alamo50
12-30-2005, 01:07 PM
Author: SoundSlam
Dec. 29, 2005 - New York, NY
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, and acclaimed as one of the greatest basketball stars to grace this country’s historical hoops landscape. A new endeavor by the tall, slender NBA legend, however, will use film footage to cover the topic of music’s relationship with basketball players.
Abdul-Jabbar is creating a documentary to explore how jazz and hip hop relate to basketball in light of the music’s social peak. Kareem, a native of Harlem and an adolescent during an extremely crucial, innovative era for jazz music, believes that a common thread can be found between the music of his day and the contemporary sonic backdrop to today’s generation of athletes.
Archived footage, such as interviews and musical interludes, might be part of the yet unnamed documentary, which is still in its formative production stages. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stated, “We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today’s basketball stars, is directly related to jazz. When we show that connection we find that things haven’t changed at all.” Jazz music has undoubtedly played a monumental role in the transition of popular music and influence of hip hop despite a heavy generational gap.
Reminiscing on the early days of the professional hoops game, Abdul-Jabbar cites, “One of the professional teams that was considered to be the best team played out of Harlem. They played out of the Renaissance Ballroom and Casino, which was a dance hall and a place where prominent jazz musicians played. The Renaissance team would play before the main attraction when they played their home games.” Continuing, the 19-time NBA All-Star said, “They would play one half of the game, then they would have one minor band, then they would play the second half of the game and then they might have Duke Ellington until 3AM.”
Kareem is also actively involved with the Thelonious Monk Institute’s “Jazz Sports” program to help fuel the passion and development of today’s young jazz musicians. As Chairman of this program, Abdul-Jabbar is helping to pass on the tradition of both jazz and basketball. The institute also harbors a “BeBop to Hip-Hop” program to hone in on the innovative and experimental similarities between the musical movements.
There is no date currently set for release of the documentary. Stay tuned to SoundSlam for future updates.
Source: SoundSlam
Link (http://soundslam.com/articles/news/news.php?news=051229_nbaleg)
Dec. 29, 2005 - New York, NY
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, and acclaimed as one of the greatest basketball stars to grace this country’s historical hoops landscape. A new endeavor by the tall, slender NBA legend, however, will use film footage to cover the topic of music’s relationship with basketball players.
Abdul-Jabbar is creating a documentary to explore how jazz and hip hop relate to basketball in light of the music’s social peak. Kareem, a native of Harlem and an adolescent during an extremely crucial, innovative era for jazz music, believes that a common thread can be found between the music of his day and the contemporary sonic backdrop to today’s generation of athletes.
Archived footage, such as interviews and musical interludes, might be part of the yet unnamed documentary, which is still in its formative production stages. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stated, “We want to show how hip-hop, which kind of fuels today’s basketball stars, is directly related to jazz. When we show that connection we find that things haven’t changed at all.” Jazz music has undoubtedly played a monumental role in the transition of popular music and influence of hip hop despite a heavy generational gap.
Reminiscing on the early days of the professional hoops game, Abdul-Jabbar cites, “One of the professional teams that was considered to be the best team played out of Harlem. They played out of the Renaissance Ballroom and Casino, which was a dance hall and a place where prominent jazz musicians played. The Renaissance team would play before the main attraction when they played their home games.” Continuing, the 19-time NBA All-Star said, “They would play one half of the game, then they would have one minor band, then they would play the second half of the game and then they might have Duke Ellington until 3AM.”
Kareem is also actively involved with the Thelonious Monk Institute’s “Jazz Sports” program to help fuel the passion and development of today’s young jazz musicians. As Chairman of this program, Abdul-Jabbar is helping to pass on the tradition of both jazz and basketball. The institute also harbors a “BeBop to Hip-Hop” program to hone in on the innovative and experimental similarities between the musical movements.
There is no date currently set for release of the documentary. Stay tuned to SoundSlam for future updates.
Source: SoundSlam
Link (http://soundslam.com/articles/news/news.php?news=051229_nbaleg)