1950, rural Alabama; times are hard for 'The Honeydripper' a club where traditional blues music doesn't pull the crowds, the young cotton pickers and army boys prefering a rival bar with its juke-box, but help may arrive in the help of handsome young Sonny, his electric guitar and rock'n'roll. A lovely piece of independent cinema from the maestro John Sayles; a movie about myth, about family, about change and, above all, about music. find out more...

The story of the country-western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life. 

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From the 1958 Newport Jazz festival this is truly a gathering of the masters. Free-wheeling be-bop, toe tapping trad' and even a smattering of rock 'n' roll, courtesy of Chuck Berry. If you don't like jazz this could well be the tape that changes your mind. Solid Jackson! find out more...

A stunning dramatisation of the mesmerising life and ultimately tragic times of Edith Piaf, the ‘little sparrow'. The singer's life is beautifully evoked, as is the time, while Marion Cotillard in the central role is perfection. A moving and marvellous delight.....'Je ne regrette rien'. find out more...

Winner of an Oscar for "Best Documentary", this film (beautifully shot in black and white) recaptures the life and music of the late, great jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. The founder of the Californian school of "Cool Jazz" this film is in itself remarkably cool and stylish. find out more...

An homage to Josef Von Steinberg's The Blue Angel, Lola is a cabaret singer and prostitute who spots an opportunity to improve her social standing when a straight-laced buildings commissioner falls for her charms. As usual, Fassbinder creates a touchingly humorous portrait of human weakness and strength all painted with a lusiciously garish palette and a heavy dollop of melodramic kitsch. find out more...

Documentary about recording studios in Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee River. Lots of story beyond the recording sessions and loads and loads of great music too.

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As a child John Lennon was raised in 50s suburban Liverpool by his prudish aunt, but his somewhat wilder biological mother floats back into his life in his late teens and the film operates as a domestic drama with the two battling for his soul. The late great Beatle is not around to blow the whistle on this somewhat straight-laced Freudian bio-bit-pic. find out more...

A mesmerising dramatisation of one of the kings, Ray Charles. Unsurprisingly the soundtrack is pure bliss, but it is Jamie Foxx in the title role that pulls everything together, an hypnotic performance of a music legend, through all his highs and lows, and one of those increasingly rare examples of a leading actor Oscar that actually makes sense. find out more...

Charles Burnett's contribution to this excellent series of music documentaries focuses on his own past and his obsession with the blues from an early age. Intoxicated by the taboo nature of the music (the title refers to his mothers assertion that it was 'the devil's music'), Burnett's creative account of his childhood mixes fictional storytelling with documentary footage of bluesmen. "I always wanted to do a story on the blues that not only reflected its nature and its content but also attitude find out more...