DVDS

I Am the Blues

116+ min. Daniel Cross, dist. by Film Movement, www.filmmovement.com. 2017. DVD UPC 859686006345. $24.95. Closed-captioned; SDH subtitles. MUSIC
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I Am the Blues features well over a dozen musicians practicing their craft. These are not the BB Kings, Buddy Guys, or Muddy Waterses. Bobby Rush, probably the best-known here, gets the most attention. He began playing 60 years ago for $2 a night (or sometimes for hamburgers) and claims to have recorded 326 records. Also catching some limelight are Little Freddie King, Lazy Lester, Barbara Lynn, Lil' Buck Sinegal, and Henry Gray, among others, mostly men, and all getting old. Unless viewers are from the Delta or Louisiana, their names may not be familiar, yet we hear these artists discussing life and music and performing in juke joints, cars, clubs, and motel rooms; on front porches; and at crawfish boils, picnics, and a funeral.
VERDICT A sharp eye for composition, good music, and colorful characters makes this a likely acquisition for most collections.
Reviewed by John Hiett, formerly with Iowa City P.L. , Oct 15, 2017
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