troubadour blues press kit 2011-2012
Transcription
troubadour blues press kit 2011-2012
TROUBADOUR BLUES PRESS KIT 2011-2012 Troubadour Blues is a journey into the world of well-traveled singer-songwriters like Peter Case, Mary Gauthier, Chris Smither, Dave Alvin, Slaid Cleaves and many more. Filmmaker Tom Weber spent nearly 10 years gathering material for this feature-length documentary, which provides a revealing look at the heartbreaks and joys of these modern-day wandering minstrels. The 95-minute film premiered Oct. 14, 2011, at the Buffalo International Film Festival. It features live performances of 40 songs by the artists who wrote them, including Case's "Icewater" and "Entella Hotel," Gauthier's "Drag Queens In Limousines" and "Wheel Inside The Wheel," Alvin's "Ashgrove" and Smither's breathtaking rendition of "No Love Today." We see the artists both on and off stage. In revealing interviews, the artists discuss their craft and the state of the music business today. Case's story provides the film's main narrative, and we go with him to Hamburg, NY, where he grew up and learned to sing the blues, to San Francisco, where he polished his craft as a street musician, and to Los Angeles, where he played in influential bands like the Nerves and Plimsouls before launching a 30-year solo career. This is a story that needs to be heard. In our media-saturated age of instant pop stardom, there is real danger that the tradition of the itinerant working musician is being diluted or lost. This is a concern expressed in the film by a number of artists. Troubadour Blues explores the hidden corners of our culture, where honest, authentic songs reflecting the human experience are still being written and sung. The film is available on DVD and for non-theatrical screenings. For more information, contact: Tom Weber Films LLC [email protected] http://tomweberfilms.com http://www.troubadour-blues.com 1283 Cedar Blvd. Pittsburgh PA 15228 (412) 257-2166 (o) or (412) 370-1736 (m) TROUBADOUR BLUES SCREENING HISTORY UPDATED JULY 15, 2012 Sept. 30, 2011 First pressing of 1,000 DVDs delivered (release date). Oct. 14, 2011 World Premiere, Buffalo Int'l Film Festival, Buffalo, NY Oct. 25, 2011 Pittsburgh, PA, Hollywood Theater, with Mark Dignam Oct. 28, 2011 Erie, PA, Erie Art Museum, with Mark Dignam Jan. 1, 2012 Shelburne Falls, MA, Mocha Maya, before Redbird concert Jan. 2, 2012 Cambridge, MA, Club Passim, with Brendan Hogan Jan. 4, 2012 Williamstown, MA, Billsville House Concerts Feb. 23, 2012 Memphis, TN, Folk Alliance International Conference Feb. 25, 2012 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Winter Roots & Blues Roundup March 15, 2012 Austin, TX, South By Southwest May 23, 2012 Nashville, TN, Douglas Corner, with Joe Scutella June 5, 2012 Altadena, CA, Coffee Gallery Backstage w/Julie Christensen June 7, 2012 Sacramento, CA, Swell Productions, with Peter Case June 9, 2012 San Francisco, CA, KC Turner Presents, with Peter Case June 13, 2012 Houston, TX, Anderson Fair with Vince Bell June 14, 2012 Austin, TX, Jax Neighborhood Cafe w/House of Songs June 20, 2012 Marfa, TX, Padre's, with Primo Carrasco and David Beebe June 23, 2012 Phoenix, AZ, Rhythm Room, with Rocket 88 Buffalo News October 7, 2011 Troubadour Blues 1 Buffalo News October 7, 2011 Troubadour Blues 2 by Chris Kearin Mt. Lebanon filmmaker Tom Weber gives us the 'Troubadour B... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11293/1183322-60-0.stm Mt. Lebanon filmmaker Tom Weber gives us the 'Troubadour Blues' Thursday, October 20, 2011 By Manny Theiner Eric S Swist Peter Case in the movie Troubadour Blues for 10-21 Photo by Kerri B. McMullen Mt. Lebanon resident Tom Weber recently underwent the ultimate baby boomer rite of passage -- turning 60. And similar to the collapsing 401(k)s of his generational brethren, Mr. Weber endured a sea change, losing his teaching job at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. So he created for himself a new occupation: documentary filmmaker. At an age when many kick back and retire, he is hitting the road to promote his first project, a 91-minute peek at the art and lifestyle of itinerant singer-songwriters called "Troubadour Blues," which holds its Pittsburgh premiere at the Hollywood Theater on Tuesday. Mr. Weber's interest in music sprang out of a shared childhood experience for many boomers -- witnessing the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show" at the age of 12. "I'm part of that generation that picked up a guitar and started playing," he explains. "But I also worked part time at my local paper, the Erie Times, so music and writing went hand in hand." Although "Troubadour Blues" features interviews and performance clips from a number of important roots/folk artists (what could be termed the "WYEP crowd," from Chris Smither and Mary Gauthier to Slaid Cleaves and Dave Alvin), he zeroes in on the life of one particular artist, Peter Case, who started his career in the '70s punk band The Nerves (with Paul Collins) and '80s garage-rockers The Plimsouls. "I became familiar with Peter through the Plimsouls, and then saw him solo in the mid-'90s whenever he'd come around the area," Mr. Weber recalls. "I got my hands on some video gear and asked if I could follow him around, without a real idea of what I was going to do. Then, cheap equipment came on the market, allowing me to own a camera. I had previously run a recording studio, so it was a small step from writing, playing, and producing music to making a film about it." According to Mr. Weber, the focus on Mr. Case provided a central narrative around which to base the film's flow. He compares his observational style to the film "Don't Look Back," which covered Bob Dylan's 1965 tour of England. "Peter gave me a lot of access. His story was that of the archetypal folk singer: drop out of school, hitchhike to the West Coast, become a street musician, and get involved in the music scene. He typifies that classic Woody Guthrie or Cisco Houston type, the traveling musician who goes all over with suitcase and guitar in hand, as the Paul Simon lyric ['Homeward Bound'] says." Through Mr. Case's contacts, Mr. Weber expanded his coverage, first meeting with Mr. Smither. "Through Chris I met Mark Erelli [whose song "Troubadour Blues" provides the film title] and Tracy Grammer. I met most of the artists in an organic way, although with some I called up their manager or went up to them after a show." With well over a decade of sound and video recordings, Mr. Weber explains that the film took so long to compile because he was still working. "It's a weird coincidence that the day UPS arrived with the DVDs was the day I was laid off from my full-time job. So right now, this film is my new job ... someone said I've caught 'Troubadour's disease.' " That affliction followed Mr. Weber to such far-flung locales as Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch in southern Ohio, Plan 9 record store in Richmond, Va., and McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, Calif., as well as stops in Chapel Hill, N.C., Charlottesville, Va., and Fall River, Mass. There were also opportunities in our own backyard: Morgantown's Mountain Stage, local bastions Club Cafe and the Rex Theater, and even a house concert. By following Peter Case over a long span, Mr. Weber builds a sense of the gradual evolution of his songwriting personality. The first song in the film, Mr. Case's "Poor Old Tom," stitches several performances from various venues, where the singer's appearance changes over time while his observations remain ever relevant: "Every time you've got a Republican administration in Washington, it's really good for folk music ... here's one I wrote back in the Reagan administration where more and more people were living on every street corner around where I lived." That political unease could easily be expressed today about Obama's recession woes and Occupy Wall Street, but Mr. Weber 1 of 2 10/20/11 9:52 AM Mt. Lebanon filmmaker Tom Weber gives us the 'Troubadour B... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11293/1183322-60-0.stm is more interested in the modern itinerants' practice of a hardscrabble existence. "They don't have roadies or plush hotels. [Short of hopping a train], this is as close to the traditional troubadour life as you can get. I wanted to focus on the idea of doing it solo, the lone musician traveling the highways the way it was done years ago." Transitions between DVD chapters include shots of driving on the road, which was something Mr. Weber did as much as his subjects. "I ran up a $20,000 credit card balance. When you own the gear, all you're really talking about is tape and travel costs. I drove around a lot and stayed in a lot of motels. I wanted to work that way because I felt that I had less of a footprint as a filmmaker -- instead of coming with a crew and lights, I would just be a fly on the wall." Mr. Weber did have a bevy of Kickstarter backers, however, which helped pay for mastering and music rights. "You have to talk with people at publishing companies...whose job it is to make money. About four dollars per DVD goes to music rights -- they realize that I'm a little guy who doesn't have a lot of backing, and it's not in their interest to prevent [the film] from coming out. If I went into broadcast or streaming, though, there'd be additional payments to be made." "Troubadour Blues" debuted two weekends ago at the Buffalo Film Festival. "It's like the Three Rivers Film Festival but on a smaller scale. After [Pittsburgh], I'll take it on the road, particularly during the film and [folk] music festival seasons -screening at the Folk Alliance in Memphis and flying up to Edmonton for the Winter Roots and Blues Roundup at the University of Alberta. I'm also working with Peter Case's booking agent in Austin. That's an important market for me to get into South by Southwest." "I would love to get distributed into theaters," he adds, "but it's not a life-or-death scenario. I own a projector and screen, so in the meantime I'll be doing screenings at house concerts. Anywhere I can get 20-30 people to watch my film, it's worthwhile." "Troubadour Blues" screens at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Hollywood Theater, Dormont, preceded by a 7:30 p.m. set by local singer-songwriter Mark Dignam, with audience Q&A afterward. Admission is $5. Call 412-563-0368. Manny Theiner is a Pittsburgh-based freelance writer. First published on October 20, 2011 at 12:00 am More from Post-Gazette.com More from the Web (sponsored) Roethlisberger may be responsible for rookie QB trend Chicago has a Dirty, Filthy BOSS (Starz) Nathan Engels' journey into 'extreme couponing' began with $80,000 in debt Recipes: Healthy and Delicious for Cancer Diet or any Diet (Style Goes Strong) 'It Came From Yesterday' to have world premiere here 11-year-old's Body Found in Wooded Area (FoxNews.com) Honeyhoney dips into fresh yet traditional Buffalo Chicken Dip (Quick Dish) country sound What Those Funny Old Smoking Ads Tyler Ramsey is more than just Band of Really Show (Health.com) Horses guitarist [what's this] 2 of 2 10/20/11 9:52 AM Maverick Magazine (UK) December 2011 ‘Troubadour’ sings tales of life on road - BostonHerald.com http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?ar... ‘Troubadour’ sings tales of life on road By Jim Sullivan | Saturday, December 31, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Music News “All you need’s a simple song, three chords and the truth,” sings Mark Erelli as the closing credits roll during Tom Weber’s music documentary “Troubadour Blues.” “Like Hank and Woody, Townes and Jimmie Rodgers all used to do/Oh Lord I’m bound to ramble with those troubadour blues.” Weber’s film, which makes its area debut at Club Passim on Monday at 8 p.m., has nothing to do with life in the spotlight. It’s 180 degrees away from an “American Idol”-type stab at fame and fortune. Here, the stages are small. The music is mostly acoustic and intimate. The bond between performer and audience is strong. The musicians who play and speak about their lives include former Boston area residents Erelli, Mary Gauthier and Chris Smither, ex-Blasters’ guitarist Dave Alvin, Gurf Morlix and Amy Speace. Peter Case, a 57-year-old former punk rocker with the Nerves and Plimsouls who has long been treading the singer-songwriter path, serves as the film’s primary voice. “If you’re expressing yourself and walking that walk, you’re doing it,” said Case, on the phone from Los Angeles. “You don’t have to have a hit record. Nobody can fire you. You’re doing what you want to do.” It’s not 24/7 fun — far from it. The movie shows the tedium of the road, the long haul between gigs and the toll the trek takes over the years. Photo by Eric S Swist “Life on the road might get more arduous, but what are you going to do about it? The big thing is playing for people,” Case said. “I haven’t gotten jaded. I love to play. It’s such a huge kick, the problems don’t compare.” Weber, a Harvard grad and former professor at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, spent nearly 10 years making the film. A fan of folkies who played Passim in the 1970s, Weber undertook this project while teaching full time. “I see something that’s almost in danger of dying out,” Weber, 60, said on the phone from Pittsburgh. “I think people are getting a very confused sense about what music is all about and what being a musician is all about. These particular artists, what they speak for is a tradition of minstreling that goes back a very long time. I wanted to convey the sense that this is something you earn over a period of time. “In our culture, we seem to judge art by how much money it makes,” he continued. “The yardstick we use to judge movies is box office and TV, it’s ratings. In music, you’ve got the Billboard charts. I’d like to judge the music by the level of craft that it shows. Some of these songwriters work very hard in crafting their songs to express, where there is no word out of place.” The future for those in this life? “There is no future,” said Case, who plays about 100 concerts a year. “It’s all in the present. You keep the wheel turning. If I break a leg, I’ll go out in a wheelchair. You always want to make the show something people want to see and will remember.” “Troubadour Blues,” at Club Passim with opener Brendan Hogan, Monday. Tickets: $10; 617-492-7679, clubpassim.org. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1392198 Related Articles: Jewmongous talent on display at Club Passim /entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1391546 Contact us | Print advertising | Online advertising | Herald history | Send a news tip | Electronic edition | Browser upgrade | Home delivery | Mobile Edition $ave on Boston Herald Home Delivery Jobs with Herald Media For back copy and collectible issue information please call 617-426-3000 Ext. 7714. Click here for Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox, and Bruins back copies 1 of 2 1/7/12 5:59 PM Ballad of local singer-songwriters: ‘Troubadour Blues’ - Arts - ... http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/01/01/the-ballad-local-singer-... The FULL story all day: subscribe today for 99 cents Arts Ballad of local singer-songwriters: ‘Troubadour Blues’ Filmmaker pays tribute to acoustic artists By James Sullivan | G LOB E C ORRESP ONDENT JANUARY 01, 2012 Tom Weber is a Harvard man, class of ’72. During his years in Cambridge he spent countless hours at Club Passim, the Unicorn Coffee House, and other venues that hosted singer-songwriters. He saw Jackson Browne, John Prine, Tom Waits, and many other performers who went on to stardom. “I got to see all my heroes up close and personal,’’ says Weber, who now lives in Pennsylvania. Four decades later, Weber is still attending acoustic-music shows. For the past 10 years, he’s done so with a digital video camera in hand. Monday night at Passim, Weber will screen “Troubadour MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF Blues,’’ his feature-length movie about the rhythms of Mark Erelli (pictured last month at Club life for the current generation of musicians toiling on Passim) appears in Tom Weber’s the songwriters’ circuit. Though this is Weber’s first “Troubadour Blues.’’ film, it’s not his first music-related project: he coauthored a 1998 book about Jamaican music culture, “Reggae Island.’’ The title of the film echoes that of a song by Mark Erelli, one of several Boston-affiliated 1 of 3 1/1/12 10:46 AM Ballad of local singer-songwriters: ‘Troubadour Blues’ - Arts - ... http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/01/01/the-ballad-local-singer-... musicians who appear. Chris Smither lives in Western Massachusetts; Mary Gauthier ran the Back Bay restaurant Dixie Kitchen when she lived here. The film centers around Peter Case, a sometime rock ’n’ roller who has spent much of his career playing solo, in small clubs and coffee shops and at house parties, inspired by old bluesmen and Beat poets. No one in the film is a real star; they’re all blue-collar, hard-traveling workers whose trade is their songs. “You create this thing, you live it all the time, and you take it to people,’’ says Case in the film. Erelli appreciates the fact that Weber concentrated on contemporary artists, without trotting out a historical lesson on roots music and the folk revival of the 1960s. “This is going to sound horrible, but I’m kind of tired of hearing about the ’60s,’’ says Erelli, an indefatigable writer who has released nine albums under his own name since his 1999 debut. “I feel there’s as much, if not more, great music going on today. That said, a lot of us owe a great debt to the ’60s, just as the ’60s owed a great debt to what came before that.’’ Like Weber, Erelli isn’t too fond of the term “folk music,’’ which often implies the performer has a political agenda. “Hackles are raised by topical songwriting,’’ he says. “I try not to feel like I’m up there on a soapbox, spewing my opinions.’’ The artists filmed in “Troubadour Blues’’ surely have political views, but the majority of their songs are like short stories or phone calls, full of emotion and observation. “It’s already written on your soul, what your subject matter is,’’ says Case in the film. There’s romance in the troubadour lifestyle, notes another songwriter, Eve Goodman, on camera. The troubadour, she says, is a “modern-day cowboy.’’ Erelli, who grew up in Reading, says he discovered classic country music through Southern rock bands such as the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. At a recent show at Passim billed as “Under the Covers,’’ he joined Lori McKenna, Jake Armerding, and Zack Hickman playing twangy acoustic versions of songs by Tom Petty and Creedence Clearwater Revival, among others. “I felt like I was Indiana Jones, unearthing these artifacts no one else knew about,’’ Erelli recalls of his first exposure to roots music. When he started borrowing his parents’ car to 2 of 3 1/1/12 10:46 AM Ballad of local singer-songwriters: ‘Troubadour Blues’ - Arts - ... http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/01/01/the-ballad-local-singer-... attend church coffeehouse shows, his parents were nervous. He told them, “Everyone there is your age! I’m the youngest by 20 years, at least.’’ At Bates College in Maine, he began booking shows, starting with Chris Smither (through whom he met Weber). Delving into the music of Texas songwriters such as Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker, he was thrilled to find a photo of another Texan, Robert Earl Keen, wearing a T-shirt of the late New England songwriter Bill Morrissey. “That was a real crystallizing moment for me,’’ says Erelli, who has a master’s degree from UMass in evolutionary biology. “I realized, oh, this is all the same stuff. And New England was a valid territory for roots music as well.’’ Weber says he logged more than 100,000 miles over 10 years, most of it around the Northeast, in gathering footage for the film. He estimates he spent $20,000, mostly on gas, meals, and motel rooms. He raised $12,000 in donations, which he used to pay for rights to the music in the film. About $4 of each sale of the DVD goes directly to the artists, he says. Like the troubadours he documents, he’s taking the film out on the road. “I’m not Morgan Spurlock or Davis Guggenheim, a bankable documentarian,’’ says Weber, who was laid off from his job teaching filmmaking at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh the same day the first copies of the DVD arrived at his door. “But I think I have a good film here, and I’m doing what I can to get it in front of people. It isn’t a film that’s going to go out of date quickly.’’ “I’m glad he chose to take a page from the troubadour playbook,’’ says Erelli with a laugh. “The poor bastard.’’ James Sullivan can be reached at [email protected]. © 2012 THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 3 of 3 1/1/12 10:46 AM shape, Soll gleans insight fiom historians, members of Jim Henson's family, and various filmmakets who've utilized puppetry. By scaling down from a sweeping survey of the art form to one troupe's experience, Puppet may sacrifice some edutainment value (ventriloquist dummies go unmen- of Washington professor Thaisa Way, who notes that although histories of the profession often focus on male practitioners, fe- tioned, as do Team America: Woild Police, and Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's popular against it, using various low-maintenance shrubs, trees, and flowers to create designs that are often quite stunning. Stoney sees these professionals as combining art with marionette fantasies, such as Thunderbirds). But the film carries a deeper emotional resonance and appreciation for Hurlin's daring vision-and a glimpse of what equally imaginative artists could do with puppetry. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady) Troubodour Blues *** (2011) 91 min. DVD: $24.95. Tom Weber Films. . Tom Weber roams the country to speak with roots-oriented musicians who travel from town to town, much like the troubadours of old. Since most only use a guitar as accompaniment, they can cover a fair amount of territory for a modest amount of money. If some, Iike Dave Alvin, don't necessarily enjoy the rigors of touring, they still feel it's worth the effort in order to perform in front of live audiences. As RB Morris puts it, "l feel like a circuit preacher." Although the tools of the trade-guitar and harmonica-have virtually remained unchanged from the heyday of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, the ability to use the Internet for promotional purposes represents a significant difference. With overhead costs going down over the years, Chris Smither feels that he's "doing better than I ever did in my life." Artists who have been burned by the record business, such as Gurf Morlix, also appreciate doing things for themselves, even if that means more work on their part. Morlix plainly states, "I detest the music industry." Weber spends most of his time with Peter Case, who played in the Nerves and the Plim- in the 1980s. The Plimsouls had an alternative radio hit with 'A Million Miles Away" and appeared in Valley GirI, but Case souls has been a solo act for decades now (and says he originally started out as a street singer). During filming, Case undergoes heart surgery, but soon returns to the stage. In between the performance clips, Weber works in thoughts about songwriting and the risks of the road. An interesting documentary, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy) Women in the Dirt: londscope Architects Shoping ()urWorld ff* (2011) 73 min. DVD: $29.99 [$295 w/PPR], Blu-ray: $34. Wind Media Productions (avail. fromwww. womeninthedirt.com). ISBN : 97 8-0-983817 7-1-0. Landscape architect Carolann Stoney profiles seven women working in her chosen fteld in this informative documentary that *____!__ males have long been active. All of Stoney's subjects reside in California, and for the most part they prefer to work with the state's Mediterranean climate rather than function in their parks, gardens, and street-scapes. From the subjects' perspective, they are melding their ideas with the needs of their clients and communities, so some degree of constructive compromise is inevitable. The interviewees come across as artists, horticulturists, structural engineers, and environmentalists, each of whom adhere to different styles and philosophies. While Isabelle Greene concentrates on flora and organic shapes, Pamela Palmer focuses on water and angularity. Although most of their commissions are for highend individuals and organizations, Andrea Cochran has created calming gardens for low-income properties, like San Francisco's Curran House, while Mia Lehrer has been working for years to transform the 32-mile Los Angeles River Basin, possibly the most ambitious project featured here. Stoney's other subjects are Katherine Spitz, Lauren Mel6ndrez, and Cheryl Barton, and she adds context-providing commentary from writers, editors, sculptors, urban designers, city commissioners, and other landscape architects. Recommended. Aud: C, (K. Fennessy) P. 500 Miles to Freedom ***rn (2011) 33 min. DVD: $129: public libraries; $229: colleges & universities. W & B Productions (dbt. by TlansitMedia). PPR. On June 4, 1844, 27 -year-oldJohn W. Jones and four other slave men quietly escaped from a plantation in Leesburg, VA, heading north along the Underground Railroad. The quintet traveled mostly by night in order to avoid the bounty hunters who scoured the Virginia-Maryland-Pennsylvania corridor in search of runaway slaves. Jones began his new life as a fiee man in Elmira, Nl where he worked as a church sexton, learned to read and write, and eventually saved enough money to buy a house that served as a refuge for those seeking liberty in Canada. This wonderful documentary short by Richard Breyer and Anand Kamalakar traies Jones's remarkable odyssey, highlighting the courageous abolitionists who provided him andhis traveling companions with food and shelter (actions thatwere against the lawin pre-Civil War America). The filmmakers follow the interviewing assorted subjects along the way-historians, ministers, farmers, ferryboat captains, and others. The film also identifies the still-extant houses where the men took refuge during their perilous flight. Most astonishing is a segment that recalls a escapees' route, long-forgotten chapter of Civil War history: the Confederate prisoner-of-war camp at Elmira.Jones worked here duringthe conflict as part of the facility's burial staff-the fact that he would voluntarily provide dignified -'l Ihe Block Power Mixtop e 1967 -1975 ***rn (2011) 96 min. DVD: $24.98. MPI Media Group (avail. from most distributors). ISBN : 0 -7 886 -1443 - 6. 'A documentary in nine chapters" is how The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 bills itself, covering eight critical years of the civil rights struggle (plus a prelude) in the United States as it evolved from the nonviolent approach of Dr. Martin Luther KingJr. to the more militant/revolutionary stance signaled by the rise of Stokely Carmichael and the Black Panther Party, as well as Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. The real twist here, however, is that the material hails from Swedish TV, not U.S. media. The "neutral" Swedish reporters appear to have no agenda or preconceptions, and many interviewees-including Carmichael, Angela Davis, and Bobby Seale-look more at ease with foreign reporters than they did with whiteestablishment American counterparts. Some material is indeed revelatory, such as a soft-spoken Carmichael making frightening good sense about the shortfalls of nonviolent protes! here, he's far from the radical image often ascribed to the Panthers. Modein-day commentators add their reactions to archival footage, mostly progressive-to-left activists/entertainers (Harry Belafonte, Erykah Badu, and others), rather than a broader cast of black academics, politicians, and opinion leaders. While it states up front that this is not a complete chronicle of the Black Power movement (rather, a "mixtape"), this is still an important addition to our understanding of the intersection of race relations, U.S. politics, and history during a turbulent era. DVD extras include a documentary short, a featurette, and additional interviews. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady) opens with commentary fiom University Il0t0 tl[flAntAi] l|l]AflIll/AIRIL2OI2 Blues Revue h t t p : / / s u n 2 0 9 . c o m/ f i l mr e v i e wt r o u b a d o u r b l u e s / f r o mAme r i c a nMu s i c , an e ws l e t t e ra b o u t Da v ea n dPh i l Al v i na n dt h eBl a s t e r s , J u l y2 0 1 2
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