The Blues (2003) is a seven-part documentary series produced by Martin Scorsese that explores the history and influence of blues music. Each episode, directed by a different filmmaker, traces a unique aspect of the genre’s evolution—from its African roots to its global impact. Originally airing on PBS, the series includes Scorsese’s Feel Like Going Home, Wim Wenders’ The Soul of a Man, Richard Pearce’s The Road to Memphis, Charles Burnett’s Warming by the Devil’s Fire, Marc Levin’s Godfathers and Sons, Mike Figgis’ Red, White and Blues, and Clint Eastwood’s Piano Blues.

It took nine years to create two feature films. They were conceived as a movie-diptych about Leonid Fedorov and a group of musicians formed around him.

Bringing his unique sense of humor to this bizarre and original piece of moviemaking, Tom Waits takes the audience through a musical journey with his jazzy, quirky, bluesy tunes presented as you would never, ever, ever expect.

Many many words have been written and a few ingenious TV documentaries have been filmed about the great Russian rock band Auktyon, which recently celebrated 30 years of playing music. Everything is completely different in the case of the film Encore: it took seven years for the director, Dmitry Lavrinenko, to make it; he needed just that amount of time to capture the wayward grace still preserved by Fyodorov, Garkusha, Ozersky and their associates. If you look behind the powerful music facade, you find not a story of a band but chronicles of a voyage aimed at incredible, incomparable music. Encore shows how the songs which are now known by heart were composed; it also shows things generally left aside: pieces of everyday life, tour diaries, conversations, including the key phrase: "You should not look at the liberty too much, you might feel dizzy.

Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fictional film sequence (recreations of '20s and '30s events - shot in silent-film, hand-crank style), rare archival footage, present-day documentary scenes and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians such as Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Thomas King, Cassandra Wilson, Nick Cave, Los Lobos, Eagle Eye Cherry, Vernon Reid, James "Blood" Ulmer, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Ribot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lucinda Williams and T-Bone Burnett.

Five days in the life of fabled Greenwich Village guitar store Carmine Street Guitars.

The complex and revolutionary music and lyrics of Marc Bolan and T. Rex, the glam rock powerhouse behind “Bang a Gong (Get it On)” and other iconic songs. Featuring archival performances and interviews with Elton John, Ringo Starr, and David Bowie, plus filmed musical interpretations by artists such as Nick Cave, John Cameron Mitchell, Joan Jett, Macy Gray, U2, and Father John Misty.

Filmed at St. Anne's Cathedral, Brooklyn in 1989

John Zorn with his band at Anthology Film Archves performs COBRA, part one.

Tom Waits 1985 performance of "16 Shells From A 30.6" and “In the Neighborhood” from the album 'Swordfish Trombones' and "Cemetery Polka" and “Walking Spanish” from the album 'Rain Dogs' Live On The Tube.

A documentary on underground and experimental rock acts performing at Les Instants Chavirés, a music venue in Montreuil, France. Performers include Thierry Madiot, Peter Brötzmann + Han Bennink, The Ex + Tom Cora, Roof, Hint + Quentin Rollet, Kampec Dolores, Prolapse, King Biscuit, Zeni Geva, Melt Banana, Purr, Badgewearer, Heliogabale + Didier Petit, Keiji Haino, Oxbow, US Maple, New Bad Things, Tiger Lillies, Marc Ribot, KK Null, Api Uiz, Labradford, Godspeed You Black Emperor, De Kift, Sophie Agnel & Roro Perrot.

Part Two of John Zorn's COBRA (see April 16 for Part One).

A rare peek into the working methods of John Zorn. Filmed over a ten year period, this documentary includes live footage of Masada, Naked City, Cobra, as well as improvisations, his classical work and rare interviews. A prize winner at European festivals, this film documents Heuermann's very personal, fifteen year odyssey with the music of John Zorn.

Guitarist Marc Ribot, a longtime legend among musicians but little-known outside the industry, finally gets the recognition he deserves in this compilation of performance footage from intimate clubs in New York's Lower East Side and Europe. These shows prove that Ribot deserves his reputation as one of the most talented and inventive composers and guitar improv performers working today, and why he accompanies so many top stars.

To mark the 25th edition of Jazz à Porquerolles, ARTE is showing festival highlights from previous years: in 2010, jazz virtuoso Archie Shepp took to the stage with guitarist Marc Ribbot to perform his project ‘Stars In Your Eyes’.

Marc Ribot rarely performs in Europe. His appearance at Jazz sous les Pommiers is therefore a real treat, especially since the guitarist is performing here with his quartet to introduce us to the album *Hurry Red Telephone*.

Documentary examining contemporary Jewish musical culture in New York's avant garde Jazz scene in the 1990s.

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