Will You Be In L.A. During The Second Half Of August? Do You Like Music? Moving Pictures?

You may recall how impressed I was with the Grammy Museum when I went to a Nanci Griffith performance there in early June. Well, now I have an excuse to go back-- or several excuses. The Museum just announced their first music film festival, which will run 7 consecutive nights (Saturday, Aug. 15 through Friday, August 21).

The first night features Aerosmith, Joe Cocker, David Crosby, Sheryl Crow, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Melissa Ethridge, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Michael Lang, Moby, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Carlos Santana, John Sebastian, Steven Tyler, and The Who. Yeah, you guessed: My Generation, Barbara Kopple's no-holds-barred look at the phenomenon of Woodstock in its various incarnations from the 1969 rock concert to its subsequent iterations in 1994 and 1999. The screening coincides with the 40th anniversary of the original concert. Besides the performances-- onstage ad backstage-- the film captures the concert's effect on the residents of the host town of Saugerties and a picture emerges of two generations acting in remarkably different ways, but expressing the same longing for togetherness in a world of uncertainty and violence.

Next up is a night of DEVO, Devonia hosted by band members Jerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh who will introduce Bruce Conner's pioneering work on their projects, 4-minute experimental film Mongoloid and two DEVO music collections: The Complete Truth About De-Evolution and the premiere screening of Don't Shoot (I'm a Man). What a way to spend a Sunday!

Proving DEVO's theories about de-evolution are correct, Monday will feature a two hour screening of In Search Of Beethoven, the first truly comprehensive feature length cinema documentary ever made about Beethoven. It features a who's who of performers and experts, who reveal new insights into one of the world's greatest composers. Interviewees include Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Roger Norrington, Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Frans Brüggen, Ronald Brautigam, Hélène Grimaud, Vadim Repin, Janine Jansen, Paul Lewis, Lars Vogt, and Emanuel Ax. And it includes more than 60 live performances.

If you missed last year's Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, here's your chance. Not everyone is aware that Cash was a tireless and passionate advocate for prison reform; prisoners know. Forty years later it was recorded, the album still resonates with a rawness and authenticity that few recordings have ever achieved. The film exposes a lesser known "Man in Black" through an exciting, visually compelling examination of this historic concert. That's Tuesday (August 18).

Wednesday brings us in a completely different direction with the new film, Still Bill about the life and music of Bill Withers. He topped the charts with "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me" and then stopped performing in 1985. Damani Baker and Alex Vlack, the film's makers, wanted to know why and they tell that story by combining old performances and intense interviews with Withers, a story that starts with careers in the Navy and assembling airplane toilets and leading ultimately to 3 Grammys. Facing the pressure from record execs to promote himself, he retreated into his Hollywood mansion and stopped making music. Now, with his children grown, he is ready to begin again, on his own terms. Even at 70 years old, as he sits on his porch and describes his goals, it's evident that Bill Withers is oblivious to fame and dedicated to music.

Thursday's offering is from 2004, Poncho at Montreux, a Latin jazz celebration of the 30th anniversary of Concord Records.

And the last night of the festival, Friday, August 21, is the new film, Dirty: One Word Can Change The World, a personal tribute by filmmaker Rasion Allah to one of the most enigmatic, controversial and tragic figures in hip-hop music history, Ol' Dirty Bastard. During his years with the legendary Wu-Tang Clan, he became famous for his slurred, half-sung, half-rapped delivery of bizarre lyrics, which personified the raw, unadulterated and innovative style of the group. His own solo career was at once celebrated and fraught with legal troubles and eventually, his death by overdose. Featuring members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Brooklyn Zu and many others, the film celebrates the life of a genius madman who lived life without any breaks.

All the films start at 7:30 and tickets go on sale for all of them on August 1. Single programs are $12and the whole series is $100. You can get more information at the Grammy Museum website.