Word: rivering
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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They are the stars of River of Song: A Musical Journey down the Mississippi, an ambitious four-hour, four-part documentary series that begins airing on PBS stations this month (check local listings). The series, written by Elijah Wald, a music critic for the Boston Globe, and directed by Boston-based filmmaker John Junkerman, is a multimedia event: there's a corresponding seven-hour, seven-part series airing on Public Radio International; a 36-song, two-CD sound track (Smithsonian Folkways); and a 352-page companion book (St. Martin's). But the purpose of each is singularly focused: to document...
...River of Song isn't documentary broccoli. The viewer isn't assailed with dates and events, fussy terminology and black-and-white daguerreotypes with accompanying narration by overly earnest Hollywood actors. The story is told through a series of punchy personal portraits of the musicians who live in the cities and towns along the Mississippi, places like Davenport, Iowa, and Festus, Mo. We get to know these musicians not as representatives of trends and genres but as regular folks trying to make a living and a little music as well. We see them sweating through performances, straightening their hair with...
...series is nimbly narrated by folk-punk guitarist Ani DiFranco, who brings curiosity and energy to the project. "Beneath the surface of mainstream popular culture, there is the ever-present undercurrent of organically generated music," DiFranco writes in the River of Song companion book. "I'm talking about the indigenous, unhomogenized, uncalculated sound of a culture becoming itself in the streets, bars, gyms, churches and back porches of the real world...
...such nationally known acts as Soul Asylum and the Mississippi Mass Choir do make appearances. And a few of the performers featured deserve a shot on Leno or Conan O'Brien, chief among them the spirited New Orleans hip-hop brass band Soul Rebels. Most of the acts on River of Song, however, seem content with local renown. They display a commitment that's deeper than celebrity: for them, music isn't simply a means to acquire wealth or fame; it's a method of preserving traditions and a way of life. "We, the young generation, are the glue that...
...Pursued by photographers on motorcycles, Monica narrowly escapes death when the car she is driving careers off the Seine river embankment and crashes into a passing bateau-mouche full of tourists. Several of them are hospitalized for le choque (shock) and, represented by American attorney William Ginsburg, file suit against Monica for le steering lunatique. Their case is eventually dismissed by a French magistrate after Ginsburg misses an important court appearance because he was giving an interview to Radio Liechtenstein...