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Keeping Time: The Life, Music, and Photographs of Milt Hinton

by David Berger and Holly Maxon

An insider's view of jazz and life in 20th-century America, as told by legendary bassist and photographer Milt Hinton (1910-2000) and his fellow musicians.

Independent Lens

La Lupe Queen of Latin Soul

by Ela Troyano

Legendary Afro-Cuban pop singer Lupe Yoli, the Queen of Latin Soul, was famous for her emotional — and controversial — performances before her tragic death in 1992.

Independent Lens

A Lion's Trail

by Francois Verster, Dan Jawitz, and Mark J. Kaplan

In the 1920s, Zulu singer Solomon Linda composed "Mbube," a hit melody in his native South Africa. Decades later, it skyrocketed to the top of the international pop charts as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." Follow this beloved song's rocky history, from South Africa to Brooklyn and back, asking why Linda died penniless, while American artists made millions off of his music.

Global Voices, Independent Lens

Upcoming broadcasts 

Make 'Em Dance: The Hackberry Ramblers' Story

by John Whitehead and Ben Sandmel

From their days as a teenage duo in the Depression to recent gigs on MTV and the Grand Ole Opry stage, The Hackberry Ramblers have been the life of the party since 1933, with their energetic blend of Cajun music and western swing.

Independent Lens

Music from the Inside Out

by Daniel Anker

Featuring the musicians of The Philadelphia Orchestra, Music from the Inside Out weaves together a mosaic of the stories, ideas, experiences and music making that form the heart of these musicians’ lives, inside and outside the concert hall.

Independent Lens

Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story

by Jamie Meltzer

An engaging look at the fascinating subculture of the song-poem industry, where a dream and a song come together as ordinary people mail in their poems to be set to music for a fee.

True Stories, Independent Lens

Watch it online

One Night at the Grand Star

by Natasha Uppal

How did L.A.'s Grand Star restaurant become one of the city's liveliest, intergenerational, and culturally-integrated neighborhood nightclubs?

Independent Lens

P-Star Rising

by Gabriel Noble

Rapper Priscilla Diaz was dazzling New York nightclub crowds at age nine. But chasing music stardom isn’t child’s play when you live in a shelter, your mom’s an addict, and your dad’s struggling to keep the family afloat.

Independent Lens

Watch it online

Parliament Funkadelic: One Nation Under a Groove

by Yvonne Smith, Harlene Freezer, and Sharon Davis

Follow one of the most unique and influential groups in music history. From a 1960s barbershop doo-wop group to 1970s masters of funk, through pitfalls, comebacks, to becoming the world's most sampled band, P-Funk continues to perform, record, and funk on into the 21st century.

Independent Lens

Polka Time

by Lisa Blackstone

Each July for more than 30 years, polka lovers from around the United States have descended on the tiny rural town of Gibbon, Minnesota for the Gibbon Polka Fest.

Independent Lens

Watch it online

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