“1000 Songs” (Documentary Short) features 83 year old journey-man musician and R&B singer Ricky Rose of Brooklyn New York. Ricky has been playing music for 70 years and despite “never making it to the big time” his passion for playing live has never dimmed.

Ricky Rose

Ricky Rose

As the live music scene in Brooklyn nightclubs slowly eroded, ceding the way to DJ’s and electronic production, Ricky found himself with few places to play until he found a local mechanics garage in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Every Saturday night Ricky and an eclectic mix of “old timers” and younger musicians, emblematic of a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn, come to the garage to swap tunes and play into the midnight hour. Ricky’s repertoire spans 7 decades of popular music and his knowledge of well over a 1000 songs always keeps the party going.

“1000 Songs” pays homage to a Brooklyn that once was teeming with night clubs and a vibrant live music scene that is long gone except for a few of the musicians like Ricky who played in its heyday. Live performances by Ricky pepper this short documentary that examines the shifting role live music plays in our culture.

Ricky Rose and Titus Rich Jr in 1965 and 2020

Ricky Rose and Titus Rich Jr. Have been playing together for over 50 years. Pictured here in 1965 and 2020

 

Ricky Rose

Ricky Rose

Directors Statement

Ricky Rose with Director Marin Sander Holxman

Ricky Rose with Director Marin Sander Holzman

“1000 Songs” is part letter to a young musician and part treatise on the shifting historical role live music plays in all our lives. Ricky’s voice is filled with a deep abiding spirit and his kindness and understanding of life’s peaks and valleys is music.

“1000 Songs” is also about musical friendships old and new and the magic live music holds for those who create it together and those who listen to it.

Ricky is also the last in a generation of musicians who played and sang soul and R&B music in its first incarnations in the 1950’s and 1960’s. I made this film so Ricky’s work could be recognized, but also with the understanding that he is one of many in a legion of heroes, sung and unsung, who made music what it is today.

Run Time: 9.30

“1000 Songs” is currently doing a 2020/2021 festival run and will be available for distribution in 2021.

1000 Songs Trailer

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