UPPER EAST SIDE — Musicans who have backed such chart-topping artists as Alicia Keys, Desiigner and will.i.am. will provide the soundtrack for a silent film series about steamy love triangles slated to kick off next month.
The Czech Center's weekly Rooftop Ciné Concert Series starts on Aug. 8 with Anthony Miller, the keyboardist for Alicia Keys; Shariq Tucker, the drummer for rapper Desiigner; and Kennedy Administration bassist Chelton Grey, who's played for will.i.am and Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child.
As the sun sets, the musicians will play music they prepared to accompany "The Manxman," a 1929 Alfred Hitchcock film about childhood friends who both fall in love with a woman played by Czech actress Anny Ondra.
Last year, the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed for the event.
The other two films featured in this summer's series are:
► 'Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans'
Aug. 15 at 7 p.m.
Directed by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, the 1927 film follows a young married farmer who falls in love with a woman from the city as they devise a plan to drown his wife.
Music for the film will be played by Czech-born bass player Michael Krásný, who is in the band Quattro Formaggi and frequently collaborates with other jazz musicians.
A Q&A with Vito Adriaensens, a scholar of early cinema, will follow.
► 'Flesh and the Devil'
Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.
Greta Garbo is Felicitas, a woman married to a powerful count in Germany who falls in love with a soldier named Leo. The count challenges Leo to a duel but is killed, and Leo is punished by being sent away to Africa for five years. But before he leaves, Leo asks his friend Ulrich to watch after Felicitas, who falls in love with the friend.
Ondrej Pivec, a renowned keyboardist and band leader born in the Czech Republic, will play with saxophonist and composer Karel Ruzicka Jr., who tours and plays with legendary jazz musicians, according to the Czech Center.
A Q&A with Vito Adriaensens, another scholar of early cinema, will follow.
The screenings will take place in the Czech Center, at 321 E. 73rd St., beginning with cocktails and snacks at 7 p.m. Movies begin at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 online and $15 at the door. For more information, visit the Czech Center's website.
