Change is an inevitable thing in life and I’m glad to see Chrisette Michele embracing it so beautifully with her “avant-garde” look and upcoming project. Inspired by her travels overseas along with the muse of her favorite fashion icons, Michele has teamed up with celebrity photographer, Derek Blanks for the creation of her upcoming mixtape project, Audrey Hepburn: An Audiovisual Presentation, featuring a collage of docu-shorts and photography fused with the sounds of Hip Hop, R&B, Jazz and World Music. Personally, I’m really excited to see this project. Being an admirer of Michele’s voice and the visual arts, I can only imagine the audiovisual dimension this mixtape will incorporate.  Audrey Hepburn: An Audiovisual Presentation will be available for free download December 8^th.

In the meantime, check out the “behind the scenes” video for her mixtape single, CHARADES integrating her new style she playfully calls “Rich Hipster”.

I wanted to post a clip from one of my favorite documentaries about the studio wizard Tom Dowd who was a key part of the Atlantic Records sound for decades. Tom tracked, mixed and produced countless classic records for the company and was an extremely intelligent and gifted engineer and musician. If you write, record or produce music and don’t know the name and work of Tom Dowd, what I would suggest is to drop everything and seek out this entire doc. and then after you watch it (a couple of times) look up Tom’s credits over his stellar career. What a gift Tom Dowd was to the world of music, gone but never ever forgotten.

Great documentary highlighting the influence and synergy between both The Civil Rights Movement and the ascendancy of Motown into the cultural lexicon in the 1960′s.

In Theaters June 15th

Film Synopsis:

Ice-T takes us on an intimate journey into the heart and soul of hip-hop with the legends of rap music. This performance documentary goes beyond the stardom and the bling to explore what goes on inside the minds, and erupts from the lips, of the grandmasters of rap. Recognized as the godfather of Gangsta rap, Ice-T is granted unparalleled access to the personal lives of the masters of this artform that he credits for saving his life. Interspersed with the performers’ insightful, touching, and often funny revelations are classic raps, freestyle rhymes, and never before heard a cappellas straight from the mouths of the creators. What emerges is a better understanding of, and a tribute to, an original American art form that brought poetry to a new generation.

I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the legacy of our AOM than to post this great and informative documentary from filmmaker Gary Keys of course the irony is not lost here in that Duke never celebrated his own birthday which is covered in the film. Enjoy and let us know what you think about the film and perhaps if you are so moved let us know about a tidbit or two that you may have learned from the film that you didn’t already know about Duke.

I cannot tell you… I mean as a dad and as someone who has worked with young people my entire adult working life, the influence that we can have for positivity can never, ever be underestimated. How will our children know our musical legacy if we do not share it with them? Our musical legacy is more than the value placed upon it by someone else, and as we have watched people and cultures from all over the world build monuments to theirs, far too many of us have run from ours because it’s not hip anymore, that was last week, disposable.

You know the hippest thing I’ve seen this week? I’m looking at right now and all I can do is to salute DJ Judah for taking what many will not… time. I see a monument being built and this one lives and breathes and grows over time unlike stone, every minute spent with great music is another sonic brick being added to a solid musical foundation.

Checkout this all star collection of artists including Anthony Hamilton, Joss Stone, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and Mary Mary rendition of “We Shall Overcome” dedicated to that fateful day in Memphis 44 years ago.

Soundtrack For a Revolution celebrates the vitality of this music. Directed by Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman (Nanking), and executive produced by Danny Glover, Soundtrack for a Revolution is a vibrant blend of heart-wrenching interviews, dramatic images, and thrilling contemporary performances — a film of significance, energy and power.

The freedom songs evolved from slave chants, from the labor movement, and especially from the black church. The music enabled blacks to sing words they could not say, and it was crucial in helping the protesters as they faced down brutal aggression with dignity and non-violence.

Soundtrack for a Revolution on iTunes http://ow.ly/8sS8E
Soundtrack for a Revolution on Amazon http://ow.ly/8NcA6