Shot in 1990 by music film director Robert Mugge and music scholar Robert Palmer, Deep Blues is a deep dive into Mississippi blues culture and roots. With an almost one-sided focus on the music, it is less a documentary and more a personal Blues festival featuring blues legends like R.L. Burnside, Big Jack Johnson, Junior Kimbrough, and Jessie Mae Hemphill. The audio capture is phenomenal and there is a lot of interesting imagery on display from onlookers dancing and drinking to the band members' signals and sometimes bizarre styles of playing guitar.
Though both Robert Palmer and bankroller David Stewart make appearances and discuss blues music and history, these conversations are kept short and poignant. The focus is on the music and the musicians. There is a lack of interview content within the film which makes the experience less informative than a typical documentary, but music lovers and blues scholars won’t mind: the music often speaks for itself.
The style of the narrated documentary segments is a bit stale and dated, but given the lack of spoken content throughout the film, this isn’t much of an issue. That’s the only issue worth listing; there weren’t many things to complain about in this film. Most of the names showcased on the back of the case are well known by blues lovers.
An outstanding performance by the late R.L. Burnside is one of the first presented in Deep Blues and the performances only get more impressive. More modern, electrified delta blues presented by Booba Barnes and others round out the documentary with long segments of several songs from each concert.
The outstanding audio capture really sings on Blu-Ray and is recommended for any audiophile’s collection. While there are better places to get information about the blues, musicians, and the cultural roots of the musical tradition, there aren’t many better places to hear perfect examples. This auditory adventure through Northern and Southern Mississippi blues cultures is highly recommended for public library shelves specializing in music and the genre of blues.
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