MERCURY STUDIOS and MICHAEL MURPHY PRODUCTIONS
are proud to present the digital release of
UP FROM THE STREETS®: NEW ORLEANS: THE CITY OF MUSIC
A film highlighting New Orleans’ rich musical heritage
~ AVAILABLE FROM DEC 11, 2020 ~
‘As a visitor, devotee, and student of the city of New Orleans, I have never seen anything that so vividly and comprehensively chronicles the musicians who made New Orleans the cradle of American music.’
– Claude E. Bailey, Founding Chair, DC Jazz Festival
London, UK (December 11, 2020) – Starting today, Mercury Studios (encompassing Eagle Rock Entertainment) and Michael Murphy Productions present the release of the celebrated New Orleans documentary Up From The Streets®: New Orleans: The City of Music. The film will be available exclusively on digital formats.
Up From The Streets®: New Orleans: The City of Music debuted at the 2019 New Orleans Film Festival and received an Award of Excellence at the IndieFest Film Festival, also winning the Gold Award for best feature documentary at the Houston WorldFest Film Festival. The film’s digital release follows a successful US virtual cinema run, which helped raise over $10,000 for The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s Jazz & Heritage Music Relief Fund.
This insightful documentary chronicles the musical, creative, cultural and social evolution of a unique city steeped in music. Produced and directed by Michael Murphy and hosted by Oscar-nominated and six-time Grammy-winning jazz trumpeter / composer Terence Blanchard – Up From The Streets dissects the evolution of the city’s music, from early innovations in Jazz through R&B and Funk.
What makes New Orleans a hotbed for musical talent? The answers can be discovered in the history of the city, its traditions, its diversity and its unique sense of integrated community. Archival and newly filmed performances legends including Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, and, of course, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band are weaved between conversations with such impactful New Orleans musicians as Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Mannie Fresh, and Dr. Michael White, as well as commentary by Robert Plant, Keith Richards, Bonnie Raitt, and Sting.
New Orleans created and nurtured the sounds that influenced 20th century American music. Up From The Streets®: New Orleans: The City of Music celebrates this cultural epicenter in one definitive film. According to American Songwriter magazine, “there have been plenty of quality documentaries on the music of New Orleans. This is arguably the best.” “Anyone interested in the culture and music of New Orleans will love this film,” states Terence Blanchard. “The resilience of the people of New Orleans reflects the story of America.”