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Seattle Film and Music Blog

LANGSTON HUGHES AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL CONTINUES THIS WEEK

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LHAAFF
The 8th annual Langston Hughes African American Film Festival kicked off this past weekend and will run through Sunday, May 8. The films screened so far have done well, with last night’s showing of local film 23rd and Union selling out (an additional screening has been added on Wednesday, May 4 at 9 pm). You can catch all the films at Central Cinema with the exception of the closing day schedule, which will screen at Garfield High Schools’ Quincy Jones Theater. Make sure to see some of the great films at LHAAFF this week while you can. Highlights include the Seattle soul documentary Wheedle’s Groove, a brunch event with filmmakers at the Northwest African American Museum, and the closing night film Butterfly Rising (directed by True Blood actress Tanya Wright). Check out the full schedule here.

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NEWLY-RELEASED “WHEEDLE’S GROOVE” DVD MAKES ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S “MUST LIST”

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Entertainment Weekly
The newly-released DVD of Seattle-centric music doc, Wheedle’s Groove has landed the #4 spot in Entertainment Weekly’s “Top 10 things to check out this week.” With narration by the incomparable Sir Mix-A-Lot, interviews with the stars of Seattle Soul, and commentary from local music icons like Quincy Jones, Kenny G, Soundgarden, Death Cab for Cutie and Mudhoney, the locally-made documentary shines a powerful light on a vibrant and prolific musical movement that “grooved” Seattle decades before the grunge wave that put us on the map. The new DVD—which is now available via iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and a host of national retailers– also includes deleted scenes, concert footage, a What’s a Wheedle? featurette and more. Congrats to the filmmakers! Groovin’ Bonus: You can also catch Wheedle’s Groove at this year’s Sasquatch Music Festival!

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SEATTLE’S FORGOTTEN SOUL SCENE “GROOVES” ITS WAY ONTO DVD TODAY

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Wheedle’s Groove, the award-winning film chronicling Seattle’s forgotten soul/funk scene of the 60s and 70s, is now available on DVD! With narration by the incomparable Sir Mix-A-Lot, interviews with the stars of Seattle Soul, and commentary from local music icons like Quincy Jones, Kenny G, Soundgarden, Death Cab for Cutie and Mudhoney, the film shines a powerful light on a vibrant and prolific musical movement that “grooved” Seattle decades before the grunge wave that put us on the map. The new DVD—which you can pick up via iTunes, Netflix, Hulu and a host of national retailers– also includes deleted scenes, concert footage, a What’s a Wheedle featurette and more. Also included the DVD special features is the film’s theatrical trailer, which you can peep below in case you just can’t wait until you pick up your own copy of the Groove.

[vodpod id=Video.5870350&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

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“WHEEDLE’S GROOVE” PREMIERES TONIGHT

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Seattle Times
Don’t miss Wheedle’s Groove, a local documentary about Seattle’s forgotten funk/soul scene circa the 1970s, which premieres tonight at 10:00 pm on KCTS 9. During the film’s festival circuit run, The Seattle Times gave it four stars, commenting that Wheedle’s Grove “captures the soul of Seattle.” The film is part of the first season of “Reel NW,” the 12-part film series launched by KCTS to champion the work of the local independent filmmaking community and to bring the best features, documentaries and shorts to Seattle airwaves. For more information about Wheedle’s Groove or the “Reel NW” project, be sure to check out the link.

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BUMBERSHOOT ROUNDUP

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Rolling Stone
The highly anticipated Labor Day weekend fest, Bumbershoot is over, but you can relive all the magic via the internet on basically any site you check. Seattle Times writes about the festival’s 40 year history and how this year chalked up. Check out pics at Seattlepi.com. Seattle Weekly was all abuzz about the various artists, including Jamie Lidell, Hole, Jenny and Johnny, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Declaime and more. And The Stranger got insider previews, reviews, photos and more of the weekend fun. Nationally, check out the link above for Rolling Stone’s pictorial roundup. The general consensus of Bumbershoot 2010? Hole was surprisingly fantastic, Bob Dylan was unsurprisingly underwhelming and Wheedle’s Groove was worthy of its day by mayoral proclamation.

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WHEEDLE’S GROOVE IN SEATTLE THIS WEEKEND

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Northwest Film Forum
Wheedle’s Groove is a band, a film and a “Day” in Seattle. September 4 is officially “Wheedle’s Groove Day” as declared by Mayor McGinn, and it’s a day to remember the rich history of the Seattle soul and funk scene from the 1960s and 1970s. Light In The Attic spent twelve months tracking down artists and fleshing out the story of Seattle’s funky past, and the result was a CD compilation entitled “Wheedle’s Groove.” At the CD release party in August of 2004, a line of nostalgic 60-somethings and funk-hungry 20-somethings wrapped around the building as the musicians inside, now janitors, graphic designers, and truck drivers, look back at careers derailed and prepare to perform together for the first time in 30 years. And now Seattle-based filmmaker Jennifer Maas has made a documentary film that will be playing at the Northwest Film Forum from September 3-9. Clips from the film as well as a performance from these musicians will also be featured at Bumbershoot this weekend. For more information, follow the link.

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LOCALLY MADE DOCUMENTARIES SHOWCASED AT SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

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Seattle Times
Hundreds of tales will be told at the Seattle International Film Festival some of which are true, and a few of which are from our own backyard. The Northwest Connections program this year features five documentaries, four of which are about the Northwest arts scene. Wheedle’s Groove and Amplified Seattle focus on local music of the past and present; Ginny Ruffner — A Not-So-Still Life and Chihuly Fire & Light are portraits of local visual artists. “Seattle has such a rich arts scene, it provides perfect fodder for some interesting stories,” said SIFF artistic director Carl Spence. He noted that the documentary section of the festival has grown dramatically, estimating that the number of nonfiction films submitted has tripled in the past decade. This year, he said, 467 were submitted; not counting the numerous films that were viewed and considered from other festivals. Ultimately, 54 feature-length documentaries will screen, including the five from the Northwest. Read the full round-up at the above link.

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PHOTOS FROM MAYOR MCGINN’S INAUGURAL CELEBRATION AT SHOWBOX SODO

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The Stranger
Check out these great shots by Kristen Blush of Mayor Mcginn’s inaugural celebration at Showbox SODO this past Saturday night. The evening featured performances by The Maldives, Wheedle’s Groove, Hey Marseilles and Gabriel Teodros and was a free, all-ages event.

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WHEEDLE’S GROOVE, MALDIVES AND OTHERS PLAY MAYOR MCGINN’S INAUGURAL MUSIC FESTIVAL THIS SATURDAY

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Seattle Subsonic
Seattle City of Music is proud to partner with Mayor Mike McGinn’s Inaugural Music Festival, a free, all-ages event featuring Wheedle’s Groove, The Maldives, Hey Marseilles and Gabriel Teodros. The event will be held at the Showbox SODO, 1700 1st Avenue South, starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, January 9. In addition, popular local food vendors will be parked outside the venue. Scheduled mobile food vendors include Marination Mobile, Kao Samai Thai, Gert’s BBQ and others. The event is all-ages and free.

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SEATTLE TIMES REVIEWS THE YEAR IN SEATTLE MUSIC

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Seattle Times
The Seattle Times’ Jonathan Zwickel runs through Seattle’s 2009 musical landscape. He highlights the momentous leap forward for 206 Hip Hop, the revival of Americana powerhouse No Depression, the re-opening of the Crocodile, the amazing reunion of Seattle’s soul community on the Wheedles’ Groove compilation and more. Also highlighted was our office’s City of Music Initiative which passed an admissions-tax exemption that helped certain venues retain more profits from shows and opened the Artist Clinic, providing low-cost health care to artists and musicians via the Country Doctor on Capitol Hill.

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