Soul Power

Back in 1974, just before the “Rumble in the Jungle,” when Muhammad Ali and George Foreman faced off in an epic boxing event, the most celebrated African-American R&B stars gathered in South Africa for a 12-hour, three-night music festival in Kinshasa, Zaire—a “roots” concept dreamed up by Hugh Masekela and Stewart Levine and promoted by Don King. Much of this was chronicled in Leon Gast's 1996 Oscar-winning When We Were Kings, but Soul Power draws on extensive outtakes not used in the earlier documentary to illustrate how the concert came together—from the underwriters' concerns and preparation of the stadium to assembling the multi-artist lineup. These fragments have been painstakingly put together by editor-producer-director Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, who focuses on the undeniable power of the music. Featured are stunning performances by James Brown and Miriam Makeba, plus B.B. King with his guitar Lucille, Bill Withers, Celia Cruz, and Fania-All Stars bandleader Johnny Pacheco. Soul Power offers an eyeful and earful—some of it seen before—but it's a shame that Levy-Hinte failed to put this concert in its proper historical context, making no mention of the behind-the-scenes political intrigue that plagued Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) during the tyrannical rule of publicity-seeking president Mobutu Sese Seko, under whose auspices both the fight and the concert were organized. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and musical festival producer Stewart Levine, deleted scenes (42 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is the BD-Live “movieIQ” trivia function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven documentary that nevertheless features powerhouse musical performances.] (S. Granger)