Martin Scorsese presents The Blues

Post by **BlueChair** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 12:25 pm

Tonight at 9 PBS is showing the first installment of the "The Blues." It sounds like it will make for a very interesting series.

From PBS.org:

Under the guiding vision of Executive Producer Martin Scorsese, seven directors will explore the blues through their own personal styles and perspectives. The films in the series are motivated by a central theme: how the blues evolved from parochial folk tunes to a universal language.

The seven-part film series includes:
Feel Like Going Home by Martin Scorsese
The Soul of a Man by Wim Wenders
The Road to Memphis by Richard Pearce
Warming by the Devil's Fire by Charles Burnett
Godfathers and Sons by Marc Levin
Red, White & Blues by Mike Figgis
Piano Blues by Clint Eastwood

http://www.pbs.org/theblues/

Check out the song lists, particularly for the Wim Wenders episode... very interesting indeed.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 12:37 pm

Do you ever get the feeling that this particular art form has been "put in a box" by white music scholars? I've been on a weird kick lately about blues music after reading interviews with RL Burnside and Chris Thomas King where they lament how they are constantly pushed by white record execs to play everything like a Mississippi John Hurt or a Charley Patton or a Robert Johnson Victrola record. King, in particular, was very scathing in his commentary on the industry. "It's like they're trying to sell records to ghosts." Blues artists who want to progress the sound past what the giants behind them have done (including those who knew their way around an electric guitar) and create their own individual stamp on the form seem to have a very uphill battle with white guys who keep telling them "No, your music is supposed to sound like THIS." For whatever reason, right or wrong, it strikes me as very minstrel show-esque.

Having bitched....I know that I will love every second of this special.

LessThanZero · Post by **LessThanZero** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 2:32 pm

I wonder why Clint has the piano blues....

Yeah Elvis, score 1 for the good guys!!!

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 6:43 pm

Just FYI and so you don't get your hopes TOO high, so far the series is getting some pretty mixed reviews -- though none as scathing as the reviews for Ken Burns' "Jazz."' Again, there's the isssue of not covering the enough ground, or the right part of it.

Obviously, though, it's seven different films from seven different filmmakers, so if you like one, you might not like the other. (Still, there's no way I'm going to miss tonight's installment, which is the one actually directed by Scorsese, who never shoots an uninteresting foot of film, IMO.)

Post by **BlueChair** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 9:46 pm

I got bored at times, but the performances were good. Overall I enjoyed it, though I'm not sure all of the subtitles were necessary (except when the people in Africa were speaking French).

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's Wim Wenders film. The soundtrack includes Lou Reed singing Blind Lemon Jefferson, Nick Cave singing J.B Lenoir, and Lucinda Williams singing Skip James!

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:48 am

El Vez wrote:Do you ever get the feeling that this particular art form has been "put in a box" by white music scholars?

How many of those directors are white?

Yes, I get that feeling.

firebetty · Post by **firebetty** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 8:58 am

ltz,
not sure if that was a joke about clint, but i have read he has been a long time fan and plays the piano.

Post by **BlueChair** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 3:17 pm

Eastwood also directed the excellent Charlie Parker biopic "Bird"

So I'm watching tonight's Wim Wenders' film, and they showed a clip of Los Lobos playing a J.B. Lenoir song. And I'm thinking... is that Pete Thomas on drums? Sure enough, I just checked PBS.org, and it was him.

They've showed some interesting performances on this film.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 7:53 am

Thought the first installment, directed by Scorsese, was excellent. Missed last night's episode. Not at all like Ken Burns, thankfully.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 3:46 pm

I also thought I saw Pete for a split second playing maracas or something with Bonnie Raitt.

Re: white filmmakers -- one of the directors is black, Charles Burnett.

And isn't it a fact of life that , these days, at least over a certain age, most blues fans are not African American?

This was a long time ago, but I'll never forget going to see the Rolling Stones. The opening acts included George Thorogood and the J. Geils Band. Three all-white blues bands that the mostly white audience loved.

Then Prince, the third opening act, came on -- doing some of his most Blues oriented material (he was going through his Hendrix phase). The audience saw a black face, started yelling "death to Disco" and booed him off the stage.

Prince musically flipped off the audience with "Jack U Off" and left after three songs.

Post by **BlueChair** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:53 pm

Tonight's installment (the Charles Burnett film) was great, if only because they showed archival footage of Mississippi John Hurt, who I had never seen in motion before.