franco and the iconic Elizabeth Taylor.

“Chautauqua at 150: Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise” is set to air on PBS at 10:00 Pm on Tuesday, February 11, 2025. This special event marks a significant milestone, celebrating 150 years of Chautauqua, a place known for its rich history of education, arts, and community.

The program will showcase inspiring stories that highlight themes of faith and democracy. Wynton Marsalis, a renowned jazz musician and composer, will lead the celebration, bringing his unique musical talents to the forefront. His work, “All Rise,” promises to blend powerful music with poignant narratives, reflecting on the importance of these themes in today’s world.

As viewers tune in, they can expect a blend of heartfelt stories and engaging performances. The celebration aims to remind everyone of the values that have shaped Chautauqua over the years. It is an opportunity to reflect on the past while looking forward to a hopeful future. This special airing is sure...

General Hospital (Gh) spoilers tease that Selina Wu (Lydia Look) is coming back to the canvas in 2025 and that could spell trouble for Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner).

Co-Head Writers Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten stated that Selina is featured in a significant new storyline and we have all the juicy details for you here!

General Hospital Spoilers – Selina Wu Returns

The writers spoke to TV Insider to give a hint of what fans can look forward to in the new year: “Selina strikes a deal that will have troublesome repercussions for the Ashfords.”

Selina is a mobstress with a ruthless streak so if she has it out for the family, they better get their ducks in a row.

In the past Curtis allowed her to run her poker games at his club The Savoy, but after his accident his dad Marshal Ashford (Robert Gossett) had his back.

Pops is now touring with Wynton Marsalis,...

Forget Halloween, Rev. Al Sharpton has other plans this evening.

The founder and president of the National Action Network is hosting a starry 70th birthday party tonight in Century City, but rather than have the focus be on his milestone birthday, Sharpton and his team have zeroed in on honorees (Smokey Robinson and Ken Sunshine) and a cause (urging more people to get out and vote in Tuesday’s election).

Held at the Fairmont Century Plaza, the event will see lifetime achievement awards doled out to Robinson, a music legend who was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, and Sunshine, a veteran public relations executive, strategist and political activist. Sunshine, who had a stint in politics early in his career, founded Ken Sunshine Consultants before teaming with Shawn Sachs to launch the firm Sunshine Sachs, now known as Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.

Both...

Here are the latest comings and goings casting news from all four daytime dramas: The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, and The Young and the Restless.

Casting For The Week of October 28, 2024

Find out if any of your favorite actors and actresses from yesteryear are returning to the shows you watch, if any newcomers have been cast in contract, recurring, or day-player roles, or if any popular performers are about to make their exit.

Days of our Lives

Get ready for trouble on Days. Louise Sorel returns as the Vivian Alamain on Monday, October 28. Sorel’s initial run as the diabolical villainess was from 1992 to 2000. She was back again from 2009 to 2011 and from 2017 to 2018. Robin Strasser portrayed the character in 2019, while Linda took a turn as Vivian in 2021.

Sorel won’t be alone. She’ll be joined by her longtime Days sidekick Ivan G’Vera, who’s back as Ivan Marias.

Here’s the latest comings and goings casting news at General Hospital. Find out if any newcomers or popular stars from yesteryear are joining the show this week or soon in contract, recurring, or day-player roles and if any of your favorite actors or actresses are leaving the ABC soap.

The Week of October 28, 2024

Fans holding out hope for a beloved vet’s return apparently won’t be getting their wish. Leslie Charleson, who began playing Monica Quartermaine in 1977 and made her last appearance on the soap in 2023, likely won’t be making anymore, according to Closer magazine. A source close to the actress explained that due to health issues, it’s become increasingly difficult for Charleson “to get around,” and “although she’d be welcome back to the show with open arms, it’s unlikely she’ll ever return.”

Jens Austin Astrup has been cast as Kai, a new student at Port Charles University.

General Hospital (Gh) spoilers and updates for Tuesday, October 22 tease it’s showtime, encouraging friends, and angry accusations.

Next On General Hospital

It’s showtime for Marshall Ashford, (Robert Gossett) Isaiah Gannon (Sawandi Wilson) gets encouragement, and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms) angry accusations.

General Hospital Spoilers: It’s Showtime

It’s showtime for Marshall at the Savoy, as Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) tells him it’s time to show the world what he can do!

Curtis is putting on a big farewell party and celebration for his father as he prepares to go on tour with Wynton Marsalis. Marshall looks happy at a lifelong dream of his finally coming true, although he regrets leaving his son again.

Curtis has encouraged his father to follow his dreams and make them all come true. There’ll be time for homecoming visits later, but he’ll be on the road a while.

Gh Spoilers: Nina Is Appalled!

General Hospital spoilers and updates for the week of Monday, October 21-Friday, October 25 tease big announcements, shocking truths and worrying news!

Coming Up On General Hospital

Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr) makes a big announcement, Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) delivers shocking truths, and Lulu Spencer (Alexa Havins) and Sam McCall’s (Kelly Monaco) families get worrying news.

General Hospital Spoilers: Big Announcements

It’s Marshall Ashford’s (Robert Gossett) going away party at the Savoy, and Portia makes a big-albeit possibly inappropriate-announcement.

The party is supposed to be celebrating Marshall’s big break, going on tour with famous jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, but for Portia, this is more important.

Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) looks a little peeved as she loudly announces, “Come on, everyone listen-we have some news about Heather Webber” (Alley Mills).

Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) is in the middle of the room and Dex Heller, (Evan Hofer) Josslyn Jacks,...

In the second and final episode of Nicola Benedetti Presents Up Late in Edinburgh, airing on Sky Arts on Tuesday night, violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti presents a special night of jazz music, featuring nine-time Grammy Award-winning musician Wynton Marsalis. The show is filmed late and live with an audience at the Edinburgh International Festival Hub, […]

Nicola Benedetti Presents Up Late in Edinburgh: Wynton Marsalis...

General Hospital spoilers for Thursday, October 3, 2024, are here! In tomorrow’s episode, fans can expect Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) to confront Marshall Ashford (Robert Gossett).

Meanwhile, Brad Cooper (Parry Shen) faces off with Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr). Also, Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) tries to make peace with someone. Keep reading to find out what is coming up in the next episode of the ABC soap opera.

Marshall Ashford’s Amazing Opportunity

Gh spoilers for Thursday, October 3 reveal that Curtis will confront Marshall. Curtis has just learned that Wynton Marsalis extended an offer to Marshall to go on tour.

Curtis will be stunned and confused as to why Marshall hasn’t mentioned this opportunity. So, Curtis will question Marshall on the opportunity, and if this means he’s leaving Port Charles.

Gh Spoilers: Curtis Ashford’s Assurance

On Thursday, October 3, fans might see Marshall tell Curtis there was no need to...

General Hospital (Gh) spoilers and updates for Thursday, October 3 tease crucial questions, surprise visits, and a parent’s promise.

Next On General Hospital

Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) has crucial questions for his father, Ava Jerome (Maura West) gets a surprise visit, and Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) makes a parent’s promise.

General Hospital Spoilers: A Quick Reminder-Just In Case!

Here’s a quick update: the episode is currently set to air on Thursday, October 3, but please be aware that the MLB playoffs could cause a change.

If the playoff results warrant another playoff, then the Thursday episode will be on Friday, October 4. We’ll keep you in the loop with any news, so stay tuned!

The airing on Thursday will depend on the playoff results from Wednesday. If there’s no need for an extra playoff day, you can look forward to Gh on both Thursday and Friday.

Gh Spoilers:...

General Hospital spoilers for Thursday, October 3, 2024, are here! In the next episode, fans can expect Marshall Ashford (Robert Gossett) to face a job offer, which could lead to the character’s exit.

Coming Up On General Hospital

Plus, Brad Cooper (Parry Shen) and Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr) face off. Meanwhile, Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) will try to make peace with someone. Keep reading to find out what is coming up in the next episode of the ABC soap opera.

Programming Note

Gh spoilers reveal that fans will not see a new episode of the ABC soap opera on Tuesday, October 2, or Wednesday, October 3, 2024.

As previously reported, the network is preempting the Port Charles drama for a baseball game. The next episode that fans will see should air on Thursday, October 3, 2024.

Also Read – B&b Spoilers: Ridge Leaves Brooke Because Taylor Is Dying?

Gh Spoilers: Marshall Ashford’s Looming Exit

On Thursday,...

General Hospital (Gh) spoilers and updates for Wednesday, October 2 tease painful questions, nice surprises and serious promises.

Next On General Hospital

Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) asks painful questions, Ava Jerome (Maura West) gets a nice surprise, and Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) makes serious promises.

General Hospital Spoilers – Friendly Reminder

This is a friendly reminder that the episode is scheduled to air on Thursday, October 3.

However, this may change because of the Major League Baseball playoffs that could affect the Thursday broadcast. There is a possibility that the episode might be moved to Friday, October 4.

Keep an eye out for updates—we’ll make sure to keep you in the loop; the airing of the show on Thursday will depend on how the playoffs unfold on Wednesday. If there’s no requirement for extra playoff coverage, then Gh will return on both Thursday and Friday.

Gh Spoilers – Painful Questions

Curtis found...

General Hospital (Gh) spoilers and updates for Tuesday, October 1 tease a son’s questions, a mentor’s surprise, and a father’s promises.

Next On General Hospital

Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner) has questions, Ava Jerome’s (Maura West) pleasantly surprised, and Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) won’t make promises he can’t keep.

General Hospital Spoilers: Tuesday And Wednesday Preempted

Just a reminder-this episode is scheduled to air Thursday, October 3 but that is tentative-major league baseball playoffs are preempting Gh.

There is a possibility that this episode may be preempted on Thursday as well, pushing it over to Friday, October 4. Check back here for any updates, we will keep you advised.

The show wasn’t sure about Thursday being preempted, it depends on what happens on the Wednesday playoffs. If it doesn’t need another day of playoffs, then Gh will return Thursday and Friday.

Gh Spoilers: A Son’s...

Sky Arts presents a unique musical collaboration between violin virtuoso Nicola Benedetti and nine-time Grammy Award-winning jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. Filmed in front of a live audience at the Edinburgh International Festival Hub, this 90-minute special promises an extraordinary blend of classical and jazz music. The show, airing on Tuesday, 1 October 2024, at 9:00 […]

Nicola Benedetti Presents Up Late in Edinburgh: Series Premiere...

Wanting to even deeper into sports stories than TV broadcasts are able? The best sports documentaries have you covered, giving cinematic sweep and depth to athletes and their stories (both in the arena and out). Whether it’s football movies or movies about combat sports or sports movies for those who don’t like sports there’s some inherent alignment between athletic competition and film and TV storytelling. Documentary filmmakers have been able to look beyond the kineticism (or capture it even more dynamically) to present stories that look at the psychology and the struggles of athletes, and the cultural significance of their careers. Here are the 17 best sports documentaries ever made.

With editorial contributions from Brandon Latham.

Ken Burns’ “Baseball” (1994) Ken Burns with Ted Williams when producing ‘Baseball’Courtesy Everett Collection

Ken Burns has a weird tendency to turn over his entire documentary to one particular talking head, whose...

Spoiler Alert: This article discusses the third episode of “Clipped,” “Let the Games Began,” now streaming on Hulu.

Laurence Fishburne had never even heard of Doc Rivers before signing on to play the perennial NBA coach in FX’s “Clipped.”

“I’m not a sports fan. My manager is a Clippers season-ticket holder, one of the faithful. I had thought that she sent this to me because it was a promotion for her team. And that turned out not to be the case,” Fishburne says, then chuckles. “At all.”

Indeed, the 2014-set limited series follows the basketball organization at its all-time nadir, gripped by a scandal that’s much more demeaning and grotesque than the Clippers’ legacy of losing seasons. This week’s episode of “Clipped” follows the team’s PR spiral after TMZ publishes an audio recording of octogenarian owner Donald Sterling (Ed O’Neill) delivering a racist tirade to...

The five artists chosen for the 2024 Kennedy Center Honors are likely being informed now in the month of April about their selections. That’s according to recent honoree Billy Crystal, who said he was told last April and had to keep quiet until mid-summer when the 2023 Kch choices were officially announced.

Crystal was honored a few months ago in Washington, D.C. for the annual CBS event, along with Renee Fleming, Barry Gibb, Queen Latifah and Dionne Warwick. Who do we think will be among the honorees announced this summer? Tour our photo gallery above to see who are our choices for the top 50 entertainers who need to be selected soon. You can also visit our forums thread where we have a much lengthier list of hundreds of eligible artists.

SEEKennedy Center Honors: 20 Greatest Performances of All Time

Our gallery features deserving artists from the fields of acting (both film and TV), popular music,...

In January 2019, Paul Simon awoke from a dream. Some voice in his head had informed him, deep within his Rem cycle, that he was going to work on a project called “Seven Psalms.” The singer-songwriter behind “The Sound of Silence,” “A Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” “Love Me Like a Rock,” and several dozen other songs that have likely been part of the soundtrack of your life, willingly or unwillingly, had effectively been retired for several years. Music-wise, he had nothing on deck except for this lovely little riff he’d...

Nearly 60 years after the release of “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy),” Paul Simon still cringes at the song.

The 1966 Simon & Garfunkel classic features “a line that I hate,” the singer-songwriter told Stephen Colbert on Wednesday at the DGA New York Theater. “As it’s coming up, I’m thinking, ‘Here it comes, here it comes’ – ‘Life, I love you.’ Ugh! ‘All is groovy.’ Oh!” Simon recalled with evident disdain having to “sing it with Artie all the time because it was a hit. In my own shows, I don’t do it unless I make a mistake and I do it to punish myself.”

The crowd erupted with laughter at the singer-songwriter’s recollection and many others he delivered after a screening of the first part of Alex Gibney’s In Restless Dreams, a two-part documentary debuting Sunday on MGM+. Gibney was also onstage to discuss the project,...

A two-part Paul Simon documentary directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney has been acquired by MGM+ and will premiere on the cable network next month. In anticipation, the first trailer has been revealed and is streaming below.

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon is described in a press release as “the definitive musical biography” of the folk singer, and details an immersive journey into the life and work of “one of the greatest songwriters (and performers) in the history of rock ‘n’ roll.” It’s set to premiere on MGM+ on March 17th and March 24th at 9:00 p.m. Et/Pt.

The docuseries captures Simon at work on his latest musical project, Seven Psalms, as well as never-before-seen footage of his career, from Simon & Garfunkel to Bridge Over Troubled Water and Graceland. It also features exclusive interviews with friends and collaborators, including jazz heavyweight Wynton Marsalis, SNL’s Lorne Michaels,...

Jon Batiste, the guest on this episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, which was recorded in front of an audience of film students at Chapman University, is a singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and actor. At just 37, he has already won five Grammys — including, in 2022, album of the year, for We Are — and also has to his name an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award, all for the score of the 2020 film Soul. He is currently nominated for the best original song Oscar for his tune “It Never Went Away,” which is featured in Matthew Heineman’s Netflix documentary feature American Symphony, about the best of times and the worst of times in the life of Batiste and his wife, Suleika Jaouad.

Batiste has been described by Forbes as “a generational artist who is only getting better.” Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s artistic and managing director,...

MGM+ has announced the acquisition of the two-part docuseries “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, debuting on the streamer on March 17 and March 24 at 9 p.m. Edt/Pdt. It focuses on the career of musician Paul Simon.

Per the docuseries’ description, “In Restless Dreams” “juxtaposes Simon’s process of making a new album during the Covid-19 pandemic against archival material tracing Simon’s career and creative journey, including revelatory, previously unseen footage from such historic moments as the recording of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘Graceland,’ Simon & Garfunkel’s unforgettable reunion concert in Central Park, and, 10 years later, Simon’s solo concert there, where he performed before 750,000 people.”

Making appearances in the docuseries are “Saturday Night Live” creator and producer Lorne Michaels, Simon’s wife and singer Edie Brickwell and composer Wynton Marsalis.

Alex Gibney (“The Inventor”) directs and produces, with Jigsaw, Closer Media and Anonymous Content jointly producing.

Exclusive: More than a hit song, “Stand by Me,” by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller and Ben E. King, has transcended the notion of a “standard” — it’s been recorded more than 1,000 times and has made more appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 chart than any other song.

Music and media producer Spencer Proffer and his music-anchored production company Meteor 17 have been selected to produce the authorized feature-length documentary about the iconic song and its significant global impact for over six decades. Emmy and Grammy nominated director J. Kevin Swain — who has directed music videos and other projects for and with Mary J. Blige, Wynton Marsalis, Queen Latifah — has been selected by Proffer to bring the story of the song to the screen.

As part of the film, Emmy- and Grammy-winning producer, composer, musical director and musician Steve Jordan will produce a new version of “Stand by Me.” Jordan has worked with artists including Keith Richards,...

New York, NY– The Paul Taylor Dance Company’s 2023 Season at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, from October 31 through November 12, will include fourteen dances by five choreographers – Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, Larry Keigwin, Lauren Lovette, and Paul Taylor – and feature world premieres by Lovette, Ptdc’s Resident Choreographer, and Keigwin, Taylor Company Commissioned choreographer. Music on all programs will be performed live by Orchestra of St. Luke’s (Osl), conducted by Taylor Music Director David Lamarche and Tara Simoncic. Ticket prices for the 2023 Season start at $15 and go on sale September 13. Tickets are available at www.boxoffice.dance.

Continuing his mission to build a repertory for the 21st Century, Artistic Director Michael Novak will present four works by three of today’s leading dance makers.

· Lauren Lovette will be represented by two new works. Dreamachine, set to Michael Daugherty’s percussion suite of that name, will have its New York premiere.

Wind gusts quivered the tree limbs, rainfall ricocheted off the roads, and in an instant, power cut off at the old Opera House on Elm Street in Camden, Maine, scuttling screenings there at the Camden International Film Festival.

With that mid-September atmospheric outburst, Hurricane Lee did in the scheduled U.S. premiere of Alex Gibney’s new film In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. Now, the honor of hosting the American debut goes to the Hamptons International Film Festival this Friday, where the documentary screens as the festival Centerpiece (Simon will appear in person there for a conversation moderated by Rolling Stone’s David Fear). On Sunday, the film plays across the pond at the BFI London Film Festival.

Alex Gibney at the Deadline Portrait Studio at TIFF 2023.

During what was supposed to be Gibney’s Camden premiere, I stopped by the hotel where the filmmaker was staying...

The first thing to say about Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” is that it’s three-and-a-half hours long. Normally I wouldn’t lead with that daunting fact, especially since the film is mostly marvelous: a documentary that every Paul Simon fan on earth should want to see and experience. But will they?

I raise the issue only because “In Restless Dreams” has come into the Toronto Film Festival without a distributor, and let’s just be honest: The 209-minute running time, when you hear about it, doesn’t exactly sound…user-friendly. Gibney, of course, is one of the renaissance masters of contemporary documentary, a filmmaker of staggering skill and eclecticism. On occasion, he sprinkles in a music doc, which is clearly a labor of love for him. If you’ve never seen “Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown,” it’s sensational. And Gibney...

Paul Simon wanted a documentary. He was a fan of Alex Gibney’s 2015 “Sinatra: All or Nothing at All” and asked the Oscar-winner (“Taxi to the Dark Side”) to consider devoting a documentary to him on the occasion of recording his 15th album, “Seven Psalms”.

The result is “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” which had its world premiere as an all-rights sales title at the Toronto International Film Festival. It has a running time of three and a half hours. However, the capacity audience at the Princess of Wales theater didn’t fidget and gave Simon a rousing standing ovation. On stage, he admitted that he didn’t have the courage to watch the film in the theater, and asked if he got a standing ovation. The crowd jumped up for a second time. “And it’s my birthday,” he joked. (It’s actually October 13.)

Going in,...

At first, the title of Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” seems as if it could be a warning about the director’s approach in this supersized documentary. The film, its title seems to be saying, is about the music of Simon, not the life or the loves or the times of Simon. But it turns out that the music is a gateway to all those other things in this three-and-a-half hour film that covers most of what you’d want to know about the seminal singer-songwriter.

Partly, that’s because Gibney’s jumping off point is Simon’s new album, “Seven Psalms,” an uncommonly personal and soul-searching work for the man who’s been writing songs for seven decades. A half-hour meditation on faith and mortality that came to Simon in a dream and was written during a time when he’d begun to...

“People used to say I had my finger on the pulse,” Paul Simon tells Alex Gibney early in his artfully composed documentary, In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. “I just have my finger out there and the pulse is running under it.” Either way, few people have had as central a role in American pop music and culture as Simon. Gibney, best-known for exposes including The Inventor, about Elizabeth Holmes’ tech-company fraud, and Going Clear, on Scientology, turns out to be the ideal director to explore Simon’s long, varied run.

Simon invited Gibney into his home studio in Wimberly, Texas, where the cameras watch him tinker with the sound on his latest album, Seven Psalms (released in May) and talk about his career, inspirations, aging and what the loss of hearing in his left ear has meant. With that album as an anchor, the film mostly flashes back and forth in time,...

Following a three year shoot, award-winning documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney has just completed production on In Restless Dreams: The Music Of Paul Simon, the documentary about Paul Simon’s legendary Grammy Award-winning career. The film also follows Simon’s journey creating his new album Seven Psalms, which poses questions about faith and mortality, during the pandemic and while dealing with his hearing loss. The film is expected to be part of the fall film festival circuit.

In the film, Gibney and Simon journey through a dreamlike world of storytelling, an absorbing portrait of an artist, that transcends both time and space moving freely between present and past, showcasing both his music making in the here-and-now and a unique peek into his career, from Tom & Jerry to Simon & Garfunkel to the triumphs of Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints. Rarely seen or heard footage of Paul on his own in England...

Neil Young and Stephen Stills reunited at Los Angeles’ Greek Theater on Saturday night for the latter’s “Light Up The Blues” autism awareness event. It was Young’s first on-stage performance since 2019.

The largely collaborative set concluded the night, with Young stepping up for solo renditions of “From Hank to Hendrix” and “Comes a Time” before being joined by house band Promise of the Real for “Heart of Gold.” Stills added piano accompaniment on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young number, “Helpless,” and remained to deliver a series of Buffalo Springfield songs, including “For What It’s Worth,” “Bluebird,” and “Mr. Soul” with help from Joe Walsh.

They closed with a rendition of “Long May You Run” from Stills-Young Band’s one-off 1976 joint album of the same name. Watch fan-captured footage of the setlist’s highlights below.

Earlier in the program, Stills paid tribute to late bandmate David Crosby with...

Nobody knew quite what to expect when Neil Young walked onstage Saturday night at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles to wrap up Light Up The Blues, a fundraising event organized by Stephen Stills and his wife Kristen Stills to benefit Autism Speaks. Discounting a surprise, two-song acoustic set at a Canadian environmental rally in February, Young hadn’t faced a live audience in nearly four years. The other performers at the show (Joe Walsh, Willie Nelson, Sharon Van Etten, Chris Stills, and Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real...

Led Zeppelin’s classic-rock standard “Stairway To Heaven,” John Lennon’s peace anthem “Imagine,” Madonna’s 1984 breakthrough album Like A Virgin and John Denver’s signature tune “Take Me Home, Country Roads” are among the works added today to the U.S. National Recording Registry.

The Library of Congress announced the newcomers, a roster that also includes Mariah Carey’s modern holiday classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and the original 1985 theme from the Super Mario Bros. video game. The latter becomes the first music from a video game to enter the registry.

In all, 25 albums, singles and other recordings were added to the roster, representing a time span of more than a century. See the complete list below.

From the 1920s, Handy’s Memphis Blues Band’s recording of “St. Louis Blues” and Fletcher Henderson’s “Sugar Foot Stomp” made the list, as did The Fairfield Four...

Paul Simon will release a new composition, Seven Psalms, this spring. The seven-movement work, which finds him playing acoustic instruments and drawing lyrical inspiration from King David’s Psalms, came to him one night in a dream in 2019, and it formulated over several more nights between the hours of 3:30 and 5 a.m. Due out May 19, the finished work finds Simon playing alongside the vocal ensemble Voces8, singer Edie Brickell, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, chamber musicians, and many others. Simon hopes listeners play the 33-minute work uninterrupted in its entirety.

“I...

Acclaimed Jazz Trumpeter and Composer Alexa Tarantino, who is a 3x-“Rising Star – Alto Saxophone” in the Downbeat Magazine Critic’s Poll and a Member of the all-female jazz supergroup Artemis, brings her outstanding Quartet to Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Tickets for the Alexa Tarantino Quartet at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club on Thursday March 2 at 7:30 P.M., as well as the current list of 2023 shows, can be found on Ticketmaster.com and Jimmy’s Online Event Calendar at: http://www.jimmysoncongress.com/events.

Portsmouth, N.H., Jan. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club Features Award-Winning & Prolific Jazz Trumpeter and Composer Alexa Tarantino and her outstanding Quartet on Thursday March 2 at 7:30 P.M. Legendary Jazz Trumpeter & 9x-grammy® Award-Winner Wynton Marsalis describes Alexa as “a one-woman wrecking crew…an indomitable force for expression, education, and absolute excellence.”

“She has arrived, and by the sounds of things,...

These days everything and everyone is “iconic.” But here, at the center of five rich and unrushed episodes, is the real deal. As he approaches his 90th birthday, the composer of such immortal numbers as “Crazy,” “Night Life” and “On the Road Again” is still writing songs, still playing to concert crowds. Delving into the incomparable songbook, directors Thom Zimny and Oren Moverman show how Willie Nelson broke the country mold and transcended genre boxes, again and again. Their authorized biography — the musician’s wife and his manager are executive producers — is a love letter, to be sure, and like Nelson himself it doesn’t dwell on negativity, but there’s nothing simplistic or naive about it. Willie Nelson & Family is a portrait of a man who has made music and lived life on his own terms, in good times and bad.

The series is a reminder to the casual...

The legendary Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is back with its annual holiday program. The blockbuster show began with “Blue Suite,” choreographed by Ailey in 1958 when he was just 27, reflecting the black experience in a barrelhouse in southern Texas, where he hailed from. The piece reflects his memories of bawdy nights of revels. “Duet,” by Paul Taylor, followed with the beautifully simple tale of a young couple in love. “Four For,” by Robert Battle with music by Wynton Marsalis, joyfully depicts the manic energy of the pandemic lockdown era. The program ended with the iconic signature piece “Revelations” that, as always, brought down the house.

Get tickets now for Alvin Ailey now.

The post Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Impresses Again With A World Premiere & Stirring Classics appeared first on uInterview.

There are great artists, and then there are artists of such titanic power that they literally change the world. I’m thinking of Shakespeare, Leonardo, Dostoevsky, Picasso. Louis Armstrong is on that Olympian plane. Yet he’s the rare example of an artist whose very fame, image, and media mythology can actually obscure his revolutionary grandeur as a creator. When he first came to prominence, in the ’20s and early ’30s, you heard the Armstrong revolution in every note he played or sang. He blasted the trumpet into an incandescent upper register, hitting high Cs audiences would talk about for days, yet it’s not as if this was some feat of musical mountain-climbing. He was in his own stratosphere, playing from the heavens. Each note vibrated like a shimmering pearl lit from within. No one had sounded like that; no one had commanded like that.

“Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,...

Since that time in his teens when he self-published the early ’90s graffiti art zine “Graphic Scenes & X-Plicit Language,” Sacha Jenkins has been about documenting hip-hop and funk culture — Black culture. Moving between print (he’s creative director at Mass Appeal), television (“Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men”) and film (“Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James”), he’s documented the intricacies of African-American culture with dexterity and painstaking study.

Jenkins is also a musician, making the life and legacy of Louis Armstrong a fitting story for the director-writer-producer to tell. In “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,” premiering today on Apple TV+, Jenkins documents the jazz trumpeter, vocal innovator and actor as a fire-starter for so much of what we hear now in Black music — rap included, thanks to Armstrong’s innovative rhythmic scatting – as well as being more of an activist than people realized where racism and...

Freewheeling across the trumpeter’s pathbreaking career, Sacha Jenkins’ immensely enjoyable study speeds through giddyingly rich source material

Luxuriating in a wealth of archival material that encompasses radio and TV interviews, privately recorded conversations from reel-to-reel tapes (Armstrong could swear like a sailor), and good old-fashioned newspaper clippings (remember them?), this documentary about the great Louis Armstrong is a real keeper. Fans of the legendary jazz trumpeter are likely to complain that a mere 104 minutes is not enough to cover such a complex, innovative character whose career spanned decades and hope there will someday be a supercut that goes on for hours. But in a way this swinging, 4/4, 135 beats per minute biography-cum-essay crams a lot into its running time and makes relative brevity its virtue. Like one of Armstrong’s great solos, it feels packed with dynamics, sprinkled with astonishing high notes, and immensely pleasurable.

As with so many docs these days,...

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PBS has slated the premiere of the documentary In a Different Key, based on the eponymous Pulitzer finalist book, for Dec. 13.

The film, presented by Boston public media institution GBH, centers on co-director and journalist Caren Zucker’s search for the first-ever child diagnosed with autism, Donald Triplett. The film will trace the growing friendship between the Mississippi-based Triplett and Zucker, who has an autistic son, as she grapples with the future for her child once she is gone. In a Different Key will premiere on PBS at 9 pm Et.

Fellow journalist John Donvan, a longtime network correspondent and producer, co-directed the film with Zucker, a former producer for ABC World News Tonight and Nightline. The film features original music by Wynton Marsalis and was funded by Liberty Mutual.

“Really, it’s an untold story of an unrecognized civil rights movement,” Zucker says...

It was time for a guys-only talk on Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher, as the host welcomed a panel to discuss just what the heck was going on in a week where the Queen died, the NFL opened, and Los Angeles was so hot “it was like Death Valley with In and Out burgers.”

What it boiled down to was that guys aren’t getting enough traction on Tinder, and Top Gun: Maverick is a macho outlier in a world that is typically afraid to go there.

Panelists Scott Galloway, podcast host and author of Adrift: America in 100 Charts, and Matt Welch, editor-at-large for Reason magazine and cohost of The Fifth Column”podcast, dived into a discusson of Joe Biden’s now-infamous “Bowels of Hell” speech. Maher felt that Biden could have hit a home run by tweaking his speech slightly to embrace the foibles of his own party,...

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Would it be possible to make a comprehensive film about Louis Armstrong that ran under five hours? Ten? You could spend that long listening to serious people talk about him only in terms of American race relations, finally arriving at a stopping point only to realize you’d barely mentioned the music he made.

In Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues, Sacha Jenkins is undaunted by the complexity of his subject, plunging ahead with swagger and not worrying if we have unanswered questions at the end. A delightful experience for jazz buffs and more than an eye-opener for any youngsters who barely know who Armstrong was, it’s worth applauding just for its belief that it can meaningfully touch on private life, public persona, musical legacy and everything else — even if, on each front, it leaves one wanting more.

Beyond its value to newbs,...

Director Sacha Jenkins does the most important thing he could do in “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues”: He lets Louis Armstrong be messy.

Armstrong is one of those legends about whom people have had strong, polarized opinions. He’s either the greatest artist of the 20th century, in the esteem of Robert Christgau or Wynton Marsalis. Or he’s an Uncle Tom, someone who sold out and pandered to white audiences, as Sammy Davis Jr. once thought. And of course there’s the third path of corporate America, to sand the edges of someone like Armstrong down until he’s a cuddly teddy bear whose “What a Wonderful World” stands ready to accompany any commercial.

Jenkins’ new documentary for Apple TV+ avoids those absolutes. He’s interested in the man who was Armstrong, and that means a more complete, nuanced picture — a portrait of a human not so easy to categorize.

The Toronto International Film Festival, running September 8 through 16, has announced its Docs lineup spanning 22 feature films. Opening the program is the Apple Original Films documentary “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues” from director Sacha Jenkins, followed by a lineup featuring new films from the likes of Patricio Guzmán and Werner Herzog. IndieWire spoke with TIFF documentary programmer Thom Powers about highlights from the programming.

It wouldn’t be a true documentary season without a new entry from the quixotic mind of Herzog. The distinctive Bavarian director, who turns 80 a week ahead of this year’s TIFF, will visit the festival to screen “Theatre of Thought,” a study of the human brain that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of neurological inquiry.

“It’s a real science-meets-poetry kind of exploration,” Powers said. “He’s exploring the landscape inside our skulls. He also asks if fish have souls and how a tightrope walker conquers fear.

Erykah Badu, executive producer of the forthcoming documentary about late jazz and R&b trumpeter Roy Hargrove, wastes no time in elaborating on the influence her collaborator and high school classmate exerted on her life and career.

“It started with Roy,” says Badu, who first met Hargrove in 1985, when she was a freshman at Dallas’ Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. “Roy was the first person I met in high school: he in the music department and jazz band, me in dance right next door. We danced to that band’s versions of John Coltrane, Miles Davis. That helped me understand what jazz was, and how to interpret it. It was a subtle rebellion. Roy was already a legend as a sophomore — truth is,” she adds, “Roy was actually a legend starting in junior high.”

Hargrove would go on to legendary peaks in both R...