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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Era of Blues, January 1, 2005
This review is from: Last of the Mississippi Jukes (DVD)
This documentary is a must have, especially for music lovers of the blues and the roots of original American music. The film depicts old and new juke joints and honky tonks throughout the Mississippi Delta region. The main focus of the documentary is on the Subway Lounge in Jackson, MS. Located in the basement of the delapidated Summers Hotel. Sadly to say, The Subway Lounge is now closed due to the condition of the building and is scheduled to be demolished. This is truly a remorseful period because the Subway had been instrumental in preserving blues, jazz, funk, R&B, and blends of indigenious soul music of the South. Notable appearances on the film include actor/true gentleman Morgan Freeman, the secret treasure Patrice Moncelle, the character Fingers Taylor, the legendary Bobby Rush and the obscure but immensely talented J.T. Watkins and Levon Lindsey. Even though one era has passed in respect to the music scene, the rediscovery of the blues in America due to performers such as Stevie Ray Vaughn and Robert Cray has allowed newer establishments to continue the rich tradition of the blues. That being said, I must mention that I am partial to the film due to the fact that I grew up the area and frequented the Subway Lounge for years. And I urge anyone who is fan of Blues to make the journey to Mississippi and experience the music still brewing from old and new juke joints alike.
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great documentary but somewhere frustrating..., August 22, 2003
This review is from: Last of the Mississippi Jukes (DVD)
In the heart of everyone who loves the Blues, this movie releases a plenty of crazy feelings. This is a magic alchemy of joy and sadness. It's impossible not to be touched by the emotion and the warm ambience of these delightful " jukes ". I would like to believe these great moments will not be the last ones. All is perfect in the Jackson's Subway Lounge, this hot and attractive but endangered club where the essential of the action was filmed : the poignant voices, the smooth guitars, the crying harps. I passionately enjoyed this portrait of a poorly known but so exciting America. Nevertheless I was seriously disappointed by the cuts which often interrupt the musical performances. This is boring, especially for a French guy who hardly understands the conversations without subtitles. I wonder why the director made this mistake he avoided in his previous great documentary, Deep Blues. This is obviously a very bad idea. For my happiness, the movie could have been longer, with the whole songs. Because of this bitter frustration, I'm sorry to keep the fifth star for another time...
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Preserving The Roots Anyway We Can, August 24, 2009
This review is from: Last of the Mississippi Jukes (DVD)
Apparently, from the subject matter of the reviews that I have penned lately I have fallen into something of a roots music preservationist kick. Recent reviews have included a saga about the trials and tribulations of Austin, Texas blues club owner, the late Clifford Antone of "Antone's" fame, in his attempt to save and expand the rich blues tradition that area of the country. I have also highlighted the attempts of Joe Bussard down in Maryland in his seemingly eternal quest to find every relevant old roots 78 rpm record ever produced. In the current review we are faced with the attempts, apparently unsuccessful, to save from the wrecker's ball an old Jackson, Mississippi `juke joint", the Subway Lounge (and attached separately historically important hotel, Summers Hotel) a location that is significant for the blues and for the civil rights struggle in the 1960s, as well. I had initially intended to review this DVD mainly on the basic of the roots aspect of the documentary. Something along the lines, as I have done in the past, of paying tribute to those like Bobby Rush and King Edwards who continue the roots traditions down at the base without much hope of great recognition or riches. However, after viewing the footage of the up close and very personal indignities suffered by the older performing artists here back in Jim Crow days, day after day, as they were trying to keep the blues alive as an expression of the black cultural gradient that forms the American experience I feel more strongly the need to put on my political hat on this one. Although there are plenty of references to blues, old and new and several performance from the new crop of blues devotees I was struck, and powerfully so, about the insights that this documentary put forth about the nature of Jim Crow society that existed in the not distant past down in Mississippi (and not just Mississippi and not just in the deeply segregated South). This policy struck the famous and those not so famous among the black population, homegrown or tourist. There are many anecdotal stories here about a number of events that revolved around the hotel, the "juke joint", and just the every day of black experience and what Jim Crow was down at the base for black people. Yes, get this one for its slice of black history. But also get it to remember as I have said it before but Nina Simone's old lyrics brings out so strongly. Once again, "Mississippi god dam".
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