Last of the Mississippi Dukes

America, the home of the brave, created the blues. Today, this is a musical style that everyone knows, but this wasn’t always the case. Now, after enjoying being around for ages, the blues traditions are dying out. The blues were once played in Juke Joints, which were a kind of hangout in which you could actually see the stage, you could get near the performers (without being lobbed back into the crowd by security) and you could have a great time just enjoying music. Well, that fashion started disappearing with the birth of that global destroyer, the ‘Music Industry’.

Enter Morgan Freeman. Yes, that Morgan Freeman. Determined to preserve this natural resource, Mr Freeman has started and operates the Ground Zero Blues Club, attempting to recreate the original feel of the dying Jukes. With an important American musical heritage seemingly expiring right before the eyes of most Americans, this film documents Mr Freeman’s (and others’) efforts to save it. We then move on to the Subway Lounge of the historical Summers Hotel in Jackson. This turns out to be the first hotel ever owned by black folks and is literally crumbling away into dust and threatening the 30 year old lounge.

It’s both a great story and a sad one, with the traditions of the past falling into neglect and slowly starving to death and the rescuers showing up to bring it back. What struck me as incredible was how this amazing musical expression with its purity and passion and its joy and despair could be so frivolously ignored by the masses. Containing incredible voices and soulful lyric tales, musical brilliance and some fascinating historical information and pictures, this is a massive collection of facts and music packaged perfectly as a documentary. Featuring an incredible line-up of folks I’ve never heard of, but thoroughly enjoyed listening to, this 86 minute film contains over 20 songs recorded live in one or the other of the clubs. It’s a marvellous collection too; full of humour, sadness and joy and reflecting ably on the peculiarities of life itself.

The information presented within is a practical dissection of the blues, tracing its bloodlines to way back when with plenty of restored photographs and documents, though sadly no old recordings, as very few of these were ever made or have survived.

I won’t list the numerous tracks or performers here as they are almost too much for even the back cover of the DVD. But I will document my highlights as Garbage Man by Bobby Rush and John Law Burned Down the Liquor Sto’ by Chris Thomas King. This stuff is dynamite for blues lovers, or in fact anyone who appreciates genuine music from a time when people did it for the love of it, or to express themselves without a dollar sign hanging over everything.

Shot magnificently and presented in a theatrical aspect of 1.85:1, the picture is deliciously clear and clean. There is no 16:9 enhancement though, and there are no discernable artefacts in the new footage. Of course in the grainy black and white gear from a thousand years ago there is a lot of damage and multiple artefacts, but that’s cool - it suits the film. As to the new stuff, the lighting is spectacular and brings everything to life magnificently. Flesh tones of all folks are perfect and there is a wide array of flesh tones in this, as you can imagine. Shadows are deep and black, but not so deep as to lose detail and so fill out the images very well. This whole thing looks nothing short of perfect actually, making the film have just that extra bit of appeal.

With a film so mired in music, there could be little more to do than release it with DTS sound for a start, but also included is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and DD stereo. This gives everyone a weapon of choice that will no doubt impress. With such a massive musical collection the sound had to be treated right and there is no noise, no static, no nuthin’ behind the fabulous soundtrack. With a wealth of interviews (the Booklet lists 20, but I didn’t count them) all the dialogue is nice and clear too. Happily, there isn’t a voiceover, with director Robert Mugge getting in and interviewing people directly, letting us put things together ourselves, instead of giving his opinions. Another great point is the Skip-to-a-Song Chapters that allow you to enjoy a single track whenever you like. All round, the audio on this DVD is pure excellence.

Just a few to note here, which should include the four page Booklet I mentioned above. The next is the Photo Gallery of 20 shots, taken throughout the club, though most are of performers doin’ their thang. The last is around 20 minutes of extra interviews, info that didn’t quite make the cut and various odd samples of footage not up to scratch. There are also a couple of extra song performances in this part and some extra bits with Morgan Freeman as well. His commitment to this endeavour is quite touching and very admirable, particularly with the delta blues playing such a major role in the shaping of music as we know it today. A small, but interesting, group of extras that fills out the disc nicely.

This documentary is an entirely poignant and honest film about the preservation of a heritage that is dying, and one in which Mugge has captured the urgency of its appeal for life. Without pretension, the story of the blues and the passion that folks feel for it is told as a celebration of the music and the history without being overly sentimental or maudlin. Instead there is generated a feeling of hope, which is after all, what the blues have always been about. It’s an altogether fascinating confirmation that great music is and always will be appreciated by those who have an interest in more than the top ten or the flavour of the month. Blues fans and music fans alike will eat this up with relish, continuing to enjoy its unique flavour (of the decades) for a long time to come.