Deep Blues 1991
Distributed by Film Movement
Produced by Eileen Gregory and John Stewart
Directed by Robert Mugge
Streaming, 91 mins
Middle School - General Adult
Documentaries; Music
Date Entered: 10/25/2022
Reviewed by Casey Mazzoli, Early Career Development Resident, Otterbein UniversityDeep Blues is a project commissioned by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics as a way to pay tribute to the blues artists that influenced him as a guitarist. Building on the eponymous book by the host, music historian and critic Robert Palmer, this project offers a survey of Mississippi and Tennessee blues. It eventually engendered a track list of the live performances included in the film, situating it uniquely as both a storytelling and a recording project.
To begin with the documentary material, this film presents itself not just as an educational endeavor, but as a conversation. Early in the film, the colloquial presentation of historical background can be difficult to follow for those looking to use it as strict reference material. But as a slice of life and a setup to the rest of the film’s style, it is effective. The film takes a localized approach, putting the viewer in the context of the blues by way of visits to homes, clubs, shops, and blues joints. During the interviews with the performers, the focus is not on where they are placed within the recording industry, despite the film’s inclusion of notable blues artists like Big Jack Johnson and Jessie Mae Hemphill, granddaughter of Sid Hemphill. The film focuses on how these artists are impacted by and in turn impact their own blues community. Through the framing of this project, the blues is celebrated as an art rooted in social context rather than a product.
If this film’s goal is to immerse viewers in the experience of the blues, the live performances are its strongest moments. The range of performers is notable; many of the performers are well-established in the blues scene, but the film also takes time to spotlight the younger Lonnie Pitchford. One of the artists, Junior Kimbrough, hadn’t recorded an album at the time of the film, so the track list offers an exciting first. The performances and their audiences are well-filmed and retain the live performance atmosphere well, which helps to keep the music rooted in its local context.
Some of the connective tissue, narration, and filmography surrounding the content show the project’s age, and some editing adjustments could have enhanced the narrative portions. However, the conversational quality of Deep Blues also serves as an asset, facilitating a type of learning that feels similar to what one might pick up chatting with people without a stiff agenda. This approach loses nothing in quality of information and brings a crucial perspective to the subject matter by emphasizing local influence, the historical development of musical technique and style, and the love of blues performance.
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