Date:Thursday, July 12th at 8:00PM
Venue:Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating, RSVP to
programming@oddballfilm.com or 415.558.8117
Featuring:
St. Louis Blues
(B&W, 1929)
The rarely screened
"St Louis Blues"(1929, B+W) stars the legendary Empress of Blues,
Bessie Smith in her only film appearance. This short was written by Kenneth W.
Adams and W.C. Handy and based on Handy's famous song "St. Louis
Blues". It was directed by Dudley Murphy (director of the 1924 French avante
garde classic "Le Ballet Mechanique") and shot in June of 1929 in
Astoria, Long Island. The film features a top notch jazz band that includes
James P Johnson on piano Thomas Morris and Joe Smith on cornet, as well as the
Hall Johnson Choir. The film had an all African American cast co-starring
dancer/actor Jimmy Mordecai and Isabel Washington Powell.
Black Music in America:
From Then Till Now (Color, 1971)
Rare documentary
provides us with an illuminating history of black music from the introduction
of slavery in America to the recent past. It introduces renowned black
musicians and their contributions to jazz, blues, spirituals, protest songs,
swing and rock n' roll music. This film includes priceless performances of
Louis Armstrong in Ghana swingin' with the natives, Bessie Smith from the film
St. Louis Blues, Bandleader Count Basie, "Lady Day" Billie Holiday,
BB King live on stage, song stylist Nina Simone, jazz legend Coleman Hawkins,
American jazz genius Duke Ellington, horn legend Cannonball Adderly and group
and a soul rocking psychedelic Sly and the Family Stone performance!
The Wildest (Color,
1958)
Filmed on the South
Sore at Lake Tahoe, this super rare short features Louis Prima with Keely Smith
and Sam Butera and the Witnesses.
A very loose plot serves to feature the high-energy band tearing through
When You're Smiling, Birth of the Blues, Listen to the Mockingbird and
more. Crazy lakeside capris pants
twist action!
Blind Gary Davis
(B&W, 1964)
Impressionistic profile
of the great Black street-guitarist and singer, showing him in his home and on
the Harlem streets, where he plays and sings several of his better-known blues
and religious songs. An ordained minister, Davis has been blind since youth and
has used his musical virtuosity to express his innermost feelings about his
life, his race and his religion. A sensitive, moving portrait that succeeds in
making a social as well as personal statement. Directed by Harold Becker (who
went on to direct The Onion Field and Taps among other films).
James Brown - The Man
(Color, 1967)
A rarely seen
documentary focusing on the man, his career and his philosophy. From his own
background as a drifter and convict to his many successful businesses-including
his James Brown "Golden Platter" soul food restaurants to his
"Brown and Black" trading stamp venture this film paints a portrait
of Brown as black activist and community leader. Riveting performance clips are
interspersed with Brown's message to youth: "Don't hate-communicate",
still applicable today.
Eddie Kendricks (Color,
1973)
A punchy promo film
produced by Motown Records featuring the funky former singer of the Temptations
in action as well as interviews with Smokey Robinson and Mary Wells of the
Supremes and a live performance of "Keep on Truckin" The film relates
the man and his music to his audience. One of the first films to honestly bring
the background, philosophy, and character of the rock star to the public, it is
a portrait of the man behind the sound who is a man totally committed to what
he loves. His audience knows it; his performance shows it.