American Grand (2013)

• 68%
• 2013
• Documentary
• Harry Bromley Davenport
• Richard Davenport
• Pamella Consolli
• Kayoko Forest

A vintage Steinway with rusty strings, wood-boring insects, and cat hair clogging the action, is dragged into a workshop and restored over the course of a year by a colorful team of technicians led by Richard Davenport, a renowned Los Angeles piano doctor. American Grand captures the transformation of the 1913 Steinway from wreck to shining beauty. There are setbacks, skirmishes, and heartfelt revelations. Who knew that restoring a piano could be so dramatic? Along the way, the film follows the outside work of Richard Davenport at Twentieth Century Fox, Herb Albert's Vibrato Jazz Club, and other Los Angeles venues, while featuring extracts from the works of composers ranging from Bach to Irving Berlin, as performed by fourteen international pianists. As lively as it's elucidating, American Grand was produced and directed by the owner of a concert grand rebuilt by Richard Davenport. No pianos were intentionally harmed during the making of this film.