In December we brought news of an exciting, upcoming movie and associated music …. ‘ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI’.
The film tells the remarkable story of the night of February 25, 1964 when a young Cassius Clay (shortly before he became Muhammad Ali) defeated Sonny Liston to become world Heavy Weight Champion. The fight took place in the Miami Beach Convention Centre and after the triumph Clay decamped to the Hampton House Motel in one of Miami’s historically black neighbourhoods. It was there that he celebrated his win with three of his closest friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and football star Jim Brown.
In essence that’s the storyline of ‘One Night In Miami’ and we’re delighted to report that the movie premiers in the UK on Friday 15th January on Amazon Prime. The film features Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X, Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, Aldis Hodge as Jim Brown and Leslie Odom Jr. (an original ‘Hamilton’ performer) as Sam Cooke and by all accounts it’s a great watch.
Naturally, such a film demands a classic soundtrack, and that soundtrack will be released on ABKCO on January 15th too. The original score has been composed by Terence Blanchard and features an original song, ‘Speak Now’ performed by Leslie Odom as Sam Cooke. In the movie he also performs some of Sam Cooke’s most celebrated repertoire including ‘You Send Me’, ‘Chain Gang’, ’Good Times’ and ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’.
To tie in with the movie’s release, three classic Sam Cooke LPs (‘Keep On Movin On’, ‘Ain’t That Good News’ and ‘Sam Cooke At The Copa’) will be reissued on January 22nd 2021… the day when Cooke would have been 90. Full reviews here very soon
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI via Amazon Prime from Friday 15th January
