The Apollo Soundtrack 2LP

32-Track Soundtrack Album Spotlights Classic Recordings by Count Basie, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday and More

Debuts New Robert Glasper Song with Vocals by Ledisi, Plus Selections from Glasper's Original Score and Spoken Excerpts from Angela Bassett, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Pharrell Williams and Others

THE APOLLO: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the audio accompaniment to the HBO documentary released November 6, 2019. Helmed by Oscar® and Emmy®-winning director Roger Ross Williams, THE APOLLO chronicles the unique history and contemporary legacy of New York City's landmark Apollo Theater. The soundtrack album is produced by the film's music supervisors, Grammy®-nominated Dondi Bastone and TunesMap founder G. Marq Roswell, and mastered by Ian Sefchick at Capitol Studios. The album includes music by Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Gladys Knight, James Brown and more.

THE APOLLO documentary film weaves together archival clips of music, comedy and dance performances from an astonishing list of legendary talents that includes James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Lauryn Hill, and Richard Pryor; behind-the-scenes verite footage of the team that makes the theater run; and interviews with such artists as Angela Bassett, Common, Jamie Foxx, Patti LaBelle, Smokey Robinson, and Pharrell Williams. Williams also examines the current state of race in America, following the 2018 multimedia adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates' bestselling book Between the World and Me as it comes together on the theater's grand stage. In the film, Williams explores not only the struggle of black lives in America, but the role that art plays in that struggle, and the essential part the Apollo continues to play in the cultural conversation.

THE APOLLO: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack brings together timeless music by many greats who have taken the stage at the Apollo with stories and memories from those who were there. The soundtrack provides an intimate audio experience, interspersing new and classic recordings – Charles Mingus' "Take the 'A' Train," Ella Fitzgerald's "How High The Moon," Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," and James Brown's "Say It Loud-I'm Black and I'm Proud" and "Lost Someone" (from his first Live at the Apollo album), to name a few – with interview excerpts from the film from those who made it happen show-after-show, as well as authors, artists, and community leaders who share their insights. Excerpted segments from the film include brief comments from President Barack Obama, Angela Bassett, Pharrell Williams, and more.

Throughout the soundtrack album, THE APOLLO's music composer, Emmy and five-time Grammy-winning Loma Vista Recordings artist Robert Glasper, takes listeners through several interviews with original score elements. The soundtrack also presents score pieces by composer Todd Griffin in this context, including an excerpt from the film spotlighting the stage adaptation of Coates' Between the World and Me.