On the similar time the NBA started desegregating in 1950, the swing period was giving method to a renaissance interval involving jazz, blues and different genres. Each seismic shifts play central roles in Sweetwater. The movie and its authentic movement image soundtrack arrived on Friday (April 14), the eve of this yr’s NBA playoffs.
Sweetwater attracts its storyline from the lifetime of Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, the primary Black man to signal an NBA contract. Portrayed by newcomer Everett Osborne, Clifton endured racism and different challenges on his journey from Arkansas to Chicago and from Military vet to enjoying with the Harlem Globetrotters earlier than becoming a member of the New York Knicks. Touted within the movie as “the person who modified the sport,” the Corridor of Famer’s energetic enjoying type — what the NBA group house owners dismiss as “razzle dazzle” within the movie — was the precursor to fellow legends corresponding to Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and different modern NBA stars.
Further members of the Sweetwater forged embrace Kevin Pollak, Cary Elwes, Jeremy Piven, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Ri’chard. The movie was written and directed by Martín Guigui, who joined a number of forged members and soundtrack collaborators on the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles earlier this week (April 10) for a screening, panel session and a musical efficiency
“We have been all seeking to elevate the extent of emotion to carry the authenticity, fact and realism of what it was like in 1950,” associated Guigui. That sentiment additionally prolonged to the music used within the movie as Guigui additional famous that Clifton would at all times go to a jazz membership in no matter metropolis he performed. “It was like him getting fueled for the subsequent recreation,” stated Guigui. “It was these rhythms and beats that he performed to on the ground.”
Timothy Norris/GI for The Recording Academy
A celebration of jazz and blues, the Candid Information soundtrack was produced by John Burk who’s a accomplice at Exceleration Music. The 12-song set opens with “Taking Me Larger.” Composed by Keb’ Mo’, it’s the primary track that performs within the movie’s finish credit. One other authentic track impressed by the movie and enjoying in the long run credit is “To Be First,” carried out by PWP Works of Artwork that includes Titus “Erly” Makin (Glee). PWP Works of Artwork is comprised of producer Neal Pogue plus Earth, Wind & Hearth members Verdine White and John Paris.
Explaining the origin of “To Be First,” Pogue instructed the museum viewers, “I like ‘50s music. “So I began pondering, ‘If Little Richard, Fat Domino and Ray Charles had a toddler, what would it not [the song] be like?’” Added White, “Issues have been shifting quick as we’d [he and Paris] simply received again off the highway. However after Neal performed us the track and instructed us concerning the film, we received it finished in a three-hour session.”
The Sweetwater soundtrack mixes in interval period classics corresponding to “The Man I Love” and “Candy Georgia Brown” carried out by singer-songwriter Emmaline who makes her performing debut within the movie because the character Jeannie Staples. Emmaline additionally duets with Gary Clark Jr., who has a cameo within the movie as properly, on “Down Residence Blues.” Further soundtrack performers embrace Terri Lyne Carrington, Dianne Reeves, Larkin Poe, Robert Randolph, Liyah Bey, Rick Braun, Paul Hipp and Billy Gibbons.
Right here’s the monitor itemizing for Sweetwater (Authentic Movement Image Soundtrack):
1. Taking Me Larger – Keb’ Mo’
2. Down Residence Blues – Gary Clark Jr. & Emmaline
3. It Needed to Be You – Emmaline
4. Proper Place Proper Time – Larkin Poe
5. Candy Georgia Brown – Emmaline
6. Somebody to Watch Over Me – Dianne Reeves & Terri Lyne Carrington
7. A Little Extra Religion – Robert Randolph & Liyah Bey
8. Fo’ Sho’ – Rick Braun
9. The Man I Love – Emmaline
10. What Does It Matter – Paul Hipp & Billy GIbbons
11. To Be First – PWP Works of Artwork That includes Titus “Erly” Makin
12. Get Up – Larkin Poe
