Every film should open with Youssou N’Dour singing. It’s a surefire way of ensuring that the audience stays hooked to the film to the end. At least I know I will stay to the end.
Every personality documentary film should make you feel comfortable and engage you. The director should make you love or loathe the character – it doesn’t really matter what – and you should just feel justified to do so and comfortable with your decision. In the case of Retour à Gorée (2007) which was shown at the Amakula Kampala Film Festival yesterday, the director Pierre-Yves Borgeaud hit all the right notes.
Retour à Gorée (Return to Goree) is the story of Youssou N’Dour’s journey following the epic trail by slaves from Africa and the USA and by the jazz music they invented. Youssou N’Dour’s challenge is to bring back to Africa a jazz repertoire and to sing those tunes in Goree, the island in Senegal that today symbolizes the slave trade.
On his journey, Youssou N’Dour is joined by a brilliant cast of jazz artists including Tunisian pianist Moncef Genoud who helps to reinvent Youssou’s sound. Others in the cast are renowned New Orleans drummer Idris Muhammad, bassist James Cammack of the Ahmad Jamal Trio, as well as Pyeng Threadgill, Grégoire Maret, Ernie Hammes, and Wolfgang Muthspiel, also of the Ahmad Jamal Trio.
Youssou N’Dour travels from Goree to Atlanta, New Orleans, New York, Luxembourg and back to Goree, incorporating jazz and gospel undertones to his music. The film climaxes with a concert played at the ruins of Goree.
The highlight of the film for me was a performance by the poet laureate, the amazing Amiri Baraka. I don’t care what people say about how politically incorrect Baraka is, I think … no, I know, he’s absolutely brilliant.
The music in the documentary is amazing, qualifying this film to automatically join my list of the best jazz films ever.
Here’s my list. What’s yours?
Bird (1988 ), dir. Clint Eastwood – Forest Whitaker gives a very convincing performance as the late great saxophonist, Charlie Parker.
Round Midnight (1986), dir. Bertrand Tavernier – Say it with me people, “Dexter Gordon, oh my!” I thought the plot was so-so, but any faults in it were overshadowed by the performances of real life jazz stars like Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin and Eric Le Lann.
Black Orpheus (1959), dir. Marcel Camus – An adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus with a beautiful bossa nova soundtrack by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Buena Vista Social Club (1999), dir. Wim Wenders – This documentary film made me feel like I was close friends with these legends of Cuban music and that I had known them for years. I immediately went out to buy the album. While I’m still here, Wim Wenders directed another really good blues documentary film narrated by Lawrence Fishbourne called “Soul of a Man”.
Good Night and Good Luck (2005), dir. George Clooney – This isn’t a jazz film, but it is a really, really good journalism film (I can’t run away from my ish) and who can ignore the beautiful soundtrack sang by Dianne Reeves. Dianne Reeves won the 2005 Grammy Award for best jazz vocal performance for the soundtrack.
Kansas City (1996), dir. Robert Altman – Steve Buscemi! Steve Buscemi! Steve Buscemi! Yeah, I know, he’s not a jazz artist, but I just had to. Robert Altman was a native of Kansas City and had an intimate relationship with the jazz of mid-state USA. He does a really good job of telling the story of the bebop era of Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.
Mo’ Better Blues (1990), dir. Spike Lee – I watched this film in the early 1990s and wasn’t convinced of its merits until he urged me to look again. He was right. Plus Terence Blanchard on the trumpet is really good.
A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), dir. Bill Melendez – Everyone loves Charlie Brown. The music by Vince Guaraldi is charming and sweet and reminds me of warm nights and love and family.
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Jasmine, I identify with your ‘mawe!’ over the Percussion Discussion Afrika performance to Harry Smith’s Heaven and Earth Magic at Amakula Kampala yesterday. I saw Smith’s Mahogany about two years ago and thought it was great, so I didn’t understand the extreme DA I had over yesterday’s showing.
I though Percussion Discussion were brilliant as usual, but I didn’t get the film. I just didn’t get it.
This is Smith’s explanation of the film:
The first part depicts the heroine’s toothache consequent to the loss of a very valuable watermelon, her dentistry and transportation to heaven. Next follows an elaborate exposition of the heavenly land, in terms of Israel and Montreal. The second part depicts the return to Earth from being eaten by Max Müller on the day Edward VII dedicated the Great Sewer of London.
Say it with me, Jasmine, “mawe!”
