I AM ALI

Showing now on Netflix, the feature documentary I Am Ali. By Focus Features & Passion Pictures, the  producers of the Academy Award-winning documentary Searching for Sugarman.

I was thrilled when Altitude Music asked me to write some pieces for this, especially as the music was such fun to produce. From Skank, to West African, to Blues – it enabled me to call on my years of playing in thriving multicultural churches in London, UK. It also needed to sound of its time and location, so a lot of work was put into how the recorded material sounded. Many thanks to Dave Marks for skanking away in a hotel room with me somewhere up North, and the always fantastic Horns on Hand for those lovely honky saxes in the blues piece :)

Here’s a clip of some of the cues  …

“The subject of Muhammad Ali is well-trodden ground.

The boxer that changed a sport (and an entire nation) has been the subject of writers, reporters and big-budget Hollywood filmmakers ever sincecommandeering the ring in the 1960s.

Untold numbers of books and movies have attempted to lift the curtain on Ali’s closely guarded personal life, to varying results.

I Am Ali—focusses on the boxer’s inner circle of family, friends and former opponents.

A Focus World project, I Am Ali focuses on unreleased recordings of phone calls the former heavyweight title holder had with family members, friends and opponents during his boxing career.

The trailer features one recording of Ali talking about his career in typical Ali fashion.

“So I was the Concorde of boxing. I was at higher altitude than the rest, moving faster than the rest,” Ali says. “But you’ll just have to get used to flying on jets again. You can’t ride Concorde anymore.”

I Am Ali features interviews with George Foreman, Mike Tyson and Ali’s manager Gene “The Facilitator” Kilroy—all attempting to quantify the elemental power Ali commanded during his reign at the top of the boxing world.”

Enjoy !