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49-518: Although the 1968 and 1969 events were filmed by Hal Tulchin , the festival had difficulty gaining publicity, partially due to lack of interest by television networks, which felt there would be little benefit in broadcasting it. What was filmed was stored in a basement and hidden from history for decades. The 1969 event took place around the same time as the Woodstock festival, which may have drawn media attention away from Harlem. A Harlem Cultural Festival

98-428: A Duo or Group for 2000. The song helped fuel the success of their Things Fall Apart album, which has since been hailed as a classic, eventually selling platinum. Questlove served as executive producer for D'Angelo's 2000 album Voodoo , Slum Village 's album Fantastic, Vol. 2 , and Common's albums Like Water for Chocolate and Electric Circus . Besides the aforementioned albums, he has also contributed as

147-424: A drummer or producer to Erykah Badu's Baduizm and Mama's Gun , Dilated Peoples ' Expansion Team , Blackalicious 's Blazing Arrow , Bilal 's 1st Born Second , N*E*R*D 's Fly or Die , Joshua Redman 's Momentum , and Zap Mama 's Axel Norman Ancestry In Progress , Fiona Apple 's Extraordinary Machine , and Zack De La Rocha 's currently unreleased solo material. In 2001, he collaborated as

196-519: A fashion show, go-kart grand prix, the first Miss Harlem contest, and concerts featuring soul, gospel, calypso, and Puerto Rican music". In 1968, the second annual Festival included a series of music concerts featuring high profile figures, including Count Basie , Bobby "Blue" Bland , Tito Puente , and Mahalia Jackson . It was filmed by documentary maker Hal Tulchin , and excerpts were broadcast on WNEW-TV in New York. Lawrence also hosted and directed

245-837: A member of the Soulquarians , the Randy Watson Experience , the Soultronics , the Grand Negaz and the Grand Wizzards . As an author, he has written four books. Questlove is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award , six Grammy Awards and a BAFTA Award . Ahmir Thompson was born on January 20, 1971 into a musical family in Philadelphia . His father was Arthur Lee Andrews Thompson, from Goldsboro, North Carolina . A singer, he became known as Lee Andrews and

294-884: A musical director. Questlove's parents enrolled him at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts . By the time he graduated, he had founded a band called the Square Roots (later dropping the word "square") with his friend Tariq Trotter ( Black Thought ). Questlove's classmates at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts included Boyz II Men , jazz bassist Christian McBride , jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel , jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco , and singer Amel Larrieux . He attended senior prom with Larrieux. After graduating from high school, he took jazz and composition classes at

343-598: A project with Mos and me. Soon as she gets her visa thing together, that's gonna happen." Rolling Stone named Questlove number 2 in the 50 Top Tweeters in Music. In June 2011, Questlove played drums alongside the Roots bassist Owen Biddle for Karmin 's cover of Nicki Minaj 's " Super Bass ." Questlove placed 8th in the Rolling Stone Readers Pick for Best Drummers of all Time. In September 2016, Questlove launched

392-532: A show in Germany , they recorded an album entitled Organix , released by Relativity Records in 1993. The group continued recording, releasing two critically acclaimed records in 1995 and 1996, Do You Want More?!!!??! and Illadelph Halflife , respectively. In 1999, the Roots had mainstream success with "You Got Me" (featuring Erykah Badu ); the song earned the band the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by

441-536: A weekly radio show on Pandora , Questlove Supreme . Notable guests have included Solange , Chris Rock , Maya Rudolph , and Pete Rock , among others. Alec Baldwin interviewed Questlove for the January 3, 2017, episode of Baldwin's WNYC Studios podcast Here's the Thing , where he joked about being "obsessed" with his Misplaced Pages profile. During the interview, he also discussed his musical and cultural interests, how

490-404: Is an American drummer, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, and actor. He is the drummer and joint frontman (with Black Thought ) for the hip-hop band the Roots . The Roots have been the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since 2014, after having fulfilled the same role on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon . Questlove is also one of the producers of

539-453: Is the only guest to have appeared on Gates's program to be descended from slaves known by name, ship, and where they came from in Africa. The Roots' lineup was soon completed, with Questlove on drums and percussion, Tariq Trotter and Malik B on vocals, Josh Abrams (Rubber Band) on bass (who was replaced by Leonard Hubbard in 1994), and Scott Storch on keyboards. While the group was performing

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588-576: The 2015 cast album of the Broadway musical Hamilton . He has also co-founded of the websites Okayplayer and OkayAfrica . He joined Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University as an adjunct professor in 2016, and hosts the podcast Questlove Supreme . Questlove has produced recordings for artists including Elvis Costello , Common , D'Angelo , Jill Scott , Erykah Badu , Bilal , Jay-Z , Nikka Costa , Booker T. Jones , Al Green , Amy Winehouse , and John Legend . He has been

637-519: The 75th British Academy Film Awards , Best Documentary Feature at the 94th Academy Awards , and Best Music Film at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards . In September 2022, it was announced that Questlove would executive produce a feature documentary about J Dilla titled Dilla Time , adapted from the Dan Charnas biography of the same name . Joseph Patel, who also produced Summer of Soul , and Darby Wheeler are slated to co-direct. In March 2023, it

686-512: The 94th Academy Awards . A 50th Year Anniversary celebration of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival took place August 14–17, 2019, in Harlem, hosted by Future x Sounds and City Parks Foundation Summerstage. The event featured musical performances by Talib Kweli , Cory Henry , Alice Smith , Georgia Anne Muldrow , Keyon Harrold , Braxton Cook , Freddie Stone (who performed at the original event), George "Spanky" McCurdy , Nate Jones On Bass ,

735-739: The Okayplayer platform and web television OkayAfrica TV , Questlove had his DNA tested in 2011 and genealogists researched his family ancestry. Questlove's DNA revealed from both of his biological parents that he is of West African descent, specifically the Mende people (found mostly in Sierra Leone as well as Guinea and Liberia). From the PBS television series, Finding Your Roots , hosted by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. , Questlove learned in December 2017 that he

784-603: The Settlement Music School . Thompson began performing on South Street in Philadelphia using drums, while Tariq rhymed over his beats and rhythms. Thompson and Jay Lonick, a childhood friend, were known for improvisational "call and response" percussion battles with plastic buckets, crates, and shopping carts. This style translated into Thompson's usual drumset arrangement, with most drums and cymbals positioned at waist level, emulating his original street setups. For

833-622: The Tupac " The Lost Episodes " skit, and one featuring John Mayer , wherein Questlove performs in a barber shop, inducing the occupants to dance and rap. With the exception of the Fugees and Jill Scott , Questlove served as the drummer at the 2004 Brooklyn street concert and was the musical director for the entire show. Questlove was given an Esky for Best Scribe in Esquire magazine 's 2006 Esky Music Awards in

882-560: The 1969 festival, held in Mount Morris Park on Sundays at 3 PM from June 29 to August 24, 1969. Sponsors included Maxwell House Coffee , and what was then the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs Division of the City of New York (later separated into Parks and Recreation and Cultural Affairs ). Lawrence secured a wide range of performers including Nina Simone , B.B. King , Sly and

931-599: The 1970s, Tulchin directed networked television shows featuring Bobby Goldsboro , Wayne Newton , and others. He also continued his attempts to interest broadcasters and film production companies in using footage of the Harlem festivals. Lawrence unsuccessfully disputed Tulchin's rights over the recordings. Some of the footage of Nina Simone was eventually used in documentaries about the singer, but most remained unused and in Tulchin's possession. In 2004, Tulchin agreed with film archivist Joe Lauro of Historic Films Archive that

980-551: The April issue. In 2006, Questlove was one of a handful of musicians hand-picked by Steve Van Zandt to back Hank Williams Jr. on a new version of "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" for the season premiere (and formal ESPN debut) of Monday Night Football . Along with his fellow Motorola ROKR commercial co-stars, Bootsy Collins and Little Richard, Questlove's bandmates included Rick Nielsen ( Cheap Trick ), Joe Perry ( Aerosmith ), Charlie Daniels , and Bernie Worrell . In

1029-585: The Family Stone , Chuck Jackson , Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach , the 5th Dimension , David Ruffin , Hugh Masakela , Gladys Knight & the Pips , Stevie Wonder , Mahalia Jackson , Mongo Santamaria , Ray Barretto , and Moms Mabley , among many others. The Woodstock rock festival also took place in August 1969, and the Harlem festival then became known informally as the "Black Woodstock". The Festival also involved

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1078-519: The Festival. Although the majority of this video remains commercially unreleased, CBS broadcast a one-hour special on July 28, 1969, featuring the 5th Dimension, The Chambers Brothers , and Max Roach with Abbey Lincoln. A second hour-long special followed on September 16 on ABC , featuring Mahalia Jackson, the Staple Singers , and Reverend Jesse Jackson. A further five TV specials were announced at

1127-668: The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) , a film about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival , which featured performances by Stevie Wonder , Sly and The Family Stone , Nina Simone , Mahalia Jackson , Mavis Staples , B. B. King , and many other top soul, jazz, gospel, and Latin artists of the era. Summer of Soul won both the US Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for documentary at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival . Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures acquired

1176-544: The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) , a feature documentary about the Harlem Cultural Festival. Questlove's film was released on July 2, 2021, in theaters and on Hulu to critical acclaim. According to Metacritic , which assigned a weighted average score of 96 out of 100 based on 38 critics, the film received "universal acclaim". On March 27, 2022, Summer of Soul won the Best Documentary award at

1225-481: The Roots began their run as house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon . He continues to perform with the Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , continuing his duties from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon . He occasionally performed solos titled, 're-mixing the clips', where he drew on his production and DJ abilities to dub video clips, cue audio samples in rhythm, and play drum breaks simultaneously. In late 2009, while serving as an associate producer of

1274-464: The Roots released the album Dilla Joints with renditions of producer J Dilla 's music. He contributed drums to the song "You Got a Lot to Learn", which was recorded for the self-titled third studio album by Evanescence , but did not appear on the final release. Questlove was planning to collaborate with Amy Winehouse before her death in July 2011. He said "We're Skype buddies, and she wants to do

1323-499: The Roots started a "movement" with three 15-passenger vans and the impact of the loss of musical icons in 2016. He also served as the musical director and in-house DJ of the 2021 Academy Awards ceremony , having previously served as the in-house DJ for the 2020 ceremony . The music for the 2021 ceremony was largely remixed from compositions created by his band The Roots, with no in-house orchestra present. In 2021, Questlove made his directorial debut with Summer of Soul (...Or, When

1372-493: The Staple Singers , and Stevie Wonder . The event, taking place over several weekends, was filmed by Tulchin, and also involved the participation of community activists and civic leaders including Jesse Jackson . Tulchin used five portable video cameras to record over 40 hours of footage of the event, and reportedly also designed the stage set . Two hour-long specials were broadcast by CBS in July and September 1969, and

1421-562: The White Stripes ' " Fell in Love with a Girl ". In 2004, the Roots released The Tipping Point , which contained a more mainstream sound, allegedly due to demands from Interscope Records. The album sold 400,000 copies. In 2004, Questlove appeared in Jay-Z 's Fade to Black . In addition to appearing in the documentary portion of the film, Questlove was the drummer/musical director for all portions of

1470-642: The drummer for The Philadelphia Experiment , a collaborative instrumental jazz album featuring Christian McBride and Uri Caine , and the DJ of the compilation Questlove Presents: Babies Making Babies , released on Urban Theory Records in 2002. He played drums on Christina Aguilera 's song "Loving Me 4 Me" for her 2002 album Stripped . In 2002, he and the Roots released the critically acclaimed Phrenology , which went gold. In 2003, he played drums on John Mayer 's song "Clarity" from his second album Heavier Things . He also arranged and drummed on Joss Stone 's cover of

1519-534: The event became known as "Black Woodstock ". The "Tony Lawrence Love Festival", held in Newark, New Jersey in October 1969, was also filmed by Tulchin and was broadcast by NBC the following month. Tulchin retained control over the videotapes of the Harlem concerts, but there was little interest in broadcasting longer excerpts of the footage more widely - according to Tulchin, "nobody really cared about black shows". In

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1568-590: The festivals. However, a shortage of funding meant that the plans failed to materialize. In 1972, Lawrence made a series of allegations in the Amsterdam News against two of his former legal and business partners, claiming financial irregularities. He took legal action against them for fraud, and also claimed that an attempt had been made on his life and that it remained under threat from the Mafia . The Amsterdam News noted that Lawrence's claims were unsubstantiated, and, at

1617-419: The film for distribution, setting a new Sundance Film Festival record for documentary film acquisition price. The film received acclaim from critics, with particular praise given to the restoration of the footage used. The film won numerous awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the 6th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards , where it won in all six categories in which it was nominated, Best Documentary at

1666-567: The foreword for the book Check the Technique . On June 18, 2013, he released a memoir, Mo' Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove . On October 22, 2013, Harper Design published the Questlove-written book, Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation . Questlove released his third book, Something To Food About: Exploring Creativity with Innovative Chefs , along with co-author Ben Greenman and photographer Kyoko Hamada, which

1715-510: The hit Broadway play Fela! , Questlove recruited Jay-Z to come on board as a producer. It was reported that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith had also signed on as producers. In January 2010, he was writing material with British singer Duffy for her second album. He has been featured in a commercial for Microsoft's short-lived mobile phone, the Kin . In 2010, he made a cameo in the music video of Duck Sauce 's song " Barbra Streisand ", and with

1764-611: The participation of community activists and civic leaders including Jesse Jackson . The series of six free concerts had a combined attendance of nearly 300,000. For the concert featuring Sly and the Family Stone on June 29, 1969, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) refused to provide security, and it was instead provided by members of the Black Panther Party . Film maker Hal Tulchin used five portable video cameras to record over 40 hours of footage of

1813-597: The same year, he appeared in the studio album Fly of the Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari . In 2007, Questlove co-produced with VH1's The Score winning producer Antonio "DJ Satisfaction" Gonzalez, from the Maniac Agenda, the theme to VH1's Hip Hop Honors 2007 . Questlove joined Ben Harper and John Paul Jones for the Bonnaroo SuperJam on June 16, 2007, to play a 97-minute set. On March 2, 2009, Questlove and

1862-488: The show with a live band. In 2005, Questlove appeared along with performers including Madonna , Iggy Pop , Bootsy Collins , and Little Richard in a television commercial for the Motorola ROKR phone. Questlove also appears for a short clip in the 2005 film, The Longest Yard . In 2006, Questlove appeared in the film Dave Chappelle's Block Party , as well as a couple of skits on Chappelle's Show . These included

1911-484: The time, but do not appear to have been broadcast. Several attempts were made to turn Hal Tulchin's videos into a television special or film, including one by Tulchin in 1969 and another in 2004 that ended when funding ran out. During this period, Tulchin named the project Black Woodstock in the hope of gaining further interest. In 2019, it was announced in numerous outlets that Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson would make his directorial debut with Summer of Soul (...Or, When

1960-575: The urging of Shirley Chisholm and Charles Rangel , the legal action was dropped. Lawrence also made claims against Tulchin over ownership of the recordings, and attempted to set up his own film company, Uganda Productions. Lawrence attempted to organize further, smaller, versions of the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1973 and 1974, and to set up an International Harlem Cultural Festival, but the plans did not proceed. Hal Tulchin Harold Monroe Tulchin (December 23, 1926 – August 29, 2017)

2009-594: The use of videotape . In 1959, he directed a television game show, Across the Board . In 1969, Tony Lawrence , a nightclub singer who had been working under New York City Mayor John Lindsay to organize community initiatives and cultural events in Harlem , invited Tulchin to film the third Harlem Cultural Festival . For the festival, held at Mount Morris Park , Lawrence secured additional sponsorship from Maxwell House , and performers included Nina Simone , B. B. King ,

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2058-620: The videotapes be digitized , but negotiations with writer and film maker Robert Gordon and director Morgan Neville to make a feature film using the recordings later broke down. Tulchin died, aged 90, in New York City in 2017. Tulchin's video recordings of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival were eventually used by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson as the basis for the successful 2021 documentary film Summer of Soul . Questlove Ahmir K. Thompson (born January 20, 1971), known professionally as Questlove (stylized as ?uestlove ),

2107-718: Was an American television and video director. Hal Tulchin was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey , the son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine . He attended the University of Iowa , and then studied acting and directing at the Dramatic Workshop in Manhattan . He worked for Sterling Television , and for an advertising agency, Young & Rubicam , where he worked on Dwight D. Eisenhower 's re-election campaign in 1956. He also directed live television commercials , and became an expert in

2156-606: Was announced that Questlove would direct a live-action/hybrid reimagining of the Walt Disney Productions animated film The Aristocats as his feature-film directorial debut, as well as executive-producing and overseeing the music. Will Gluck and Keith Bunin were attached to write the script, and Tariq Trotter , Shawn Gee and Zarah Zohlman were attached to executive produce on behalf of Two One Five Entertainment. Gluck and his production company Olive Bridge Entertainment were slated to produce. In 2007 Questlove provided

2205-504: Was curated and co-produced by Neal Ludevig and was musically directed by Igmar Thomas. The event also featured conversations with Jamal Joseph , Felipe Luciano , Gale Brewer , Toni Blackman , Juma Sultan , and Voza Rivers , among many others, at Harlem Stage and the Schomburg. Tony Lawrence made plans for further festivals, aiming to turn the Harlem festival into an international touring enterprise, and made recordings aimed at promoting

2254-580: Was descended in part from Charles and Maggie Lewis, his three times great-grandparents, who had been taken captive in warfare and sold as slaves in the port of Ouidah , Dahomey (now Benin ) to American ship captain William Foster. They were among 110 slaves smuggled illegally to Mobile, Alabama , in July 1860 on the Clotilda . It was the last known slave ship to carry slaves to the United States. Questlove

2303-504: Was first proposed in 1964 to bring life to the Harlem neighborhood. At the same time, in the mid-1960s, nightclub singer Tony Lawrence began working on community initiatives in Harlem, initially for local churches, but from 1966 working under New York City Mayor John Lindsay and Parks Commissioner August Heckscher . In 1967, Lawrence helped set up the first Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of free events held across Harlem that included "a Harlem Hollywood Night, boxing demonstrations,

2352-598: Was lead with Lee Andrews & the Hearts , a 1950s doo-wop group. Ahmir's mother, Jacquelin Thompson, together with his father, was also part of the Philadelphia-based soul group Congress Alley. His parents did not want to leave him with babysitters so they took him with them when they were on tour. He grew up in backstages of doo-wop shows. By the age of seven, Thompson began drumming on stage at shows, and by 13, had become

2401-404: Was published by Clarkson Potter Books on April 12, 2016. In 2018, Questlove curated the soundtrack The Michelle Obama Musiaqualogy for Michelle Obama 's memoir Becoming . In April 2018 he published the book Creative Quest , regarding the concept and cultivation of creativity, . In December 2021 Music Is History was published by Abrams Image . The book explores popular music through

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