The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues. The series originally aired on PBS in the United States.
The Blues is a 2003 documentary film series produced by Martin Scorsese, dedicated to the history of blues music. In each of the seven episodes, a different director explores a stage in the development of the blues. The series originally aired on PBS in the United States.
Overview: Director Martin Scorsese winds his way from the banks of the Niger River in Mali to the cotton fields and juke joints of the Mississippi Delta to trace the origins of the blues in a lyrical combination of original performances (including Willie King, Corey Harris, Taj Mahal, Keb' Mo', Otha Turner, Habib Koité, Salif Keita and Ali Farka Toure) and rare arch...
Rate: 8.7
Release date: 2003-09-28
Overview: In "The Soul of A Man," director Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fic...
Rate: 6.455
Release date: 2003-05-16
Overview: Director Richard Pearce (The Long Walk Home, Leap of Faith, A Family Thing) traces the musical odyssey of blues legend B.B. King in a film that pays tribute to the city that gave birth to a new style of blues. Pearce's homage to Memphis features original performances by B.B. King, Bobby Rush, Rosco Gordon and Ike Turner, as well as historical footage of How...
Rate: 6.1
Release date: 2003-05-05
Overview: Director Charles Burnett (Killer of Sheep, My Brother's Wedding, To Sleep with Anger) presents a tale about a young boy's encounter with his family in Mississippi in the 1950s, and intergenerational tensions between the heavenly strains of gospel and the devilish moans of the blues.
Rate: 6.9
Release date: 2003-10-01
Overview: Director Marc Levin travels to Chicago with hip-hop legend Chuck D (from Public Enemy) and Marshall Chess (son of Leonard Chess and heir to the legacy of Chess Records) to explore the heyday of the Chicago blues and how they come together to produce an album that seeks to bring veteran blues players along with contemporary hip hop musicians. Along with neve...
Rate: 7.5
Release date: 2003-10-02
Overview: Director Mike Figgis (Stormy Monday, Leaving Las Vegas, Time Code) joins musicians such as Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Tom Jones, performing and talking about the music of the early sixties British invasion that reintroduced the blues sound to America.
Rate: 7.3
Release date: 2003-10-03
Overview: Director — and piano player — Clint Eastwood explores his life-long passion for piano blues, using a treasure trove of rare historical footage in addition to interviews and performances by such living legends as Pinetop Perkins and Jay McShann, as well as Dave Brubeck and Marcia Ball.
Rate: 6.5
Release date: 2003-10-04