Features: DVD, Pan and Scan (TV Format), Dolby Digital Stereo, Interviews, Deleted Scenes
A man who seemingly fit many lives into one lifetime, Tom Dowd's achievements span from his teenage years during WWII working on the Manhattan Project, to recording jazz in the 40's and 50's, capturing rock n roll and jazz legends during his many years with Atlantic Records, the segregated South during the golden years of Stax Records, classic recordings during Miami's Atlantic Records South period, to the digital recording studios of the 21st century.With credits including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Otis Redding, John Coltrane, The Allman Brothers Band, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Marley Thelonius Monk, Cream, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Booker T. & the MG's and countless other celebrated musicians, Tom Dowd's pioneering work in recording techniques helped shape the sound of modern music as we know it today. Tom Dowd passed away on October 27, 2002, one week after his 77th birthday. He will never be forgotten. This independently produced feature-length documentary had its world premiere at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, and had its international premiere at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. The film has screened at festivals around the world to overwhelmingly enthusiastic audiences and widespread critical acclaim.
Editor's Note
In the annals of pop music, there's probably no one other than legendary impresario John Hammond whose ubiquitousness compares with that of engineer/producer Tom Dowd. From the 1950s on, Dowd was both a tireless technological innovator and a uniquely musical engineer and producer. A key figure at the Atlantic and Stax labels, among others, Dowd was intimately involved with the recording of the giants of jazz (Dizzy Gillespie, Ornette Coleman), soul (Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin), and rock (Cream, Allman Brothers, Derek & the Dominos). TOM DOWD & THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC is a lively profile of this artistic and technical mastermind, punctuated by gripping performance footage of the countless top-shelf artists on Dowd's resume, as well as interviews with some of those musicians, and with the charming, effervescent Dowd himself. Besides being a skilled musician (at one point we see him playing some impressive jazz piano), Dowd was uniquely qualified for his work on the technical side, with his background as an army engineer. Not only did Dowd oversee the making of groundbreaking albums like Derek & the Dominos' LAYLA and Otis Redding's OTIS BLUE, he helped design and test the atomic bomb in the infamous Manhattan Project. Clearly this is a man with a story to tell, and this film tells it in a visually and contextually arresting format, focusing on Dowd's long list of achievements as well as his natural gift for communication and camaraderie.
|
