Questlove discusses his new Earth, Wind & Fire documentary and his approach to music filmmaking
By
Jem Aswad
Toasted golden, schmeared with insight. Top of the rack.
Summary
Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson, drummer for The Roots and musical director for 'The Tonight Show,' has established himself as a premier music documentarian with four major projects including the Oscar-winning 'Summer of Soul,' 'Sly Lives,' the SNL 50th anniversary music special, and his new documentary 'Earth, Wind & Fire (to Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)' premiering on HBO. The article discusses Questlove's approach to music documentaries, his deep fandom balanced with critical perspective, and his process for telling the stories of iconic musical acts. He also addresses why he may never make a Prince documentary.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledWhen artists who are also fans embark on such projects, the results can be too admiring, too fanboy, too hagiographic.
Across four documentaries — the Oscar- and Grammy-winning 'Summer of Soul,' 'Sly Lives,' 'Ladies and Gentlemen, 50 Years of Saturday Night Live Music' and the new 'Earth, Wind & Fire (to Be Celestial vs. That's the Weight of the World)' — Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson has established himself as one of the greatest music documentarians of this era.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson talked about his new Earth, Wind & Fire doc and why he may never make a Prince film.
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