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Cab Calloway: Sketches

Chris Calloway Brooks Discuss His Grandfather

Chris Calloway Brooks, musician and current director of the Cab Calloway Orchestra, discusses his grandfather Cab Calloway's accomplishments and style. Cab Calloway: Sketches premieres nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings). In the New York metro-area the film airs ...

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Cab Calloway: Sketches

Cab’s Straight Hair

Horn player Gerald Wilson, jazz writer Gary Giddens, and jazz critic/cultural historian Stanley Crouch discuss how Cab's straight hair, unusual in people of African American descent, and his ability to toss it while performing, played into his persona and popularity as an entertainer. Cab Calloway: ...

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Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel

Steve Brodner Draws Cab Calloway to “Minnie the Moocher”

Stever Brodner creates a second sketch of Cab Calloway to Calloway's classic hit "Minnie The Moocher" for the documentary AMERICAN MASTERS Cab Calloway: Sketches, premiering nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (check local listings). Brodner's completed sketch comes alives and dances alongside Matthew Rushing, ...

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Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel

Steve Brodner Sketches Cab to “Everybody Eats When They Come To My House”

Watch Steve Brodner create one of the sketches used in the documentary AMERICAN MASTERS Cab Calloway: Sketches to the soundtrack of Cab Calloway's "Everybody Eats When They Come To My House."Cab Calloway: Sketches premiering nationally Monday, February 27 at 10 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check ...

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Cab Calloway: Sketches

Interview: Director Kenneth Bowser

Emmy Award nominated director Kenneth Bowser explains why he chose to make a documentary about Phil Ochs, why he seems to have been written out of the history of folk music, and the unique way that Ochs' music marries activism and his personal life. Phil ...

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Cab Calloway: Sketches

About the Documentary

Calloway was also an ambassador for his race, leading one of the most popular African American big bands during the Harlem Renaissance and jazz and swing eras of the 1930s-40s. American Masters celebrates "The Hi De Ho Man's" legacy during Black History Month with the ...

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Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

Interview: Christopher Hitchens

Before his untimely passing on December 15, 2011, author and journalist Christopher Hitchens sat for an interview for Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune, airing January 23 at 10 pm (check local listings). Hitchens offered his viewpoint on the music of Ochs, the United States ...

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Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune

About the Documentary

American Masters opens its 26th season with the biography of a conflicted troubadour who, with guitar in hand, stood up for what he believed in and challenged us all to do the same. Three-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker Kenneth Bowser examines one of America's most iconic folk ...

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Pearl Jam Twenty

Preview Eddie Vedder’s Epic Stage Dives

In this excerpt from Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam Twenty, the band reflects on Eddie Vedder's penchant for taking stage diving to new heights, plus a montage of some his greatest and highest concert dives, including the 1992 Pinkpop Festival, Landgraaf, Netherlands. American Masters Pearl Jam ...

Pearl Jam Twenty

Preview Writing “Release”

This excerpt from Cameron Crowe's Pearl Jam Twenty features the band discussing songwriting in the early days and includes a performance of "Release" from Arena Di Verona, Italy - September 16, 2006. American Masters Pearl Jam Twenty premieres nationwide Friday, October 21, 2011 at 9 ...