The Blues - A Musical Journey
Several weeks ago,my kids bought me, for Fathers' Day, the full DVD set of the Martin Scorsese production: The Blues - A Musical Journey. This was very generous of them because I think it was quite expensive.
The series was shown on ABC on Saturday evenings a few months ago. I managed to catch some of the programmes but not all.
I've just finished working my way through the whole set of 7 DVDs. Man! If you're a blues fan, it really is worth a look. This is not a comprehensive audio-visual study of the blues and I doubt that Scorsese would claim that it is (nor that anyone could produce one that would be more entertainment than learned thesis) but you have to give him enormous credit for a marvellous production.
He had different directors work on each episode. My favourite is the last one: Piano Blues (director Clint Eastwood - a considerable musician in his own right). It has some work from Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Doctor John and the inimitable Professor Longhair(!) - amongst a host of other great talent.
A close second is Red, White and Blues - a study of the influence of the blues on the British rock scene in the 1960s. There's a wonderful studio session at Abbey Road with Tom Jones, Jeff Beck, Van Morrison and Lulu. Humphrey Littleton's Bad Penny Blues brought back some memories (aagh - nostalgia - leave me alone!)
The DVD extras are nearly as good as the finished production.
I don't often rave like this but DVD technology has begun to throw up some genuinely worthwhile pieces of art - and this is one to cherish.
Col
