Earl’s World: The Filtered Excellence: July 7, 2021
Bob Geldof once asked us, “Where is the filtered excellence!?” It’s right here. Once a week we take a break from comedy to bring you this week’s picks of the best things to watch, the most interesting things to do, great things to try, the best picks to read, our favorite things to listen to and more.
WATCH THIS
Summer Of Soul. In the summer of 1969, The Harlem Cultural Festival featured free performances by Sly & The Family Stone, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Gladys Knight & The Pips, The Staple Singers, Mahalia Jackson, Ray Barretto, Mongo Santamaria, Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln; David Ruffin, The 5th Dimension, Hugh Masakela, and The Edwin Hawkins Singers, among others. Each show was professionally shot, with the intention of making it a feature film. But outside of a number of specials that aired on local TV, the footage sat in producer Hal Tulchin’s basement for 50 years. It wasn’t until Tulchin reached out to Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson (making his feature film debut) that this musical buried treasure has finally seen the light of day. Using festival footage, and remembrances from performers and attendees, it shows how local promoter Tony Lawrence – working with the city, The Parks Department and Maxwell House – put together a free, six week festival featuring some of the top names in music. It’s mind blowing how this footage – showing all of the performers at either their career peak or ascension – was passed over during the same period that Woodstock and Gimme Shelter made its way into theaters. It’s more than a concert film: it’s a celebration of Black culture at a crucial moment in American history. One of the year’s best films. Summer Of Soul is available exclusively on Hulu.
The Neutral Ground. The new season of the acclaimed P.O.V series kicks off with this documentary about how America continues to hold on – and embrace – the so-called ‘Lost Cause’. In 2015, director CJ Hunt was in New Orleans in 2015 to cover the City Council’s vote to remove four confederate monuments – including one featuring Robert E. Lee. When the measure passed, it launches a series of lawsuits, protests and death threats that delayed the statues removal for years. The backlash sent Hunt on a journey to find out why 150 years after the end of the Civil War, why there was a need to erect monuments in honoring those who represented the opposite to American ideals. His trip included a trip to Charlottesville, Virginia, and put him in the middle of protests that would shock and startle the nation. Speaking with those against and in favor of their removal, Hunt addresses some uncomfortable truths about post-Civil War America and how our failure to confront them has led to systemic racism that’s overt and subtle. It’s a doc that will both enlighten and enrage. The Neutral Ground is available now on the PBS app and on www.pov.org.
LISTEN TO THIS
Pink Noise by Laura Mvula. For her third full length album, singer-songwriter Laura Mvula and co-producer Dann Hume, shifts away from the orchestral pop of her previous work, in favor of big 80s drums, swirling synths and slinky guitars that would’ve made Prince nod with approval. By channeling seminal works by Michael and Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mvula brings back the best elements of those albums, while adding the vocal and musical flourishes that made her first two albums so extraordinary. ‘What Matters’, a duet with Simon Neil of Biffy Clyro, sounds like a lost cut from a John Hughes soundtrack. This is Laura Mvula dancing away her constrictions on an album that proudly takes us back to the future. An ambitious new chapter in what has been an exceptional career. Pink Noise by Laura Mvula is available now through all major streaming services.
Summer Of Sorcery Live at The Beacon Theatre by Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul. 2019’s Summer Of Sorcery marked a change in direction for Little Steven. Staying free of the politics that marked his previous work, it leaned heavily on the 60s rock, blues, pop, soul, and mambo that influenced him in his formative years. After receiving some of the best reviews of his amazing career, Little Steven hit the road in support of the album, including a stop at New York’s Beacon Theatre. This new live album features a healthy selection of Summer Of Sorcery tracks, songs that he’s written for Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (‘Trapped Again’, ‘Love On The Wrong Side Of Town’, ‘Little Girl So Fine’), and covers of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Tucson Train’; The Animals’ ‘Club-A-Go-Go’, ‘On Sir Francis Drake’ by The Youngbloods and The Dovells, ‘Bristol Stomp’. Peter Wolf makes a surprise appearance, performing the J. Geils classic ‘Freeze Frame’ and the anti apartheid anthem, ‘Sun City’. There’s also an extra hour of material that was recorded between 2017 through 2019 that includes appearances by Nils Lofgren, Australian music legends Peter Garrett and Jimmy Barnes, Nick Gravenites (playing The Electric Flag’s ‘Groovin’ Is Easy) and another Peter Wolf showstopper (‘Ain’t Nothin’ But A House Party’). With over three hours of fantastic music, Little Steven proves yet again why he’s the last true remaining true rock n roll impresarios. Summer Of Sorcery Live At The Beacon Theatre by Little Steven & The Disciples Of Soul is available now through all major streaming services.
DO THIS
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