Musically Speaking – STILL BILL

Please join us for “Musically Speaking” with DJ Soul Sister – A weekly series of music-themed movies and documentaries, curated and hosted by DJ Soul Sister, with support from Charitable Film Network, Press Street, New Orleans African American Museum, Whole Foods Market, and WWOZ. 

STILL BILL by Damani Baker & Alex Vlack
Still Bill is an intimate portrait of soul legend Bill Withers, best known for his classics “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day,” and “Just the Two of Us.” With his soulful delivery and warm sincerity, Withers has written some of the most beloved songs in our time.  And, as film critic Roger Ebert writes, “Still Bill is about a man who topped the charts, walked away from it all in 1985 and is pleased that he did.”

Filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack offer a unique and rare look inside Withers’ world. Through concert footage, journeys to his birthplace, interviews with music legends like Sting and Nona Hendryx, his family and closest friends, Still Bill presents the story of an artist who truly understands the heart and soul of a man.  (2009, 78 minutes)

FREE Admission and Refreshments!  For more information, contact soulsister@post.com.

UPCOMING FILMS:
Tuesday, February 5
From the Mouthpiece on Back by Jason DaSilva & Colleen O’Halloran   
In the summer of 2005, the young To Be Continued (TBC) Brass Band is on the verge of going from The Big Easy to The Big Time.  Acclaimed music group The Roots takes an active interest in helping TBC try to make it outside of New Orleans’ poorest neighborhoods and onto their dreams.   TBC’s future is as bright as the renowned Bourbon Street corner where they wow overflow crowds with their unique blend of jazz, brass, and funk. But then Hurricane Katrina drowned everything they had — except their spirit. The band members rely on that spirit to persevere in their struggle to reunite and preserve the continuity of New Orleans and its one-of-a-kind music traditions.

From the Mouthpiece on Back is a unique documentary about TBC’s courageous return to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, as well as a tribute to their carrying the torch for contemporary brass band music with their unique blend of jazz and hip-hop. Narrated by Kerry Washington.   (2008, 56 minutes)

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Tuesday, February 19
Listen Up!: The Lives of Quincy Jones by Ellen Weissbrod
Steering clear of convention, this affecting documentary pays tribute to the life and work of composer, musician and producer Quincy Jones. Highlights include interviews with a long list of celebrities — from Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald to Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, and Barbra Streisand — who weigh in on Jones’ widespread influence. From playing trumpet with Lionel Hampton, and then arranging for Duke Ellington and Count Basie in the 1950s, to becoming the first African American record executive in America in 1964, to producing the best-selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1982), Jones is one of the best-known and most respected men in the music industry, and Listen Up is a fascinating tribute to his legacy.  (1990, 115 minutes)

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Tuesday, February 26
My First Name is Maceo by Markus Gruber
One of the key sonic architects of funk, legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker first gained fame for his 1960s – early 1970s work with James Brown, whose impassioned shouts for a sax solo (“Maceo! Blow your horn!”) would make Parker the Godfather of Soul’s most famous sideman.  After leaving James Brown, Parker joined Parliament-Funkadelic, becoming an integral part of the sound of hundreds of P-Funk recordings and concerts in the mid-late 1970s, under the helm of George Clinton and Bootsy Collins. Parker, who most recently has toured with Prince’s band, will be playing locallyl at Tipitina’s on February 28, two days after the screening of this documentary. (1996, 87 minutes)