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Since News thread has close thought I'd put these here:
About the Concert
Premiere date: February 2, 2018 | 0:01:44
GREAT PERFORMANCES Presents Nas Performing “Illmatic”
With the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center on February 2 on PBS
Two decades after the album’s critically acclaimed release, hip-hop artist Nas teamed up with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, to stage a symphonic rendition of “Illmatic,” one of the most revered albums in hip-hop history. The new concert film Great Performances — Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop captures the energy and nostalgia of this collaborative performance and premieres nationwide Friday, February 2 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). The program will be available to stream the following day at pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.
Released in 1994, “Illmatic” is the seminal debut album from Nas, and has long been considered one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time. The album is a densely textured, deeply lyrical portrait of life in the largest public housing project in North America, the Queensbridge Houses, located in the Long Island City area of New York City, home to nearly 7,000 people.
“It’s crazy, you know, I wrote this in the projects in New York City. Here we are in the capital of America, Washington, DC, and, you know, a bunch of white people with strings and all that, playing this album, and they [sic] feeling it,” says Nas in exclusive behind-the-scenes footage captured during on-stage rehearsal before the concert.
Alternating between candid reflections from Nas, photos from his youth, backstage footage and a symphonic performance of “Illmatic,” the program gives an inside look at the inspiration behind Nas’ music and his early life growing up in New York City. The combination of Nas and the orchestra reinvents the sound of some of his most popular songs, like “N.Y. State of Mind,” “The World Is Yours,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in Da Park)” and “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” to create a classical hip-hop journey.
“This was the first time, as a classical orchestra conductor, I was going to branch out into the realm of doing hip-hop music and rap music. And the idea of finally tackling this genre was something I was really looking forward to do,” says National Symphony Orchestra Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke about this innovative collaboration.
This performance was recorded live in March 2014 as the centerpiece of the One Mic: Hip Hop Culture Worldwide festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., home of the National Symphony Orchestra.
Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers. Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.
A Mass Appeal production, Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop is directed by Jason Goldwatch and executive produced by Nas, Anthony Saleh, Peter Bittenbender and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is series producer; David Horn is executive producer.
Watch Nas Perform 'Illmatic' With Orchestra in PBS Concert Film Trailer
Rapper delivers 1994 masterpiece backed by National Symphony Orchestra in 'Great Performances — Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop'
Nas has shared the new trailer for the upcoming PBS concert film that teamed the 'Illmatic' rapper with the National Symphony Orchestra.
January 12, 2018
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Great Performances — Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop finds the rapper performing his 1994 masterpiece at the venerable Washington, D.C. venue backed by the orchestra.
"It’s crazy, you know, I wrote this in the projects in New York City. Here we are in the capital of America, Washington, DC, and, you know, a bunch of white people with strings and all that, playing this album, and they feeling it," Nas says of the collaboration in the trailer.
The concert film, recorded in March 2014 while the rapper celebrated Illmatic's 20th anniversary, charts Nas' Queensbridge upbringing and career, the impact of Illmatic as well as the rehearsals and preparations to bring the album to the Kennedy Center stage.
"This was the first time me as a classical orchestra conductor was going to branch out into the realm of doing hip-hop music and rap music. And the idea of finally tackling this genre was something I was really looking forward to do," National Symphony Orchestra Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke said in a statement.
Great Performances — Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop airs February 2nd on PBS, after which it will be available for streaming via PBS' website.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher - New HBO Documentary Puts the Music First
HBO’s upcoming documentary Elvis Presley: The Searcher breaks down the king of rock and roll’s chops.
Elvis Presley couldn’t read music and had no formal training, but he was a student of music. Best known for accompanying his versatile baritone voice on a six-string acoustic guitar, Presley knew his way around four strings to lay down the electric bass part to the song “(You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care” for the Jailhouse Rock soundtrack. The new documentary for HBO, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, promises to explore his creative journey. The score was composed by Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher is a three-hour, two-film presentation that includes interviews with Scotty Moore, Red West, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Priscilla Presley talking about the artistic and personal struggles that preceded Presley’s death in 1977. The documentary focuses on Presley the musical artist, from his childhood through the final 1976 Jungle Roomrecording sessions.
As previously announced by SXSW, Priscilla Presley, David Porter (legendary Memphis music writer and producer), Thom Zimny (director), Jon Landau (producer) and moderator John Jackson (SVP A&R, Sony Music) will discuss the film, the cultural impact of Elvis’ music and how that impact became the embodiment of rock’n’roll at the 2018 SXSW Festival in March.
The documentary will explore how Elvis was inspired by in black and white gospel music of Tupelo, Mississippi, and his early experience with African-American blues and r’n’b of Memphis. It will also track his evolution as an artist with Sun Studios producer Sam Phillips. When Elvis joined the army, most people thought rock and roll lost a voice, but Elvis Presley: The Searcherproves he didn’t stop learning his trade while serving in Germany.
The films will chart the creative highs and lows of his career in the 1960s, culminating in the triumphant ’68 special, and assess his performing career in the early ’70s. They include stunning atmospheric shots taken inside Graceland, Elvis’ iconic home. The documentary also features never-before-seen photos and footage from private collections.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher Poster
HBO released the first poster for the Elvis Presley: The Searcher.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher Release Date
RCA/Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, will release Elvis Presley: The Searcher, the musical companion to the HBO/Sony Pictures documentary, on Friday, April 6.
Elvis Presley: The Searcher debuts Saturday, April 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Priscilla and Elvis Presley on their wedding day in 1967.
Bettmann/Getty Images
by Bill Wyman January 05, 2018, 12:05pm EST Share on Facebook
When HBO premieres Elvis Presley: The Searcher this spring, fans of the King will get an unprecedentedly deep look at his life and music, from his first forays into Memphis blues clubs to his early stardom, up through his late ’60s comeback and exhausting ’70s touring. The nearly three-and-a-half-hour-long, two-part documentary (which will also get a soundtrack released through Sony/Legacy) features new interviews with scholars, stars like Bruce Springsteen and the late Tom Petty, and -- most notably -- Priscilla Presley, who famously met the superstar when she was 14 and was married to him from 1967 to 1973.
While the film downplays the tawdrier aspects of Presley’s epic American tale, instead zeroing in on his musical evolution (though it does touch on his drug use and his relationship to famously controlling manager Colonel Tom Parker), it offers a different kind of intimacy, thanks in part to the over seven hours of personal reflections Priscilla Presley offered. “I realized she hadn't had these kinds of questions thrown at her before,” says director Thom Zimny. “And she was excited to share the details of Elvis the artist.” Presley, 72, spoke to Billboard about making what she calls “the definitive story of Elvis and his music.”
In the film, you share a great deal about Elvis that you never have before.
People know about his generosity, about his love of his mother, but he didn't have the peers he should have had. It would have been great to sit around with the guys and talk about, “My gosh, do you ever get nervous onstage? Do you miss your wife? Do you ever forget your lines?” He didn't have that.
You were so young when you met Elvis. Were your parents concerned?
Our relationship was too big for my parents; they didn't understand it. He courted me for two years before he asked me to join him in Graceland. It was two years begging my dad, until finally I told my parents, “You’re ruining my life; you have to let me go.”
Colonel Parker hangs over the film like an avenging angel.
[Elvis] was so grateful Colonel Parker took him where he wanted to go. The hardest thing was realizing that Parker was a great promoter but didn't know anything about music, or about his subject, Elvis Presley.
The film ends with Bobby Kennedy’s death and Elvis’ extraordinary rendition of “If I Can Dream” from his comeback special in 1968. What were Elvis’ politics?
Elvis was for peace. He didn't understand this whole thing with Vietnam. But he didn't get involved in politics. It was the one thing you didn't do: an entertainer was to entertain.
Elvis didn't live long enough to see your acting career. Were you sad that he didn't get to watch your films?
To be honest, Elvis wouldn't have wanted me to be in them. I don’t think he would have wanted to share [me] with anyone.
Being separated and watching him basically work himself to death -- was that painful to see again?
No. Even though we were divorced, we remained very close. We had long conversations at night. He wanted to perform, to get out. He had nervous energy. In fact, he wanted to go all over the world. He wanted to explore.
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