George Martin’s Final Project Nominated for Emmy

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Producer George Martin and some English fellows he recorded

Soundbreaking: Stories From the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music, an eight-episode PBS series that explores the impact of recorded music on the modern world, has been nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Sound.

The series, which aired on PBS stations last November, was the last project produced by George Martin, who passed away on March 8, 2016.

Information from our original news item:
The series, according to a press release, “combines unprecedented access to some of the most celebrated music artists, producers and innovators with rare archival studio footage and an extensive musical soundtrack, to deliver one of the most wide-ranging series on the art of music recording.”

The release continues: “Charting a century’s worth of innovation and experimentation in the creation of music, Soundbreaking offers a behind-the-scenes look at the birth of brand new sounds. From the invention of the microphone to the Moog synthesizer, from the phonograph to digital streaming, Soundbreaking moves between past and present to tell the stories behind the sounds, and reveals how innovation redefined not only what we listen to and how we listen to it, but our very sense of what music is and can be.”

Related: George Martin dies

The eight-episode series features over 150 exclusive and original interviews with classic rockers and artists in other genres, including: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Joni Mitchell, Roger Waters, Roger Daltrey, Linda Perry, Barry Gibb, Elton John, Debbie Harry, Quincy Jones, B.B. King, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart, Mark Knopfler, Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Lindsey Buckingham, Rosanne Cash, Don Was, Steven Van Zandt, Sheila E, Questlove, Ben Harper, Billy Idol, Beck, Imogen Heap, Darryl McDaniels, RZA, Bon Iver, Nile Rodgers, Nigel Godrich, Q-tip, Brian Eno, Mark Ronson, Rick Rubin, Tony Visconti and more.

Watch an excerpt from the Stevie Wonder segment of Soundbreaking

Organized thematically, stories within the episodes include:

George Martin and the Beatles’ groundbreaking work in the studio creates a new paradigm for pop music
Phil Spector’s rise as the first “rock star producer”
Paul Epworth’s collaboration with Adele on “Rolling in the Deep”
Stevie Wonder embraces the synthesizer and makes a break with Motown
Giorgio Moroder fuses R&B with electronica and the dance floor explodes
The art of sampling gives rise to hip-hop
Michael Jackson and Madonna take the art of the music video to new heights
Miles Davis and Marvin Gaye use the long-playing record for new kinds of expression

The series is being released on DVD and Blu-ray and is available for pre-order here. For more information on the program, go here.

Watch an excerpt from Soundbreaking featuring producer George Martin