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DVD: Robert Mugge's New Orleans Music In Exile

Robert Mugge is a name you have probably never heard.  It’s likely though, that if you like Jazz, Blues, Reggae. Zydeco, or Bluegrass (work with us here), you have seen one or more of his incredible music documentaries.  Beginning in 1976 with George Crumb: Voice of the Whale, which featured a performance of Crumb’s Pulitzer prize winning piece, "Vox Balaenae for Three Masked Players”, Mugge has made close to 30 films that have examined music through people, place, and time.  His subjects have included Sonny Rollins, Al Green, Gil Scott-Heron, Robert Johnson, and Irma Thomas, to name a few.  Although it’s difficult to pin down an exact style, Mugge’s films are characterized by his willingness to allow the music and musicians to speak for themselves.  Always well researched and informed, Mugge has an uncanny ability to make genuine connections with his subjects, ultimately leading to more candid interviews and deeper meaning in his work.

For Mugge, “music is a leaping off place for discussion of social issues, cultural issues, political issues, (and) even religious issues.”  This ethos might explain why Mugge was so drawn to post-Katrina New Orleans.  Having worked with many of the musicians of New Orleans in some of his earlier films, Mugge sought to side-step the emotionally charged issues of government response and racism in the wake of Katrina, and focus on the storm’s devastating impact within the New Orleans music community.  Where did the musicians go?  Were they planning on coming back?  Mugge attempts to answer these questions through interview and song.  Dr. John laments “Sweet home New Orleans, I shaw 'nuff hear you callin'. But since the levee came fallin', I say where you at, my dahlins?"  Irma Thomas takes us on a tour of her dilapidated club, The Lion’s Den, pointing out the mold and extensive damage the flooding caused.  Mugge interviews Cyril Neville, in exile in Texas, who jokes that “the gumbo has spilled into the chili.”  Filled with some great performances from Eddie Bo, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, and Cyril Neville, New Orleans Music In Exile is an intimate and often heart wrenching portrait of one of America’s most fascinating and passionate music communities.

Go here for the New Orleans Music In Exile trailer.

New Orleans Music In Exile airs on Starz and is available on DVD.

Visit Tipitina’s Foundation for information on how you can support the New Orleans music community and culture.

Some other Robert Mugge films to check out:

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO AL GREEN (1984) a portrait of soul singer and gospel preacher Al Green filmed at a concert in Washington, D.C. and a church service in Memphis, TN.

ENTERTAINING THE TROOPS (1988) a video documentary about entertainers who  supported Allied war efforts during World War II featuring rare 1940s performance footage, a  reunion of Bob Hope with members of his WWII troupe, and interviews with Dorothy Lamour,  Frances Langford, Mel Blanc, and Maxine Andrews of the Andrews Sisters.

DEEP BLUES (1991) an exploration of Mississippi blues featuring rock star David Stewart  of Eurythmics, music writer Robert Palmer, and blues musicians Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, Big Jack Johnson, Roosevelt "Booba" Barnes, Lonnie Pitchford, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Jack Owens  & Bud Spires, and Booker T. Laury and filmed on location in Memphis and Mississippi.

LAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI JUKES  (2003) an film about Jackson, Mississippi's Subway Lounge and Clarksdale, Mississippi's Ground Zero Blues Club with performances by Alvin Youngblood Hart, Chris Thomas King, Bobby Rush, Vasti Jackson, Patrice Moncell, Levon Lindsey, Abdul Rasheed, Greg "Fingers" Taylor, Lucille, Eddie Cotton, Dennis Fountain, Pat Brown, George Jackson, King Edward Blues Band, House Rockers, and more. Also featuring interviews with Jimmy King, Morgan Freeman, Bill Luckett, Dick Waterman, Steve Cheseborough, etc.

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