Jazz spoken-word artist ana monet has collaborated with B Ray to create a video that reflects the poetry and the harsh reality of her song Working Class Musicians, with a smart combination of cutout and model animation.monet begins by saying 'Though it be a labour of love, a labour it is.' And the video closely follows her lyrics, about everything that happens when her and and her band are not performing. And it enhances the message with more smart observations. As well as the incessant travelling, by all kinds of modes of transport, the video observes the minor but unavoidable indignities that are part of the 'working class musician's' reality - including writing songs on the subway, having instruments mishandled by airport security and manning the merchandise desk after a sparsely attended show. Ultimately, beyond the drudgery, there are moments of actual music, played live in front of an appreciative audience, making it all worthwhile. Sort of. It's presented here as a brief respite, and as the band board another bus, the cardboard city around them is crushed flat. They have to keep moving, keep performing, to pay their bills. It finishes with monet repeating 'Playing to live...' Nicely done, and rather illuminating.

AG Rojas has created the first ever official music video for jazz legend John Coltrane’s spiritual masterpiece - one of the most important and influential jazz records ever made - by returning to the hallowed studio where it was recorded in 1964.Created in honour of the centenary of Coltrane's birth, Rojas's video for Acknowlegement, the opening and most iconic movement of the album-length suite A Love Supreme, was filmed at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. But rather than reconstruct the magical recording with musicians or actors, Rojas turns the space itself into the main character of the film. It becomes the foundation from which the viewer's imagination can run free as Coltrane's divine music plays.It's an audacious approach, but by focussing on the details, with superb black and white cinematography from Shawn Peters, Rojas's underlines the majesty and beauty of Coltane's recording by capturing the studio's unique character. “When I arrived at Van Gelder Studio for the first time on a May morning, there were no words, just a shared, awestruck look between my friend and collaborator Shawn Peters and me," explains Rojas."The studio is hidden down a long, tree-lined driveway, flanked now by two nondescript office buildings. You feel the space before you see it. But when you step into the studio, you are immediately welcomed into a world that honours nature as well as nature’s sacred geometry. Along with some recording gear,instruments, and ephemera that transport you through time."For the film, we attempted to imagine what that December night in 1964 may have felt like as John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones recorded A Love Supreme. Not exactly what it looked like (though a lot of the original recording equipment remains), but something more like the spiritual residue of their presence and sound. "I grew up playing saxophone in jazz bands, so the concepts of improvisation and collaboration are familiar to me (and crucial when it comes to filmmaking). That is how our cinematographer Shawn; our production designer Emmeline E. Wilks Dupoise; my producer Grace Campos and our crew approached the day. We listened to music, laughed, broke bread, and improvised with a 16mm camera all day and night in this very special place: together.”

Following Smile Today, Manchester jazz pianist and producer Matt Wilde returns with another intimate performance film directed by James Killeen.The video for Everyday Words - taken from Wilde’s forthcoming LP Find A Way - was shot inside the historic Orangery at Tatton Park, placing Wilde's stripped-back musical palette - upright piano, trumpet and intricately programmed beats - in a space built for growth and light.James Killeen and DoP Matt Snow embrace the building’s glasshouse architecture, using shifting daylight and reflections to echo the track’s central theme: how words, or their absence, shape our connections in constant motion.Resisting excess staging, the visuals highlight the improvisatory spark that runs through his work - an artist carving new space between jazz, hip hop, and electronic production.