Music has always been an animating energy in the cinema of Martin Scorsese, and he is of the age (he’s now 73) to have grown up alongside the evolution of rock & roll. This gives his new HBO series Vinyl, premiering Sunday, the weight of birthright: He can claim this music—from Chuck Berry on through to punk, disco, and rap-which-became-hiphop—as art experienced first-hand, up-close and personal, and has made artful use of it starting with his first major film, 1973’s Mean Streets. Vinyl tells the story of Richie Finestra, played by Bobby Cannavale in full, motor-mouthed glory, his every entrance into a room a brash, Saturday Night Fever stride.
