Matthew Heineman’s documentary “American Symphony” started out to be about the writing and performance of a massive, ambitious and genre-jumping symphony by musician, singer, Grammy and Oscar winner Jon Batiste. But over the course of filming, the movie came to chronicle the relationship between Batiste and his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, whose leukemia returned after a decade in remission the same week Batiste was nominated for 11 Grammys.
And while footage from the symphony’s Carnegie Hall debut makes the case that Batiste has written a thrilling compendium of the music of the American diaspora, the most moving music in the film might well be “It Never Went Away,” the gentle piano ballad that follows the Carnegie concert by bringing things down to one piano, one voice and the story of two people.
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