Coals to Newcastle: The New Mastersounds from Leeds to New Orleans

Plot Summary

Leeds, UK the birthplace of funk? Not quite, but the hometown of the rising funk-jazz phenomenon, The New Mastersounds. By offering the first Jazz degree in Europe, Leeds College of Music attracted scores of talented musicians to this Northern former industrial hub to master forms of music that had been carried by cargo ships from across the Atlantic for decades. A thriving live music scene soon developed in Leeds, and many of these young musicians embraced American funk and soul from the 60s and 70s. Now, like bringing coal to Newcastle, England's finest funk-jazz band journeys to the birthplace of funk for 3 performances that coincide with the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. With sit-ins and commentary from several New Orleans master musicians, Coals to Newcastle, offers viewers a look into the lives of 5 Britons that have been influenced by a uniquely American art form, and a glimpse at the city that started it all as it struggles to retain its culture after Katrina s devastation.