Kevin Bresnahan Posted December 29, 2020 Report Share Posted December 29, 2020 Me & my family watched Pixar/Disney's newest release on Disney+ the other night. It's called "Soul". It's a story about a Jazz musician in a fictitious city that looks a lot like New York. The big jazz club is called the Half Note but it looks just like the Village Vanguard, right down to the red awning & red door as well as it being in a basement with a stage backed by red velvet drapes. Herbie Hancock was a consultant on it as the lead character was a pianist. I found a story on the NY Times about how they made it: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/25/movies/soul-jazz-animation.html Truth be told, I found it a bit depressing. It's tough for me to discuss why it depressed me without giving away too many spoilers so I'll wait to see if more people see it before doing that. When you see it, you'll have to decide for yourself which side you fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makpjazz57 Posted December 29, 2020 Report Share Posted December 29, 2020 I'd love to watch it, but I can't sign up for yet another service. I think it is $6.99/month which isn't bad, but when added to all the stations we already have...just too much, sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcam_44 Posted December 29, 2020 Report Share Posted December 29, 2020 I really liked it. I didn’t find it depressing but understand how someone could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted December 30, 2020 Report Share Posted December 30, 2020 We thought SOUL was lovely. I do understand some of the criticism leveled at it. Lots of nice Easter eggs in it for jazz aficionados, though, as noted. Herbie Hancock and Terri Lynne Carrington, among others, consulted on the film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 30, 2020 Report Share Posted December 30, 2020 Enjoyed it very much. btw, wathch the final credits (if you have that much time), Roy Haynes is playing drums in the band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted December 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2020 1 hour ago, JSngry said: Enjoyed it very much. btw, watch the final credits (if you have that much time), Roy Haynes is playing drums in the band! I saw that too. I was a bit surprised at the piano player though. Jon Batiste is not a name that first comes to mind when I think of a current Jazz pianist on the scene. I certainly don't have any of his recordings. Funny take - When the band was playing on stage, I thought to myself, "That sounds like Kenny Garrett". As I watched the credits (and waited too fucking long to find out who the musicians were!) I saw that it was Tia Fuller, who I have seen live many times, so I wondered why I thought Garrett. Maybe she was his student, right? I Googled "Tia Fuller Kenny Garrett" and found a couple of articles where Fuller mentions that she has had people compare her to Kenny Garrett so I guess I am not the only one who thought that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 30, 2020 Report Share Posted December 30, 2020 Jon Batiste is plugged in to a different career network than "jazz pianist"... I've yet to be impressed by anything except competency, but I did find it interesting that the "zone" playing sounded more like Alice Coltrane than anything else. But again, that's competency, not innovation. Then again, competency is nothing to be sneezed at, especially as our digital paradigm expands and evolves. So maybe, to use the lingo of the story at hand, my spark is dwindling. But that's ok, the future belongs to the present, and the present belongs to the past. It all flows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted December 30, 2020 Report Share Posted December 30, 2020 12 minutes ago, JSngry said: I've yet to be impressed by anything except competency, but I did find it interesting that the "zone" playing sounded more like Alice Coltrane than anything else. I heard those passages in a similar way, but my ear landed on Laraaji. But I chalked it up to the filmmakers needing Joe Gardner to go to a place "beyond category" (and somewhat unbeknownst to himself). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 31, 2020 Report Share Posted December 31, 2020 Did Joe Gardner's people get paid for the use of his name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted December 31, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2020 Is there a story as to why they didn't call this Jazz club the Village Vanguard: It's awfully close: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin V Posted December 31, 2020 Report Share Posted December 31, 2020 (edited) On 12/30/2020 at 4:45 PM, JSngry said: Enjoyed it very much. btw, wathch the final credits (if you have that much time), Roy Haynes is playing drums in the band! Whoa!!!! I only knew about the film's basic premise, but new Roy Haynes has my full attention. I think that this might be his first recording since his last leader date, Roy-alty, from 2011. I can only hope that he doesn't play on any vinyl-exclusive tracks. Edited January 1, 2021 by Justin V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcam_44 Posted December 31, 2020 Report Share Posted December 31, 2020 11 minutes ago, bresna said: Is there a story as to why they didn't call this Jazz club the Village Vanguard: It's awfully close: I was curious about that as well but just assumed it was a copyright thing, though The Half Note used to be an actual club. When I saw Dorthea I instantly thought Camilla Thurman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterioso Posted December 31, 2020 Report Share Posted December 31, 2020 Watched it today with my 7-yr old son. We both enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Friedman Posted January 1, 2021 Report Share Posted January 1, 2021 My wife and I watched it a few days ago. We were both very disappointed. The portions of the film the focused on the main character as a musician were very good. However half or more of the film had nothing at all to do with jazz or really any music. That part of the movie we both found extremely boring. At least in part our expectations were too high. The things I read about the movie gave us the impression it would primarily be about a teacher who taught music, but really wanted to be a full time jazz player. Young kids might like it for the graphics and the non-jazz/music cartoonish characters, but for us it didn't live up to the hype. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlhoots Posted January 1, 2021 Report Share Posted January 1, 2021 1 hour ago, Peter Friedman said: My wife and I watched it a few days ago. We were both very disappointed. The portions of the film the focused on the main character as a musician were very good. However half or more of the film had nothing at all to do with jazz or really any music. That part of the movie we both found extremely boring. At least in part our expectations were too high. The things I read about the movie gave us the impression it would primarily be about a teacher who taught music, but really wanted to be a full time jazz player. Young kids might like it for the graphics and the non-jazz/music cartoonish characters, but for us it didn't live up to the hype. I agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 I was actually relieved and pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a "jazz movie" . I didn't want to see that in a Disney animated/Pixar production, and I'm very happy that I didn't. I was also very relieved that it didn't end up being a "white savior" movie although it came pretty damn close up until the very end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcam_44 Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 59 minutes ago, JSngry said: I was actually relieved and pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a "jazz movie" . I didn't want to see that in a Disney animated/Pixar production, and I'm very happy that I didn't. I was also very relieved that it didn't end up being a "white savior" movie although it came pretty damn close up until the very end. I never expected it to be a jazz movie. I mean, it is a movie for kids. I feel like if it was a jazz movie kids wouldn’t like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted January 2, 2021 Report Share Posted January 2, 2021 7 hours ago, jcam_44 said: I feel like if it was a jazz movie kids wouldn’t like it. And neither would we. So they dodged both those bullets. On 31/12/2020 at 0:02 AM, JSngry said: Did Joe Gardner's people get paid for the use of his name? Everyone called Joe Gardner received a substantial check from Bernie Stollman, thus righting many wrongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.