PICK
UP THE MIC
DIRECTOR: ALEX HINTON
US 2005
JAN 6 FRI 7 PM
Guild Theatre
 Queer
Hip-Hop: it’s a lot more than a stylish oxymoron as
Alex Hinton reveals in his surprising film on the world of
queer rappers. Featuring searing public performances and raw,
revealing interviews with the community’s most significant
players, Hinton captures an unapologetic underground music
movement just as it explodes into the mainstream - defying
the music industry’s most homophobic genre in the process.
Featuring more than a dozen contemporary hip-hop artists that
represent a striking range of sexual and ethnic diversity,
the film traces their intertwining relationships from San
Francisco’s underground music scene of the early ‘90s
through today. “Call it homohop, if you’d like.
. . a community of b-boys and b-girls bent on using the blunt
eloquence of pop music’s most pervasive language to
express themselves —keeping it real and making it their
own.”—TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL. Featuring: Juba Kalamka,
Dutchboy, Tori Fixx, Johnny Dangerous, Deadlee, God-Des, JenRo,
Katastrophe, Paradigm, QBoy, Tim’m T. West. (94 mins.)
DIRECTOR ALEX HINTON WILL
INTRODUCE HIS FILM.
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SAM COOKE: LEGEND
DIRECTOR: PETER GURALNICK
US 2003
JAN 7 SAT 7 PM Guild
Theatre
 The
release of Peter Guralnick’s (“Last Train to Memphis,”
“Careless Love”) new biography “Dream Boogie
– The Triumph of Sam Cooke,” provides the opportune
moment to enjoy his earlier film on the man who invented soul.
Cooke went from being the top gospel singer of his day with
the Soul Stirrers to pop stardom with “You Send Me,”
his very first record under his own name. In addition to classic
performance clips, Guralnick surveys Cooke’s innovative
business acumen, friendships and influence with personalities
as diverse as Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X and the Beatles, and
through illuminating interviews with fellow artists Aretha
Franklin, Lloyd Price, Bobby Womack, Lou Rawls and family
members, captures the talent and drive in a man whose influence
continues long after his untimely death in 1964. (70 mins).
FOLLOWED BY
PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC: ONE NATION UNDER
A GROOVE
DIRECTOR: YVONNE SMITH
US 2005
 Known
to its legions of fans simply as P-Funk, Parliament Funkadelic
has had a profound impact on the development of contemporary
music, aesthetics and culture. Smith traces the evolution
of the P-Funk band from their beginnings as a doo-wop barbershop
quartet in Newark, to their incarnation as funky extraterrestrials
and profound influence on hip-hop music. Along with great
performance footage, interviews with the architects-George
Clinton, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell-are woven with
the comments of other artists-Shock G, Ice Cube, De La Soul,
Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rick James-who testify to the unique
alchemy of the P-Funk sound. “Funk is fun and it’s
a state of mind. But it’s also all the ramifications
of that state of mind. Once you do the best you can, funk
it.”-George Clinton. (60 mins.)
MAJOR FUNDING FOR THIS PROGRAM WAS PROVIDED BY
THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING. IT IS A CO-PRODUCTION
WITH THE INDEPENDENT TELEVISION SERIES IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE NATIONAL BLACK PROGRAMMING CONSORTIUM (NBPC). ADMISSION
BY CONTRIBUTION
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SHAKESPEARE WAS A BIG GEORGE JONES FAN:
COWBOY JACK CLEMENT’S HOME MOVIES
DIRECTORS: ROBERT GORDON, MORGAN NEVILLE
US 2005
JAN 8 SUNDAY 7 PM Guild
Theatre
Weaving an amalgamation of old home movie footage of country
music legends, concert footage, hilarious historical retellings
of the rise of Country & Western and the Memphis music
scene, and an animated Shakespeare that sounds suspiciously
like Johnny Cash, Neville and Gordon’s affectionate
portrait explores the life of maverick entrepreneur ‘Cowboy’
Jack Clement, the madcap jester of the country music industry.
Clement began working at Sun Records in the 50s, producing
20 gold records for Charley Pride, and going on to produce
and write songs for Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and George Jones
among others. Over the years he documented it all on home
movies, providing a treasure trove of private moments with
public legends, which Gordon and Neville have shaped into
a portrait of one of the liveliest characters you can imagine.
(58 mins.)
WITH
THE HIGHWAYMEN
DIRECTOR: MORGAN NEVILLE
US 2005
 They
were known as the Highwaymen-—Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings,
Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson—each legendary
in his own right, but together forming a singular super group.
Featuring rare footage from the Highwaymen’s final recording
sessions in 1994, THE HIGHWAY MEN gives a rare glimpse into
the personalities of each, peeling away their “outlaw”
personas to reveal four men struggling with their own demons,
creativity and mortality. (60 mins.)
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SCOPITONE CLASSICS
VARIOUS DIRECTORS
FRANCE/US 1950S-1960
JAN 11 WED 7 PM Guild
Theatre
We welcome film collector and curator Dennis Nyback for an
evening of archeological discovery in which camp and kitsch
collide. “One of the most fascinating phenomena of the
1960s, the Scopitone was a tall video jukebox with a TV screen
on top and a selection of three-minute musical numbers available
for the price of a quarter. The concept wasn’t new —
there were plenty of “soundies” in the 1940s that
used a similar technology — but the content certainly
was. Scopitones were invented in France in the late 1950s,
but soon became raunchy fixtures in America’s strip
joints, tiki bars, and gambling parlors. What could you get
for your two bits? How about lounge lizardette Jane Morgan,
she of the glamorous overbite, singing “C’est
si bon” in a cheesy faux-Paris? Or Stacy Adams and Her
Pussycats (who look like local whores) demonstrating the jerk,
the monkey, and the twist at a tacky Vegas motel? Or third-generation
blonde bombshell Joi Lansing (after Marilyn Monroe and Jayne
Mansfield) crooning to a queen in a cobra costume while she’s
“cooking” in a jungle cauldron? And let’s
not leave out Debbie Reynolds. Along with each song the viewer
was treated to a now-hilariously choreographed parade of period
pop couture, from Mondrian dresses to string bikinis to vinyl
go-go boots.”(90 mins.)
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MALFUNKSHUN-THE ANDREW WOOD STORY
DIRECTOR: SCOT BARBOUR
US 2005
JAN 12 THUR 7 PM Whitsell
Auditorium
 In
1990, Seattle rock band Mother Love Bone gained national attention
when lead singer Andrew Wood died at the age of 24. With infectious
optimism, flamboyant stage presence and haunting lyrics, Wood
had been a creative force in the Seattle music scene throughout
the ‘80s. He fronted his group Malfunkshun in the alter-ego
character of “Landrew The Love Child.” He later
joined former Green River members (and future Pearl Jam founders)
Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament to form Mother Love Bone. Inspired
by the tribute album TEMPLE OF THE DOG, director Scot Barbour
was compelled to find out all he could about the man. His
resulting film explores Wood’s passions, relationships,
struggles, music and the great impact he had on others as
it sheds light on the ‘80s Seattle music scene. (105
mins.)
PRE-SCREENING:
GARY EWINGS “LIGHT AS ART.”
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DERAILROADED
DIRECTOR: JOSH RUBIN
US 2005
JAN 13 FRI 7 PM Whitsell
Auditorium
 Institutionalized
at sixteen after attacking his mother with a knife, Larry
“Wild Man” Fischer wandered the mean streets of
L.A. singing his totally unique songs to passersby for a dime.
Discovered by Frank Zappa, with whom he cut his first record
album, Fischer became an underground club and concert favorite,
earning the title of “Godfather of Outsider Music.”
Over the course of forty years, he appeared on national television
(“Laugh-In”), on the top-50 music charts in England,
was the subject of his own comic book and was the first artist
to be recorded on Rhino Records. (86 mins.)
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HIGH AND DRY: WHERE THE DESERT MEETS
ROCK ‘N ROLL
DIRECTOR: MICHAEL TOUBASSI
US 2005
JAN 13 FRI 7 PM Guild
Theatre
Like Portland, Seattle, Athens, Austin and other regional
music oasis, Tucson has had a fertile alternative rock music
scene in the past two decades. After four years of gathering
performance tapes, interviews and formulating perspective
on its scene, Michael Toubassi reveals an eclectic community
of musicians whose struggle for survival at home and on the
road rings familiar. HIGH AND DRY pays tribute to an influential
and eclectic community of musicians that has emerged from
a small town with a big scene, including such stalwarts as
Calexico, Bob Log III, Giant Sand, Machines of Loving Grace,
Al Perry, Rainer, Sand Rubies, and Supersuckers. (90 mins.)
DIRECTOR MICHAEL TOUBASSI
WILL INTRODUCE THE FILM.
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PUNK: ATTITUDE
DIRECTOR: DON LETTS
BRITAIN 2004
JAN 14 SAT 7 PM Guild
Theatre
 What
is punk? Don Letts—filmmaker, London punk scene veteran,
infamous DJ at The Roxy and member of Big Audio Dynamite—has
created a film that captures the essence of punk rock. Letts
includes interviews with more or less everyone who’s
still alive who had an impact on the movement that shook the
world, including Lou Reed, Tommy Ramone, Mick Jones, Paul
Simonon, Siouxsie, Jello Biafra, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins,
Dick Manitoba, Glenn Branca, Arthur Kane, James Chance and
many others. Interspersed with priceless footage of the likes
of the MC5, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Buzzcocks, the
Stooges and Fugazi, this is an intriguing picture of the vision
and anger at the status quo, both musically and socially,
that was the punk movement.(90 mins.)
WITH
THE FALL: THE WONDERFUL, FRIGHTENING
WORLD OF MARK E. SMITH
DIRECTOR: DIONNE NEWTON
BRITAIN 2005
 One
of the most enigmatic and idiosyncratic garage bands of the
last 30 years, The Fall is led by the belligerent and poetic
Mark E. Smith who, for the first time, has agreed to tell
the story of The Fall, he, along with many of the major players,
taking us through this unique English rock ‘n roll story.
(60 mins.)
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HOMEMADE HILBILLY JAM
DIRECTOR: RICK MINNICH
US 2005
JAN 15 SUN 7 PM Guild
Theatre
 Rick
Minnich’s vibrant film explores the roots of Hillbilly
music and culture, which was largely derived from the folk
songs imported by Scottish and Irish immigrants to the Ozark
Mountains of Missouri. Minnich introduces us to the family,
proud to consider themselves hillbillies, who make up the
band Big Smith. They combine traditional roots of Scots-Irish
jigs, church music and folk songs handed down over generations
with more modern elements of country and western and a sensibility
they describe as ‘neo-hillbilly’. Tradition-minded
too are the Pine Ridge Singers, whose patriarch “Dupe”
Brown was born and raised in a log cabin and is determined
to keep his land in the family. But times are changing in
the Ozarks. Even Big Smith’s former role models, the
legendary Mabes, now perform as the Baldknobbers—in
stereotypic “hillbilly” garb—for the tourists
in Branson. Filled with impromptu jam sessions, archival footage
and old photos, HILLBILLY JAM is an evocative postcard from
out yonder.(90 mins.)
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SPIDER JOHN KOERNER
DIRECTOR: DON MCGLYNN
US 2005
JAN 19 THURS 7 PM Guild
Theatre
 Don
McGlynn’s excellent documentaries on jazz and blues
greats (Charles Mingus, Howlin’ Wolf, Dexter Gordon
and Louie Prima) have been highlights of our annual Reel Music
series. His latest work is a portrait of Minneapolis folk-blues
legend Spider John Koerner. As fellow Minnesotan Bob Dylan
confirms, Koerner was not just a crony in the folk scene of
the 1950s-60s, but a major inspiration whose influence extended
to musicians as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, Beck, the Beatles,
the Doors and the Rolling Stones. After emerging as one of
the stars of the early ‘60s folk revival (with Dave
Ray and Tony Glover), Koerner dedicated himself to strictly
traditional folk music and in recent years has arrived at
a fascinating mix of blues, folk and cosmic enlightenment.
(100 mins.)
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DOO–WOP: THEY ALL SANG ON THE CORNER
JAN 20 FRI 7 PM
Guild Theatre
Call it Doo-Wop, “Vocal Group Harmony,” or “The
Forgotten Sound of Rock and Roll,” street corner harmony
was a dominant sound in the radio airwaves throughout the
1950’s. Although there has been a recent revival of
the music represented by numerous CDs, glamorous box sets
and even live in person shows bringing back survivors and
replacements of the original groups to sing their hits from
the past, there is very little surviving footage from that
era that shows the groups in their prime. Tonight Portland
collector Matt Blender will present a program featuring live
film and television performances from the 50s and 60s, including
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The 5 Satins, The Larks,
The Moonglows, The Clovers, The Del Vikings, The Skyliners,
The Coasters and many others. (100 mins.)
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SORCERESS OF THE NEW PIANO
DIRECTOR: EVANS CHAN
US/SINGAPORE/HONG KONG 2004
JAN 21 SAT 7 PM
Guild Theatre
 Hailed
by THE NEW YORKER as “the diva of avant-garde pianism,”
Singapore-born, New York-based artist Margaret Leng Tan is
one of the most important figures in contemporary music. The
first woman to graduate from Julliard, Tan’s life and
contributions–her famous toy and prepared pianos—take
center stage in Chan’s engrossing film, which invites
the viewer to literally get inside her instruments and discover
her sublime sonic universe. Tan’s musical lineage traces
back to such American pioneers as Henry Cowell, George Crumb
and longtime mentor John Cage, irrepressibly channeling their
aesthetic provocations into accessible interpretations while
continually investigating the East-West cultural intersection.
Equally fascinating for avant-garde music buffs and those
with no knowledge of the genre, Chan’s film enables
us to hear (and see) music where we least expect it. (92 mins.)
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AMAZING GRACE: JEFF BUCKLEY
DIRECTORS: NYLA ADAMS, LAURIE TROMBLEY
US 2004
JAN 21 SAT 9:15 PM Guild
Theatre
 Jeff
Buckley drowned in the Wolf River in Tennessee after releasing
only one record, “Amazing Grace,” an album, which
has earned near mythic status with Buckley fans throughout
the world. Buckley’ striking persona, unforgettable
voice, and unique synthesis of musical genres—from cabaret
to gospel, folk, soul and rock—touched many, earning
him a special place in the pantheon of cult heroes whose voices
were cut short too soon. Adams and Trombley interview band
members, friends, family and musical colleagues in pursuit
of the enigmatic man and his music, perhaps coming as close
as one can to capturing the spirit and mystery of a romantic
legend. (64 mins.)
WITH
IN THE EDGES: THE GRIZZLY SESSIONS
DIRECTOR: ERIK NELSON
US 2005
One of the things that adds to the power of Werner Herzog’s
riveting GRIZZY MAN is the lyrical score by guitarist Richard
Thompson and collaborators Henry Kaiser and Jim O’Rourke.
Nelson’s fascinating film chronicles the creation of
the soundtrack for the film, improvised in the studio at Fantasy
Records in Berkeley. Working from just clips of various scenes,
Herzog’s vision and the musician’s artist impulses
combine to evoke a mood for unfolding madness and the epic
grandeur of the Alaskan wild. “Werner knew exactly what
he wanted; he didn’t necessarily know how to get there.
That was our job: to figure out how to arrive at his vision.
. .If you rub the edges off music, you really take away the
music itself. The music is in the edges; it’s in the
rough bits.” —Richard Thompson. (60 mins.)
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 A
CANTOR’S TALE
DIRECTOR: ERIK GREENBERG ANJOU
US 2004
SUN JAN 22 4 PM
Guild Theatre
Great cantors used to be celebrities as adored as athletes
and movie stars. Greenberg Anjou’s exhilarating film
is a tribute to Chazzanut, the cantorial art, as Jacob (Jack)
Mendelson, a cantor with a personality as big as his voice,
offers a guided tour of his Brooklyn neighborhood, where,
when he was a boy, cantors reigned supreme and music was the
air he breathed. A loving tribute to a Golden Age in American
Jewish life when people would travel miles to hear dizzying
cantillations spilling from the windows of crowded synagogues.
“The clips of legendary cantors (both local and European,
many of whom died in the Holocaust). . . truly remain thrilling
enough to convey why this was truly ‘the popular Jewish
music’ for several 20th century decades.”-VARIETY.(90
mins.)
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BEETHOVEN’S HAIR
DIRECTOR: LARRY WEINSTEIN
CANADA/CZECH REPUBLIC 2004
JAN 22 SUN 7 PM Guild
Theatre
Based on Russell Martin’s best-selling book, BEETHOVEN’S
HAIR traces the amazing journey of a lock cut at his death
in 1827 to the unraveling the mystery of his tortured life
via futuristic science. The story begins with a pair of Beethoven
enthusiasts who purchased the hair at a Sotheby’s auction.
Tracing back through the previous generations of owners, the
saga of the lock’s survival from 19th century Vienna
to the horrors of Nazi Germany is set against the new world
of forensic testing. Accompanied by some of the composer’s
most glorious music, Weinstein provides both a story of unlikely
characters connected across time and place by an unlikely
relic and new light on the causes of Beethoven’s deafness,
poor health, volatile personality and perhaps even the nature
of his great art. (84 mins.)
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AWAKE ZION
DIRECTOR: MONICA HAIM
US
2004
JAN 25 WED 7 PM
Guild Theatre
 Reggae
enthusiast Monica Haim explores similarities between Judaism
and reggae culture: the Star of David and the ancient African
six-pointed star, Hasidic ear locks and dreadlocks, old Jewish
songs that fit into African grooves. Could they be connected?
Haim’s film celebrates music and its capacity to unite
people of all faiths, featuring reggae artists King Django,
Super Dane and Matisyahu. “The film is, in a way, a
testament to the ridiculousness of looking at differences
all the time and know how closely you are related to other
cultures when you would not expect it.”—Monica
Haim. (60 mins.)
WITH
WEST BANK STORY
DIRECTOR: ARI SANDEL
US 2004
 In
this witty musical takeoff on WEST SIDE STORY, an Israeli
soldier falls for a Palestinian girl. That their families
have dueling falafel stands doesn’t help matters. (21
mins.)
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ISN’T THIS A TIME
DIRECTOR: JIM BROWN
US 2004
JAN 26 THUR 7 PM Guild
Theatre
JAN 28 SAT 5:15 PM Whitsell
Auditorium
 In
November 2003, “Arlo Guthrie in concert with special
guests in a tribute to Harold Leventhal” was held at
Carnegie Hall. Over a 50-year career, Leventhal managed some
of the leading icons of the folk music scene, his pivotal
role evidenced by the artists who performed that day—Pete
Seeger, the Weavers, Theodore Bikel, Leon Bibb and Peter,
Paul and Mary. Like many Yiddish-speaking Jews who grew up
during the Depression, Leventhal believed in the promise of
American democracy and developed a passionate commitment to
the pursuit of social justice. Finding kindred spirits in
folk musicians, he built an audience hungry for a music that
reflected progressive social values in a culture suffused
by Cold War paranoia and repressive Blacklist tactics. (90
mins.)
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MUSIC IS MY LIFE, POLITICS IS MY MISTRESS
DIRECTOR: DONNIE BETTS
US 2005
JAN 27 FRI 7 PM
Whitsell
Auditorium
 Poet,
jazz singer, stage actor, composer, trade union activist,
radio host and senatorial candidate, Oscar Brown Jr. (1926-2005)
was a self-educated polymath whose voice, both musical and
political, reached the empowered and disempowered alike. Long
before the wave of outspoken poets, journalists and filmmakers
began discussions on the current state of affairs, Brown was
singing out to the world on topics that confront not only
Black Americans, but all people overlooked and downtrodden
by society. Betts’ energizing film takes us on a ride
through history and social consciousness with a lively mixture
of historical footage, live performances and thought-provoking
interviews with Brown, his family, and renowned friends and
fans including Al Jarreau Abbey Lincoln, Studs Terkel and
Amiri Baraka. (110 mins.)
DONNI BETTS WILL INTRODUCE
THE FILM.
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PRESS ON
DIRECTOR: GILLIAN GRISMAN
US 2005
JAN 28 SAT 7 PM
Guild Theatre
 The
steel guitar was popularized in the early 1900s by Hawaiian
musicians, and upon its arrival on the mainland, was adopted
by country musicians. Less known is that for more than 60
years it has been a part of church communities across the
United States. Today, “sacred steel” music is
now reaching mainstream audiences around the world via 25-year-old
pedal steel guitar virtuoso Robert Randolph. His group, Robert
Randolph and the Family Band have emerged from the House of
God Church to rock venue and Grammy winning stardom, trying
to find a new audience and stay true to their roots. Featuring
Sacred Steel virtuosos Ted Beard, Calvin Cooke, The Lee Boys,
and the Deerfield Jamboree, as well as musicians Eric Clapton,
Dave Matthews, Warren Haynes and The Blind Boys of Alabama.
(77 mins.)
FOLLOWED BY
IN THE EDGES: THE GRIZZLY SESSIONS
DIRECTOR: ERIK NELSON
US 2005
One of the things that adds to the power of Werner Herzog’s
riveting GRIZZY MAN is the lyrical score by guitarist Richard
Thompson and collaborators Henry Kaiser and Jim O’Rourke.
Nelson’s fascinating film chronicles the creation of
the soundtrack for the film, improvised in the studio at Fantasy
Records in Berkeley. Working from just clips of various scenes,
Herzog’s vision and the musician’s artist impulses
combine to evoke a mood for unfolding madness and the epic
grandeur of the Alaskan wild. “Werner knew exactly what
he wanted; he didn’t necessarily know how to get there.
That was our job: to figure out how to arrive at his vision.
. .If you rub the edges off music, you really take away the
music itself. The music is in the edges; it’s in the
rough bits.” —Richard Thompson. (60 mins.)
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PUT A NEEDLE ON THE RECORD
DIRECTOR: JASON REM
US 2004
JAN 28 SAT 9:30 PM Guild
Theatre
JAN 29 SUN 7 PM Guild
Theatre
 A
veritable head-spinning ride through dance music culture and
history, Jason Rem’s film was shot in March 2003, during
the Winter Music Conference in Miami’s South Beach.
Featuring DJs such as Christopher Lawrence, Roger Sanchez,
Jesse Saunders, Dirty Vegas, DJ Colette, Marques Wyatt, The
Crystal Method, Jason Bentley and Charles Feelgood, who tell
their tales—from Detroit, to New York to Ibiza—as
fans and revelers find their own grooves. (83 mins.)
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DJANGOMANIA!
DIRECTOR: JAIME KASTNER
CANADA 2005
FEB 2 THUR 7 PM Guild
Theatre
 More
than fifty years after his death, Gypsy jazz guitar legend
Django Reinhardt inspired legions of musicians. Kastner travels
on a sometimes-comic journey to the Django Reinhardt Festival
in France, to Hawaii, Oslo and even Tokyo (two dueling Django
tribute bands!), finding fans and players enthralled by his
music. With archival footage, live performances and bemused
observations of modern day Gypsies, this essay will make you
want to dig deeper into a remarkable life. (60 mins.)
WITH
DAVE HOLLAND
DIRECTOR: ULLI GRUBER
US 2004
One night in 1968, Miles Davis walked into a London club where
20-year old bassist Dave Holland was playing with Joe Henderson.
Davis immediately bought him a ticket to New York to join
his band, the start of career that has placed Holland at the
pinnacle of acoustic bass players, whether as a soloist, or
at the helm of his various quintets and big bands. Gruber
captures the ups and downs of a remarkable talent, whose most
recent accolades include winning Downbeat Magazine’s
2005 Critics Poll for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the
Year and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. (23 mins.)
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THE BEST OF MIRRORBALL
DIRECTOR: VARIOUS
FEB 3 FRI
7 PM Guild Theatre
FEB 4 SAT 7 PM Guild
Theatre
The
Edinburgh Film Festival’s “Mirrorball” programs
have showcased the latest in cutting edge music videos from
throughout the world. This year’s 10th anniversary featured
this special program of outstanding works from the past years,
expansive, exploratory, inventive and incendiary works from
the intersection of music and film. Included are videos by:
Wax/Spike Jonze; Weezer/Sophie Muller; Cibo Matto/Michel Gondry;
MC Solaar/Stephane Sedanoui; God Lives Underwater/Roman Coppola;
Air/Mike Mills; Blur/Hammer and Tongs; Unkle/Jon Glazer; Quannum/Shynola;
Baby Bird/Blue Source; Radiohead/Shynola; Dirty Vegas/Blue
Source; The White Stripes/Michel Gondry; Unkle/Shynola; Johnny
Cash/Mark Romanek; Audio Bullys/Walter Stern; Faultline/Vernie
Yeoung; Chikink/Sutherland; and Charlotte Hatherley/Edgar
Wright.(90 mins.)
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LOMAX THE SONGHUNTER
DIRECTOR: ROGIER KAPPERS
NETHERLANDS
2004
FEB 3 FRI 7 PM Whitsell
Auditorium
FEB 5 SUN 5 PM Guild
Theatre
 Alan
Lomax (1915-2002) devoted his entire life to recording music
in danger of disappearing. For six decades he traveled tirelessly,
documenting blues, bluegrass, jazz, Appalachian and Cajun
music for the Archive of Folksong at the Library of Congress.
Lomax made some of the earliest recordings of Muddy Waters,
Memphis Slim, Big Bill Broonzy and Sonny Boy Williamson and
introduced U.S. audiences to such pivotal figures such as
Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. After traversing America he set
his sights on the rest of the globe, hauling his primitive
recording equipment around remote Scottish islands and Spanish
mountain villages documenting dying music. Kappers’
loving portrait retraces the song hunter’s steps, meeting
up with some of the people recorded as far back as the 1930s.
“All cultures need their fair share of the airtime.
When country folk or tribal peoples hear or view their own
traditions in the media something magical occurs. They see
that their expressive style is as good as that of others.”-Alan
Lomax. (94 mins.)
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WHEN STUMPTOWN WAS JUMPTOWN
DIRECTOR: SAMUEL ALLEN
US 2005
FEB 4 SAT 2 PM Whitsell
Auditorium
 The
influx of African-American shipyard workers during World War
II created a hungry audience for jazz and blues in Portland.
That, in turn, led to a thriving club scene, regular appearances
by all the musical luminaries of the era and the emergence
of top-flight local musicians who called Williams Avenue their
home. Inspired by Portland historian Bob Dietsche’s
newly published “Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland
Jazz, 1942-1957,” Adams uses stories told to him by
Portland jazz artists “Sweet Baby James” Benton,
Ray Horn and Mel Brown, as well as author Dietsche, as he
takes us to the locales around what is now the Rose Garden
district on a search for the musical ghosts of the past and
the celebration of a glorious era when Portland was a 24/7
jazz oasis. (60mins.)
DIRECTOR SAMUEL ALLEN AND AUTHOR BOB DEITSCHE,
WHO WILL SIGN BOOKS, WILL BE ON HAND TO TALK ABOUT PORTLAND
JAZZ HISTORY.
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COLTRANE LEGACY
DIRECTOR: BURRILL CROHN
US 1985
FEB 4 SAT 4:30 PM Whitsell
Auditorium
FEB 5 SUN 8:30 PM Guild
Theatre
 During
a 12-year span, from joining Miles Davis’ band in 1955
until his early death in 1967, saxophonist John Coltrane revolutionized
modern jazz. Crohn’s essential COLTRANE LEGACY profiles
his stunning career via interviews and television clips, capturing
virtually all of the existing television performances between
1959 and 1964 with Davis, Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie
Workman, Elvin Jones and Jimmy Cobb. Highlighting this year’s
Portland Jazz Festival, February 17-19, is “Chasin’
the Trane—Remembering John Coltrane,” a series
of events, including performances (McCoy Tyner and Ravi Coltrane)
and related educational programs, honoring John Coltrane as
one of the most influential figures in 21st Century music.
After seeing this film you’ll enjoy it all the more.
(60 mins.)
FOR A COMPLETE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE GO TO WWW.PDXJAZZ.COM.
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MY NAME IS ALBERT AYLER
DIRECTOR: KASPER COLLIN
SWEDEN 2005
FEB 4 SAT 7 PM
Whitsell
Auditorium
FEB 5 SUN 7 PM
Guild Theatre
 John
Coltrane called saxophonist Albert Ayler the most important
innovator in jazz. One of the leading figures in the avant-garde
of the 1960s, his radical music left most perplexed and Ayler
frustrated by the lack of acceptance for his music. Born in
Cleveland, Ayler recorded his first album in Sweden in 1962,
but only eight years later, at age 34, was found dead in New
York’s East River, a mystery still unsolved. Collin’s
film is filled with rich and rare archival material along
with intimate recollections with family, friends and colleagues.
“One of the most starkly beautiful and moving documentaries
ever made about a jazz musician.”-Thomas Conrad, JAZZ
TIMES. (79 mins.)
www.mynameisalbertayler.com
WITH
DAVE HOLLAND
DIRECTOR: ULLI GRUBER
US 2004
 One
night in 1968, Miles Davis walked into a London club where
20-year old bassist Dave Holland was playing with Joe Henderson.
Davis immediately bought him a ticket to New York to join
his band, the start of career that has placed Holland at the
pinnacle of acoustic bass players, whether as a soloist, or
at the helm of his various quintets and big bands. Gruber
captures the ups and downs of a remarkable talent, whose most
recent accolades include winning Downbeat Magazine’s
2005 Critics Poll for Musician of the Year, Big Band of the
Year and Acoustic Bassist of the Year. (23 mins.)
top
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON
DIRECTOR: JEFF FEUERZEIG
US 2005
FEB 12 SUN 8 PM
Guild Theatre
 Winner
of the Director Award for Documentary at the Sundance Film
Festival, Feuerzeig captures the soul of a troubled artist.
According to Kurt Cobain, Daniel Johnston was the greatest
songwriter on earth. Musician, cult outsider artist and manic-depressive,
Daniel Johnston’s wild behavioral fluctuations, downward-spirals
and delusions of grandeur have ensured that he remains an
enigma to the music industry, but to others he is simply an
unrewarded genius. As a reclusive teenager, Johnston showed
signs of unusual artistic ability, creating intuitive super-8
films and expressive comic-book-style drawings in the basement
of his family home. After falling out with his fundamentalist
Christian family, he literally ran off to join a carnival,
before landing in Austin, Texas, broke and alone. It was here
that he began to hone his musical career and primitive, poetic
songs. But just as he was making a name for himself locally,
Johnston’s inner demons began to take hold. Featuring
interviews with Johnston and those closest to him—as
well as amazing concert and home super-8 footage—Feuerzig’s
film is a haunting portrait of an unusual talent. (94 mins.)
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