if anyone cares...

Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues

Premieres Sunday, September 28 on PBS! This seven-part television series
of personal and impressionistic films viewed through the lens of seven
world-famous directors who share a passion for the music is not to be
missed.

"If you already know the blues, then maybe this music will give you a
reason to go back to it. And if you've never heard the blues, and you're
coming across it for the first time, I can promise you this: Your life is
about to change for the better." --Martin Scorsese

"The Blues are the roots; everything else is the fruits." ---Willie Dixon

www.thebluesonline.com


Here's what the press is saying:

"We're on the brink of something that is going to be very big... the series
is going to bring in a lot of people who don't know or only vaguely know
about blues. It's very difficult to overstate the cultural importance of
the blues, which have been around about 100 years, were crucial to the
overall development of jazz and gave birth about a half-century ago to a
boisterous new music called rock 'n' roll." --The New York Times

Men's Journal, October 2003
"...the spirit of the blues lives in these films..."

Blues Revue, October/November 2003
"...it flows like a concert itself, moviemakers improvising and jamming,
just like musicians."
? Bill Vitka
Entertainment Weekly, September 12, 2003
"...thrilling, essential music."
"'the devil's music'...will never lose the passion and beauty, the power
and the glory, that changed the world forever."


New York, September 8, 2003
"Martin Scorsese's documentary series is as soulful and authentic as the
bluesmen it celebrates."

Variety, September 8, 2003
"...the blues come alive for a new generation."
"...impressive new performances."
"archival footage is...priceless..."
"[Peter Guralnick and Alan Lomax's] goal...was to preserve the past before
it disappears forever. Scorsese, with his six comrades, has done just
that."
"The heat and swear is palpable."
? Phil Gallo

San Antonio Express-News, September 7, 2003
This stunning document of American history is well worth the week-long
investment."
? Ramiro Burr

Departures, September 2003
...an unprecedented celebration of down-and-dirty Americana."
Jesse Kornbluth


Men's Health, September 2003
"...The Blues, a seven-part PBS documentary about that distinctively
American music that just may be the key to understanding the universe."


The Oregonian (online edition), June 27, 2003
"The series, which promises to be a rich and eclectic tribute to and
highlight of the Year of the Blues, will survey the roots of the past, the
dynamism of the present and the roads leading into the future."



Cannes Film Festival (Soul of a Man):

The Hollywood Reporter, June 5, 2003
"For those of us who love the blues, this is a gift from the God of the
Blues himself."

"'Soul' is the first film of what promises to be an extraordinary series of
seven films called simply 'The Blues." ? Kirk Honeycutt

Variety, May 26, 2003
"Wenders succeeds not only in putting these American composer-performers in
the context of their times and in demonstrating their influence on
subsequent generations of musicians, but also succeeds in putting them in
'the bigger picture' of the human spirit itself."

"This hugely enjoyable film?has the stuff to go way beyond music fans,
doing for the blues what the director did for Cuban music in "The Buena
Vista Social Club."
? Deborah Young


"Salute to the Blues" Concert:

Newsday, February 10, 2003
"As a concert, A Salute to the Blues was too much to process. Too big.
Too long. Too amazing. Too musically stunning. Too historic to really
comprehend at this point"

"Years from now, historians will point to the five-hour marathon
concert?and marvel at the last time such luminaries were gathered in one
place"
? Glenn Gamboa

Daily Variety, February 10, 2003
"A Salute to the Blues" made a good case for the continued vibrancy of one
of America's most important indigenous art forms"

"The producers of "A Salute to the Blues"?should be commended for pulling
off a rare trick ? namely, the avoidance of trickery?"A Salute to the
Blues" eschewed absurd marquee names, sidestepped the embarrassment of
having Justin Timberlake explain the impact of the blues on his "art," and
ramped up the relevance of the show itself."
? David Sprague