Quantic & Eddie Palmieri on soundtrack of basketball documentary
16 May, 2013A documentary about street basketball in New York City is the latest thing Quantic can add to his resume.
Yes, you read right. Sounds by William Holland, (aka Quantic), were featured on the soundtrack of a new documentary by Bobbito “Kool Bob Love” Garcia, a Puerto Rican American DJ, writer, entrepreneur, streetball player/coach/announcer, sneaker connoisseur, and member of the legendary b-boying and hip-hop group, the Rock Steady Crew.
“Doin’ It In the Park,” which Garcia directed with Frenchman and basketball photographer Kevin Couliau, explores the history, culture and social impact of New York’s summer “b-ball” scene, which is commonly referred to as “pick-up ball.” To shoot the film, the duo traveled (“90 percent by bike,” says Garcia) to 180 borough courts.
The film is available digitally, and will be screening all week at London’s Back Room Cinema from Friday, May 19, through the 25th.
I asked Garcia why he chose Quantic for the soundtrack.
“Quantic is straight up one of my favorite producers in the world! Kevin Couliau and I were blessed to have his music in our score,” he says. “I think most people were expecting mostly hip-hop tracks, but audiences all over the world have been raving about the diversity in sound. Quantic is a huge part of that as we used beats of his ranging from Latin to downtempo. He’s the man!”
The score also includes tracks by nine-time Grammy winner, Eddie Palmieri, who recently received the prestigious National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master Award, the United States’ highest honor for the genre. The score features original compositions that blend his Puerto Rican heritage with jazz influences, including “Coast to Coast” and “Jibarita Y Su Son,” which were vital to the documentary’s sound and emotion.
“Amazingly, he had never performed such a task for a film in his groundbreaking career,” Garcia says. “Luckily, Palmieri also agreed to collaborate with us on a soundtrack EP which will also feature unreleased tracks and soundbites from our documentary. The release will be available on CD/Vinyl/Digital this summer.”
We’ll keep an eye out for the EP, as we absolutely loved the film. Check out the trailer below and head to doinitinthepark.com for screening dates and locations, or to watch the movie online.
UPDATE: Doin’ It In The Park will be showing at Maysles Cinema from Wednesday May 22nd until Tuesday May 28th, with Q&A’s with an assortment of the film’s directors, photographers and writers following the majority of the screenings. More info at http://www.mayslesinstitute.org/cinema/calendar.html
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