Film: IMMEDIATE FAMILY – Q&A w/Director Denny Tedesco (THE WRECKING CREW)

Guest Speakers: Denny Tedesco, Director
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.

Directed by Denny Tedesco

If you listen to 1970s pop music, you’ve undoubtedly heard these guys play, but do you know their names? IMMEDIATE FAMILY highlights five talented men—Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Waddy Wachtel and Steve Postell—who shunned the spotlight for themselves, yet enjoyed decades of success as session musicians on iconic tracks. Kortchmar, Sklar and Kunkel made up three-quarters of “The Section”, best known for both their studio and live work in support of some of the top selling singer/songwriters and solo singers in the history of music, as well as their own acclaimed instrumental albums. They were later joined by Wachtel. Collectively, “The Section” helped define the sound of a generation by supporting the top singer-songwriters of the last five decades: James Taylor, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Keith Richards, Neil Young, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Don Henley, Phil Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, Bryan Ferry, Lyle Lovett, David Crosby and Jimmy Buffett and producers Lou Adler and Peter Asher – many of whom are interviewed in IMMEDIATE FAMILY. These super-star artists reflect on their relationships and deep history with the legendary players featured in IMMEDIATE FAMILY, sharing why they’ve trusted them to shape their sound, and in many cases, extended their roles to include writing, co-writing and music producing. It doesn’t end there! In the film we see that in recent years, Kortchmar, Sklar, Kunkel and Wachtel have again teamed up, joined by guitarist Steve Postell (who worked with David Cosby and John Oates), to perform on stage and record as The Immediate Family. They play a repertoire of hits they either wrote or co-wrote for famous artists. The film won the Audience Award at the 2022 Woodstock Film Festival. Denny Tedesco is also director and producer of the 2008 multi-award winning music documentary, THE WRECKING CREW. Running Time: 102 minutes