John Cageathon!

John Cage in Warren Studio A, UCSD. Photograph by Bonnie Harkins. Courtesy of Bonnie Harkins, Brian Ferneyhough, and the John Cage Trust.

Henning Lohner’s riotous film, Musicircus is a three-and-a-half-hour documentary of the “Musicircus” homage to John Cage, presented at New York’s Symphony Space shortly after his death in 1992. Preceding and following this film, screened for the first time in the United States, is Elliot Caplan’s haunting “Beach Birds for Camera,” an adaptation of a dance work originally created for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

The Music Division is proud to offer this program on the occasion of what would have been Cage’s one hundredth birthday.  The films  screen from 12:00 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 6 at the Mary Pickford Theater on the third floor of the James Madison Building. Metro: Capitol South. Patrons are invited to attend any or all of the screening — or, in true Cagian fashion, walk out if they so desire!

John Cage shares a birthday with legendary outlaw Jesse James. Two years ago In the Muse recognized the birthdays of both figures in this blog post.

Jazz Film Fridays: The !!!! Beat

The !!!! Beat was a pioneering blues, soul and R&B television show broadcast from WFAA in Dallas, Texas and hosted by radio d.j. William “Hoss” Allen. The series, which began production in January 1966, ran for 26 episodes with stellar performances by national and regional stars, including Little Milton, Esther Phillips, Etta James, Gatemouth Brown, Louis …

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Mozart’s Sister

When I first heard about the new French film, Mozart’s Sister, I immediately marked November 4th on my calendar, because Rene Feret’s new film opens at DC’s E Street Cinema today! Feret has made clear that the film is largely fiction, with historical roots in the Mozart family dynamics and women’s status in 18th-century Austrian …

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Pic of the Week: An Evening with David Amram

I first met composer and multi-instrumentalist David Amram 25 years ago when we did a late night radio interview at WPFW-FM. I knew about his music, of course, his film scores (The Manchurian Candidate, Splendor In The Grass, Pull My Daisy) and collaborations with leading jazz, classical, folk and world music artists. But that free-wheeling …

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Jazz in the Spring: David Amram

The following post is by Larry Appelbaum, Senior Reference Specialist, Music Division. For the final night of the Library’s Jazz Film Series, we celebrate composer David Amram, who at age 80 continues to break ground in jazz, classical and world music. As a jazz French horn player, Amram worked with Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy …

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Jazz in the Spring at the Nation’s Library

Next week, the Music Division’s popular jazz film series returns to the Mary Pickford Theater.  Senior Reference Specialist and In the Muse blogger Larry Appelbaum curated the series and provided program notes. Monday evenings at 7:00 pm – Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building. No tickets or reservations needed. Limited seating begins at 6:30pm. …

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This week on Flickr, and Macca on Film

Today we release another one hundred images from the William P. Gottlieb Collection to Flickr Commons. This week’s selection offers iconic photos of the trumpet legend Louis Armstrong, clarinet player Sidney Bechet, composer Leonard Bernstein, and vocalist June Christy. And, as is often the case, there is something unexpected in the mix. This week’s surprise is a series of …

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